Romans 7:21

I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present.

The law spoken of here, which compels the unregenerate to do evil, is the rule of Satan in the soul of the unredeemed. Regardless of whatever high ideals and aspirations may be in the unregenerate heart, as long as Satan is the master within, evil will continue to be present. Not even the knowledge of God's good law can change the bondage to which the sinner is sold. Christ can make him free, but nothing else can.

Barrett and other commentators identified the controlling "law" which bound the sinner to sin as "self-righteousness";[24] and Adam Clarke thought it was

Any strong and confirmed habit, under the influence of which the man generally acts.[25]

but the more reasonable identification of that force which binds the unregenerate to the mast of sin would be to refer it to Satanic power over the unsaved. After all, the great force of evil in this world is personal. Self-righteousness and bad habits are deplorable; but there is a power of evil mentioned in this verse which is beyond all such things, and from which man, alone, is utterly incapable of extricating himself.

[24] C. K. Barrett, op. cit., p. 149.

[25] Adam Clarke, op. cit., p. 90.