Romans 7:17

17 But now it is no longer "the real me" doing it, but the sin housed inside 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 don't understand my own behavior - I don't do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!
16 Now if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good.
17 But now it is no longer "the real me" doing it, but the sin housed inside me.
18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me - that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can't do it!
19 For I don't do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don't want is what I do!
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.