Romans 7:19

19 I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do.

Romans 7:19 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 7:19

For the good that I would, I do not
The apostle here repeats what he had delivered in ( Romans 7:15 Romans 7:16 ) to strengthen and confirm this part of his experience; that though he had a will to that which was good, yet he wanted power, and had none of himself to perform; and therefore often did what he would not, and what he would he did not.

Romans 7:19 In-Context

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.

20 If I do what I don't want to do, this means that I am no longer the one who does it; instead, it is the sin that lives in me.

21 So I find that this law is at work: when I want to do what is good, what is evil is the only choice I have.