Romans 7:18

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. FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME (THAT IS, IN MY FLESH,) DWELLETH NO GOOD THING - or better, 'For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is, in my flesh, any good.' FOR TO WILL (OR 'DESIRE') IS PRESENT WITH ME; BUT [HOW] TO PERFORM THAT WHICH IS GOOD (the supplement "how," in our version, weakens the statement) I FIND NOT - or (according to what appears to have most evidence) simply, 'not so' [ ou (G3756)]. Here, again, we have the double self of the renewed man: q.d., 'In me dwelleth no good; but this corrupt self is not my true self; it is but sin dwelling in my real self, as a renewed man.'...

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, who are divided into two parts — the relics of the flesh, and grace. For why was the modification made, except some part was exempt from depravity, and therefore not flesh? Under the term _flesh_, he ever includes all that human nature is, everything in man, except the sanctification of the Spirit. In the same manner, by the term _spirit_, which is commonly opposed to the flesh, he means that part of...

18-22 The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he often does evil, though against the fixed determination of his will. The motions of sin within grieved the apostle. If by the striving of the flesh against the Spirit, was meant that he could not do or perform as the Spirit suggested, so also, by the effectual opposition of the Spirit, he could not do what the flesh prompted him to do. How different this case from that of those who make themselves easy with regard to the inward motions of the flesh prompting them to evil; who, against the light and warning of...

Verse 18. _FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME_, c.] I have learned by experience that in an unregenerate man there is _no good_. There is no principle by which the soul can be brought into the light no principle by which it can be _restored_ to purity: fleshly appetites alone prevail; and the _brute_ runs away with the _man_. _FOR TO WILL IS PRESENT WITH ME_] Though the whole soul has suffered indescribably by the FALL, yet there are some faculties that appear to have suffered less than others; or rather have received larger measures of the supernatural light, because their concurrence with the Divine principle is so necessary to the salvation of the soul. Even the most unconcerned about spiritual things have _understanding, judgment, reason_, and _will_. And by means of these we have seen even scoffers at Divine revelation become very eminent in arts and sciences; some of our best metaphysicians,...

FOR I KNOW - This is designed as an illustration of what he had just said, that sin dwelt in him. THAT IS, IN MY FLESH - In my unrenewed nature; in my propensities and inclinations before conversion. Does not this qualifying expression show that in this discussion he was speaking of himself as a renewed man? Hence, he is careful to imply that there was at that time in him something that was right or acceptable with God, but that that did not pertain to him by nature. DWELLETH - His soul was wholly occupied by what was evil. It had taken entire possession. NO GOOD THING - There could not be possibly a stronger expression of belief of the doctrine of total depravity. It is Paul’s own representation of himself. It proves that his heart was wholly evil. And if this was true of him, it is true of all others. It is a good

EXPOSITION ROMANS 7:1 Here comes in the third illustration of the moral obligation of the baptized. It rests on the recognized principle that _death _cancels the claims of human law on a person (cf. Romans 6:7); and this with especial reference to the law of marriage, as being peculiarly applicable to the subject to be illustrated, since the Church is elsewhere regarded as married to Christ. As has been observed above, it is from _the Law _that Christians are now said to be emancipated in the death of Christ; not from _sin, as _in the previous sections. Hence this section might at first sight seem to introduce a new line of thought. But it is really a continuation of the same, though differently viewed; for, in the sense intended by St. Paul, being under th

FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME, THAT IS, IN MY FLESH,.... The apostle goes on to give some further account of himself, what he knew, and was fully assured of by long experience; as that DWELLETH NO GOOD THING in him, that is, in his flesh, or carnal self; for otherwise there were many good things dwelt in him; there was the good work of grace, and the good word of God in him, and even Father, Son, and Spirit, dwelt in him; but his meaning is, that there was no good thing naturally in him; no good thing of his own putting there; nothing but what God had put there; no good thing, but what was owing to Christ, to the grace of God, and influence of the Spirit; or as he himself explains it, there was no good thing in his "flesh"; in the old man that was in him, which has nothing in his nature good; no good thing comes out of him, nor is any good thing done by him: and this explanative and limiting cl...

Romans 7:1. _Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress, but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man._ He merely states this as an illustration. Romans 7:4. _Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God._...

ROMANS 7:18 ou; {B} The abrupt termination of the sentence with ou; (a A B C 81 1739 copsa, bo goth arm _al_) prompted copyists to add some kind of supplement: (_a_) eu`ri,skw (D G K P Y 33 88* 614 _Byz Lect_), or (_b_) ginw,skw (88mg 2127), or (_c_) _is not in me_ (eth)....

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Law and its Dominion. (Romans 7:1 .)_ 2. Dead to the Law and Married to Another. (Romans 7:4 .) 3. Concerning the Law; its Activities and Purpose. (Romans 7:7 .) 4. The Experience of a Believer in Bondage to the Law. (Romans 7:14 .) 5. The Triumphant note of Deliverance. (Romans 7:25 .) Romans 7:1 The law is now more fully taken up. We have learned before that by the works of the law no man can be justified before God. But