7:18
This verse sums up the human dilemma. There is nothing good that resides in our flesh, in our human nature. For we may have the desire to do good, but not the ability to do good. The problem is that so often we believe that we are basically good, indeed this is probably the general view of humanity as a whole. We think we are basically good when in fact we are basically evil. This does not mean we never do good, nor that there is no good within us, but the trajectory that we are on is not good. Unless and until we face up to this truth we cannot make any progress.
7:19,20
These two verses really just sum up what Paul has been saying about the dilemma we are in. We don’t do the good things that we want to do, instead we do the evil things that we do not want to do. So we are no longer living as we ought to, and neither as we want to do. It is sin that dwells with us, this is what is controlling our lives. This is the position of humanity without Christ. Either we want to do the right thing but find ourselves incapable of doing so and so live a life of frustration, or sin completely takes over and we become utterly evil. Of course, various shades in between are possible as well, and most people will be somewhere in between. Perhaps Paul’s phrase here of sin dwelling within, can be linked with his statement in Galatians about it being no longer he who lives, but Christ who lives in him (Gal 2:20). Either Christ lives in us or sin lives in us.
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