‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself (I as I am in myself) with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.'

It is a mistake to see this verse as concluding the argument. The ‘so then' (often translated ‘therefore') in Romanos 8:1 refers back to it, and Paul is still speaking of ‘me' in Romanos 8:2. It is precisely because ‘Jesus Christ our LORD' has intervened and has died for us, and because He has set our minds to serve the Law of God, that we are free from the ‘punishment following sentence' (eternal condemnation) which should result from of our sins. And chapter 8 will tell us that this setting of our minds is the work of the Spirit.

Note the distinction between Paul ‘as he is in himself' and Paul being influenced by the flesh. The true Paul served the Law of God, the Law which was spiritual (Romanos 7:14), suggesting therefore that he was assisted by the Spirit. It was only a weakness in his make-up, his ‘flesh', that sometimes caused him to do otherwise. The fact that this comes after the reference to deliverance by Jesus Christ our LORD indicates that this is a part of his saving experience, thus confirming that the mind which serves the Law of God is the regenerate mind.

‘I myself'. In these words Paul underlines that he is speaking of his own experience. It leaves us in no doubt that what we have heard has been autobiographical.

‘So then I myself (I as I am in myself) with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God --.' In other words he serves the Law of God with his mind because of the intervention of Jesus Christ our LORD, in his case on the Damascus Road and in what followed that.

‘Jesus Christ our LORD.' For this title and its equivalent in ‘Christ Jesus our LORD' see Romanos 5:1; Romanos 5:11; Romanos 5:21; Romanos 6:23; Romanos 8:39. As a result of it we have peace with God (Romanos 5:1), we are alive to God (Romanos 5:11), we have eternal life (Romanos 5:21; Romanos 6:23), and we experience the saving love of God in action (Romanos 8:39).

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