Struggling with Sin

Paul asks whether the good thing became death to him — and answers no. Sin produced death in him through what was good, so that sin would be exposed in its full weight through the commandment.

D¹³id that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

The law is spiritual; Paul admits he is unspiritual — sold as a slave to sin. He does not understand his own action: what he wants he does not do; what he hates he does. When the will disagrees with the act, sin living in him is the real agent.

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good. ¹⁷In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Nothing good lives in Paul’s flesh. The desire for good is there; the execution is not. The evil he does not want, he keeps doing — and again, it is sin living in him that is doing it.

¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. ²⁰And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul finds a governing principle: whenever he wants to do good, evil is right there. In his inner being he delights in God’s law, but another law in his body wars against the law of his mind and holds him captive to the law of sin.

²¹So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. ²³But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.

The paragraph breaks into a cry: what a wretched man I am; who will rescue me from this body of death? And the answer comes — thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!