Romans 7:7-25

New American Standard Bible 1995

^7 (A)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(B)May it never be! On the contrary, ^(C)I would not have come to know sin except ^[a]through the Law; for I would not have known about ^[b]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(D)You shall not ^[c]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(E)taking opportunity ^(F)through the commandment, produced in me ^[d]coveting of every kind; for ^(G)apart ^[e]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart ^[f]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[g](H)to result in life, proved ^[h]to result in death for me; ¹¹ for sin, ^(I)taking an opportunity ^(J)through the commandment, ^(K)deceived me and through it killed me. ^12 (L)So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^(M)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

The Conflict of Two Natures

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is ^(N)spiritual, but I am ^(O)of flesh, ^(P)sold ^[i](Q)into bondage to sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, ^(R)I do not understand; for I am not practicing ^(S)what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with ^(T)the Law, confessing that the Law is good. ¹⁷ So now, ^(U)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my ^(V)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. ¹⁹ For ^(W)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, ^(X)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹ I find then ^(Y)the ^[j]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully concur with the law of God ^[k]in ^(Z)the inner man, ²³ but I see ^(AA)a different law in ^[l]the members of my body, waging war against the ^(AB)law of my mind and making me a prisoner ^[m]of ^(AC)the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from ^[n](AD)the body of this ^(AE)death? ^25 (AF)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh ^(AG)the law of sin.