Romans 7:14-25 (WEB)
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.
For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.
🔑 Key Points
1. The law is spiritual; we are fleshly
Paul begins with the honest diagnosis: the law is good and spiritual, but 'I am fleshly, sold under sin.' Sproul insists we never blame the law for our bondage — the problem is indwelling sin, not God's commandment.
2. The war within is real
'The good that I want to do, I don't do; the evil I don't want, that I practice.' The Christian feels this tension precisely because he delights in God's law in the inner man. A dead conscience feels no conflict — the fight itself is evidence of life.
3. Sin dwells in me — but it is not the whole of me
Paul distinguishes the 'I' who delights in God's law from the sin that dwells in his members. Regeneration is real, but sanctification is unfinished. Sproul warns against both despair and complacency in this middle state.
4. The wretched man cries out for deliverance
'O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?' The law can diagnose but it cannot rescue. The cry itself points away from self-effort to a Deliverer.
5. Help has come: thanks be to God through Christ
'I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!' The fight is not fought alone. The mind renewed serves God's law while the flesh remains, and the Spirit (Romans 8) supplies the power the law never could.
💬 Discussion Questions
Paul says 'I delight in God's law after the inward man' yet practices the evil he hates. Where do you most feel this inner war, and what does it reveal about what has changed in you?
If the law is 'holy, righteous, and good,' why can it never deliver us from this body of death — and what does that teach us about where help actually comes from?
Sproul says the conflict of Romans 7 is a mark of a living, regenerate heart, not a sign of unbelief. How should that change the way you handle seasons of painful self-knowledge?
The fight proves you're alive — and the Deliverer has already come. Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
