Romans 7:17

17 So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me.

Romans 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 7:17

Now then, it is no more I that do it
This is another inference, deduced from what is before said, that since he did not approve, but hated what he did, and willed the contrary, it was not he as spiritual, as born again, as a new man, a new creature, that did it; see ( 1 John 3:9 ) . He says,

But sin that dwelleth in me;
the old man, the carnal I, the evil present with him, the law in his members; which not only existed in him, and wrought in him, and that at times very strongly, but dwelt in him, had its abode in him, as it has in all regenerate persons, and will have, as long as they are in the body.

Romans 7:17 In-Context

15 I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate.
16 Since what I do is what I don't want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right.
17 So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me.
18 I know that good does not live in me - that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.
19 I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.