Romans 7:17-20

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:17

Verse 17 17.Now it is no more I who do it, etc. This is not the pleading of one excusing himself, as though he was blameless, as the case is with many triflers who think that they have a sufficient defense to cover all their wickedness, when they cast the blame on the flesh; but it is a declaration, by which he shows how very far he dissented from his own flesh in his spiritual feeling; for the faithful are carried along in their obedience to God with such fervour of spirit that they deny the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:18

Verse 18 18.For I know, etc. He says that no good by nature dwelt in him. Then in me, means the same as though he had said, “So far as it regards myself.” In the first part he indeed arraigns himself as being wholly depraved, for he confesses that no good dwelt in him; and then he subjoins a modification, lest he should slight the grace of God which also dwelt in him, but was no part of his flesh. And here again he confirms the fact, that he did not speak of men in general, but of the faithful,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:19

Verse 19 19.The same view is to be taken of the expression which next follows, — that he did not the good which he desired, but, on the contrary, the evil which he desired not: for the faithful, however rightly they may be influenced, are yet so conscious of their own infirmity, that they can deem no work proceeding from them as blameless. For as Paul does not here treat of some of the faults of the godly, but delineates in general the whole course of their life, we conclude that their best... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:1-17

The position of the Law under the New Testament. The apostle is here continuing his discussion of the immoral suggestion to which he alluded in the previous chapter ( Romans 7:15 ), "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace?" I. THE RELATION OF THE LAW TO THE CHRISTIAN . 1. he Christian's union with Christ involves his freedom from the Law. 2. But this union with Christ and freedom from the Law do not imply that he is free... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:7-25

( b ) The relation of law to sin, and how law prepares the soul for emancipation in Christ from the dominion of sin. In the section of the argument which begins at Romans 7:1 we have seen that the idea of being under sin has passed into that of being under law, in such apparent connection of thought as to identify the positions. The apostle, seeing that readers might be perplexed by such identification, now, in the first place, explains what he has meant by it. Is the Law, then, sin?... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:14-25

"Sold under sin!" Such is the deplorable result of the action of God's Law on man: sin is made to stand out blackly, in all its hideous evil; nay, it seems even stimulated to increased malignity of working. How so? Because of the intense opposition between the holy Law and an unholy nature: "For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." But man's nature is not without its witness for the Divine; the spiritual is captive, but not destroyed; it is capable of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:14-25

The principle of progress through antagonism. In last section we saw how the soul is awakened through the Law. This Law-work is a necessity of our times. And now we have to notice how the soul is kept awake by the antagonism going on within. For the gospel is not intended to promote at any time satisfaction with self. So far from this, it is a plan for subordinating self to its rightful Sovereign, the Saviour. And so we are not only put out of conceit with ourselves in conviction and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:15-25

For that which I do (rather, work, or perform, or accomplish, κατεργάζομαι ) I know not : for not what I would, that I do (rather, practise; the verb here is πράσσω ); but what I hate, that I do ( ποιῶ ). But if what I would not that I do, I consent unto the Law that it is good ( καλός ). Now then ( νυνὶ δὲ , not in temporal sense, but meaning, as the case is ) it is no more I that work ( κατεργάζομαι , as before ) it, but sin that dwelleth in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:18-25

The inward conflict of the Christian heart. Two forces are for ever struggling for the soul of man. Goethe, the German poet, has immortalized that for us in his great drama of 'Faust,' where Mephistopheles, the prince of evil, tempts a human being too successfully into the paths of destruction. Milton has immortalized it for us in his great epic, 'Paradise Lost.' But these great poems are, after all, but echoes of the story of the Fall as told us in the Bible. These words of St. Paul are... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Romans 7:17

It is no more I that do it - This is evidently figurative language, for it is really the man that sins when evil is committed. But the apostle makes a distinction between sin and what he intends by the pronoun “I”. By the former he evidently means his corrupt nature. By the latter he refers to his renewed nature, his Christian principles. He means to say that he does not approve or love it in his present state, but that it is the result of his native propensities and passions. In his heart, and... read more

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