Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do. Here is a new or untrained Christian; we have all been trained by the world. We all try to use our world training to live the Christian life. When we wanted our body to do something in the world, it cooperated with us. If we put our mind to it, we were able to accomplish a lot of things. But, no matter how successful we were in the world, our abilities, skills, talents, and world training couldn’t help us only do right, good, and righteous things to ourselves, others, and God’s plan. And, now that we are a Christian, world training still won’t help us do them; we need Jesus’ training.

Rom 7:16 (NIV) And if I do what I DO NOT WANT to do, I agree that the law is good. At this stage, we have read, studied, and learned the laws, rules, and commandments of God. We like the fact that they are telling us to only treat ourselves, others, and God’s plan with right, good, and righteous things. We want to be this kind of person in our thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. As a matter of fact, we are giving it our very best efforts; but, our efforts are failing us. We are a new or untrained Christian who, like a baby or young child, have all the equipment, but haven’t learned how to use it YET.

Rom 7:17 (NIV) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Now that you are a Christian, you have the right desires; you have all the necessary equipment; and you belong to the right family. But, you are a new born who has a LOT to learn BEFORE you can function as a Christian. So, let’s take a look at the parts of this verse and get familiar with them.

As it is: This is saying that since you are NOW a Christian, things are different for you. As it is, things are VERY different for you; As it is, the laws, rules, and commandments have changed for you. It is a wonderful way of life; but, it is all new to you. If things hadn’t changed, your life would have stayed the same. If you don’t learn how to live this new life, you will go on living your old life. The issue is, how does Christianity work? Will you have to start all over and apply all new principles. Yes and no! It won’t just be you; you and Jesus are going to set you free from deadly laws, rules, and commandments; and, JESUS is going to get YOU involved in liberating ones.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it: You have had a problem that you weren’t aware of; and, you have had it for your entire life. There are two parts to you; and, they have very different agendas. There are NOW two sets of rules, laws, and commandments that are running your life. One group is set up in your body and the other is NOW set up in your spirit. You may have thought you were only a physical, body-being. However, YOU live in a body, you HAVE a soul, and you ARE a spirit. So, when you say something like, it is no longer I myself who do it, you are acknowledging that YOU are doing something but it isn’t YOU doing it.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me: Since Jesus has given you (your spirit) a perfect record with God, all your past, present, and future sins have been forgiven. AND, you (your spirit) have been credited with perfect thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds WITH GOD. Your spirit WANTS to take advantage of this perfect record and your access to God; but, your body has sin living in it. That sin is still driving your body and giving your spirit a lot of trouble. You and Jesus are going to have to OVERPOWER the sin in your body. For you, your spirit, to start living up to your wonderful record with God, IT (the real you) is going to have to become the DOMINATE influence in your life.

Rom 7:23 (NIV) But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. The thing you are learning is, you have been and still are being forced to do things against your will; your body, that you live in, is enslaving you even though you are a Christian.

If you properly examine your body, you will find that it lacks compassion, ethics, or morality. When you look at the things your body wants and examine what it will do to get them, you will see it has laws, rules, and commandments that are different from Christianity. As your body goes about acquiring them, if it is faced with blockages, diversions, or resistances, what is IT willing to do to get them anyway? Will IT cheat, lie, mislead, force, or abuse someone in order to get it? Will IT consider doing these things “as long as it doesn’t get caught?” Yes, it will!

Rom 7:22 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law: This is where you got born again; a delight, a want for right, good, and righteousness was born inside you (your spirit). And, a hatred for wrong, bad, and evil formed inside you (your spirit). But, your body HAD TO be allowed to stay the same. It had to provide you a way out, if you ever want to leave Jesus, salvation, justification, and your new birth. Your SPIRIT is going to help you see AND EXPERIENCE all the wonderful things of God. Your BODY is going to remind you of all the things it, Satan, and the world had to offer.

Rom 7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the DESIRE to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Your body is motivated by a sinful nature; your spirit is motivated by a DELIGHT to do what is good. You will discover that no matter how much you make up your mind, do your best, give it your all, or determine to do the right thing, you will not be able to carry it out.

You needed Jesus for salvation, justification, and being born again. And, you need Jesus to empower you to start doing right, good, and righteousness. You must DESIRE to allow Jesus to help you live the Christian life, STUDY how to do it, PRAY and ask Him for it, BELIEVE in your heart that He gave it to you, and then take faith-action by first confessing that you have it with your mouth, and then living on the basis of the fact that you have it with your body.

As you go through your day, moment by moment and issue by issue you will be deciding whether to go with the desires of your spirit or the desires of your body. You already know how to go with the desires of your body; but, Jesus will have to teach you how to go with the desires of your spirit. If you accidently go with the desires of your body, your perfect record will cover you. If you go with your body ON PURPOSE but you REALLY want to stay with Jesus and His salvation, then you will have to ask for His forgiveness and repent. To repent, you will have to ask Jesus for His power to stop doing what you are doing and go in the opposite direction.