Romans 7:18-20
(18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
(19) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
(20) Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Paul’s experience convinced him that “the Law is good” (v. 16). But he also concluded, I know that nothing good lives in me. Then he hastened to explain that by the phrase “in me” he meant in my sinful nature (sarki, “flesh”; cf. vv. 5, 25). This is not literal physical or material flesh, but the principle of sin that expresses itself through one’s mind and body.
As support for this conclusion Paul explained, For I have the desire to do what is good (“For to wish is present with me” [or “is lying beside me”]), but I cannot carry it out (lit., “but to produce the good is not”). Paul then repeated in slightly different words the statement of verse 15b, and then in verse 20 he repeated in effect his statement in verse 17. Paul recognized that even as a believer he had an indwelling principle of sin that once owned him as a slave and that still expressed itself through him to do things he did not want to do and not to do things he desired to do. This is a problem common to all believers.
Excerpt from:
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Below are FB comments on the book of Romans (The Bible Knowledge Commentary):
