21 So I find this law at work:(A) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(B) I delight in God’s law;(C) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(D) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(E) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(F) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(G)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(H) but in my sinful nature[a] a slave to the law of sin.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[a] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:23 Greek law; also in 7:23b.

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

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21 I find then (A)the [a]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God [b]in (B)the inner person, 23 but I see (C)a different law in [c]the parts of my body waging war against the (D)law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [d]of (E)the law of sin, the law which is in [e]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [f](F)the body of this (G)death? 25 (H)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 (I)the law of sin.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:21 Lit law
  2. Romans 7:22 Or with respect to
  3. Romans 7:23 Lit my parts waging
  4. Romans 7:23 Lit in
  5. Romans 7:23 Lit my parts
  6. Romans 7:24 Or this body of death