7:24,25
So what are we to do? Again there are many who think this cannot refer to a post-Christian person for why would he say “what a wretched man I am”. I believe such a view fails to see what Paul is doing. He has prepared the way for what comes in chapter 8, and part of that preparation was all that he has said in the latter half of chapter 7. Being a Christian, having good intentions, but seeking to fulfil them by our own effort, living by the principle of law is utterly doomed to failure. We will find all the things he has been speaking of at work. If we are honest we all experience this at times, we try to do the right thing based on our own effort, driven by our own enthusiasm. If we do this we will fail. When we do this we may well feel like a wretched man, subject to death. But there is good news, we have been delivered through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The term “sinful nature” is a poor translation, “flesh” (as used by older translations, ESV ). As a Christian I now want to do God’s will, but I still need to overcome the flesh, I need to learn to be free from the flesh. Chapter 8 will tell us how!
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