Romans 7:14-20: Why We Sin

Romans 7:20.. "Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."

Romans 7:14-20 is another one of those texts in Romans that we often scratch our heads at. What in the world is Paul saying here? Is he disregarding his sin? Has he gone insane, not knowing where his desires truly lie? The answers to both of those questions are a bold by no means! Paul is not doing or being anything of that sort. Rather, he is trying to explain to us (once again) our relationship to the law. Though these verses may be confusing, let us not yield to laziness. Great devotion and discipline leads to great revelation. One of my favorite theological authors by the name of Arthur W. Pink put it this way: "No verse of Scripture yields its meaning to lazy people." Let us therefore not be lazy.

"Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it" (Romans 7:20). This verse, taken out of context, quite frankly could sound like heresy. If you interpret this verse to mean that Paul does not sin, but rather is blaming his sin on something else, you are mistaken. There are two reasons for this within the text, let us look at them today, that we might understand this passage.

Firstly, Paul is blaming his sin for sinning, but his sin is what is inside of him, and he therefore is not disregarding anything. He is not being like Adam, who, when under conviction, blamed his wife (Genesis 3:20). Rather, Paul is blaming his sin, but he does not deny that that sin is in him, and that that sin is wrong. He is simply saying that his spiritual being, that which honors God, does not desire the sin, but rather it is his fleshly members, his physical body, that desires the sin.

Secondly, the emphasis of this section of scripture is not the Paul sins, but that Paul desires righteousness and obedience. Paul is not trying to argue against his sin here, but rather he is trying to argue for the great goodness found in salvation, that is that we can desire obedience against our fallen flesh. Paul is stating here something great about the Gospel--that it goes against our fleshly desires. Praise the Lord!

One commentator puts it this way, which helped me greatly this morning:

"[Paul's] failure...cannot be ascribed to his wrong attitude toward the law; that failure must be ascribed to indwelling sin."

Paul is not disregarding his sin, but rather diagnosing where it truly comes from. He is not stating that he does not sin, but rather putting his finger on why he sins.

So, do you know where your sin comes from? Are you aware that your sin comes from your flesh? Many read this passage to dismiss sin, but this certainly cannot be what Paul is saying. Is he not the one who said in chapter 6 that we are to present our members to God as instuments of righteousness (Romans 6:13)? Though our members are sinful and of the flesh, this does not give us an excuse to sin. though it does give us a diagnosis of the problem. Praise the Lord! Who has diagnosed our true spiritual problem.