Romans 7:13-20 – Sin in Me

Paul says he would not have known sin except the law said, “Thou shalt not.”

The commandment exposes what’s already in us.

In Romans 7:11-12 we read,

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Sin took advantage of the commandment, deceiving me, and condemned me to death.

Yet the law itself is “holy, and just, and good.”

Grace believers should not treat God’s righteous law as evil. The law has a good purpose, but we must understand that we are not under it.

To Romans 7:13 now, where we read,

Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Paul asks, “If the law is good, did it cause death?” Again he says no. Romans 7 reminds us that even though we’re no longer servants of sin (as Romans 6 pointed out), sin is still present in us. We’re saved from the penalty of sin and the power of sin but not yet from the presence of sin.

The law helps us see that. The problem is not the law but sin. Romans 5:12 already taught that death comes by sin, not by the law. The law simply shows where sin is.

This is why Romans 7 is controversial for Christians who think the law still guides their walk, or who think Christians should never struggle with sin. Paul openly describes the reality of sin working in him. He teaches that sin is not just “out there” in the world; it’s in us saved people as well.

When Romans 7:13 says, “But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good,” it’s showing that sin uses the good commandment to show its true nature. If sin were not present, the law would produce life and righteousness. But because sin is in us, the commandment brings guilt and condemnation. The law shines a light on sin, making it quote “exceedingly sinful.” Just as we used as an example in the last episode of opening curtains in a dirty room. The light doesn’t create the dirt—it reveals it.

Without the law, sin seems harmless, and people live as if nothing is wrong. But when the law says, “This is wrong,” sin is exposed. The law makes sin obvious. So when the good law meets a sinful person and death results, we do not blame the law. The problem is sin in us, and that’s Paul’s point: the law is good, but sin is the real evil working death in us.

Now to Romans 7:14 where Paul says,

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The law is spiritual because it comes from God and reaches into the inner man. It’s not only outward rules but deals with the heart. The first commandment was to love God, and that’s something that can’t be faked outwardly. David said in Psalm 19:7–9 that the law is perfect, pure, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes.

God’s law touches the soul, not just behaviour.

Hebrews 4:12 also shows this,

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Paul experienced this when the command “Thou shalt not covet” revealed lust inside him. Coveting is an inward sin that can’t be seen externally. The law shines a light on the hidden parts of the heart, making sin visible. Nothing is hidden from God’s sight.

So when Paul says the law is spiritual, he means it is good, godly, and penetrating. This matters in Romans 7 because Paul is showing that sin is still present in us, even after salvation, and the law exposes how deep that sin runs in our flesh.

Then Paul says in verse 14, “I am carnal.”

This is where controversy begins. He’s not speaking about humanity in general but about himself personally—the apostle of grace, the writer of Romans and nearly a quarter of the New Testament of the Bible.

This challenges the idea that saints are people who never or seldom sin.

Paul openly admits his flesh is carnal. This raises the question: is Paul describing himself before salvation or after? Some argue he must be speaking of his past because Romans 6 teaches that believers are free from sin’s dominion. How could a saved man say he is “sold under sin” if he’s free from sin’s dominion?

But Paul speaks in the present tense: “I am carnal.” Earlier in the chapter he used past tense (“I was alive,” “when I was”), but here he speaks of his current state. Some claim only an unsaved person could say they’re “sold under sin,” since believers are redeemed. Yet Paul insists this is his ongoing struggle.

Carnal means fleshly, natural, opposed to what’s spiritual. Paul’s drawing a distinction between the flesh and the spirit, between the old man and the new man. Romans 6 describes who we are in Christ: dead to sin, alive to God, servants of righteousness.

Romans 7 teaches us to discern the difference between our identity in Christ and the sin still present in our flesh. If a believer sees sin in himself and does not understand this contrast, he may think his identity as a saint is ruined. But our identity is not based on performance; it’s based on Christ’s work.

So Paul’s statement “I am carnal” is not denying his salvation. It’s acknowledging that while he’s spiritually alive in Christ, his flesh is still sinful. Romans 7 teaches believers to recognise this reality without losing sight of who they are in Christ. Sin is present in us, but God doesn’t identify us by the flesh. We must learn to discern flesh from spirit so that the presence of sin does not destroy our confidence in God’s grace.

In Romans 7:17, Paul makes the statement, “It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

This raises questions because Paul is saved, forgiven, and justified, yet he says sin still dwells in him. In verse 18 he adds, “In my flesh dwells no good thing.” Some argue this must describe Paul before salvation, because a saved person has Christ and the Spirit. They say a believer should be able to perform what is good, and a believer would not call himself “wretched” (verse 24).

Holiness groups teach that Christians must maintain their standing with God through behaviour, and that sin is removed from the believer. So when Paul says he is “sold under sin” and “wretched,” they conclude he must be speaking of his past or of losing fellowship somehow.

They often quote Hebrews 12:14,

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

The trouble here is interpreting holiness to be personal performance. They see the Christian life as the Spirit helping us to obey the law, similar to the New Covenant promises to Israel. But Paul’s describing a different walk in Romans 7–8, a walk under grace.

It is not “the Spirit helps us do the law,” but that the Spirit has placed us in Christ where our standing is not based on our performance.

Others argue Paul must be speaking as a saved man because he says things only a regenerate person would say. In Romans 7:12 he calls the law “holy, just, and good.” In verse 16 he agrees with the law. In verse 18 he says he wills to do good. In verse 22 he delights in the law of God in the inward man. They argue an unsaved person would not delight in God’s law or will to do right. This is the opposite side of the controversy.

Both sides use Scripture, but both assume salvation is proven by behaviour or inner desire.

Romans chapters 3–5 have already taught that salvation is by grace, not performance. Paul’s point is not to prove whether he’s saved by his behaviour. He’s showing that even as a saved man, sin is still present in his flesh.

In Romans 6, he taught that believers are free from sin’s dominion and penalty. But in Romans 7 he teaches that sin’s presence remains in our mortal flesh. Christ did not remove our flesh; He saved us from its penalty and power. The flesh is still corrupt, but it no longer defines us.

So when Paul says “I am carnal” and “sold under sin,” he’s describing the condition of his flesh, not his identity in Christ. His new man delights in God’s law, but his flesh still resists it. Grace allows him to acknowledge this honestly without losing his standing. Sin is present, but it cannot condemn him or rule him. Romans 7 teaches believers to discern between flesh and spirit so that the presence of sin does not destroy their confidence in God’s grace.

Scripture clearly shows that saved people can still be carnal. This is not ideal, but it is the reality. In 1 Corinthians 3:1–3, Paul calls the Corinthian believers “brethren,” yet says they are “carnal” and “babes in Christ.” They are saved, but walking like unsaved men—full of envy, strife, and division. Salvation does not automatically change a person’s walk. Romans 6–8 teaches that our walk should change, but the flesh remains present, and believers can still live carnally if they ignore what grace teaches.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we instinctively know that even as a Christian, and just like Paul, we cannot do right all the time. If we look at our minds, our thought life, as well as our physical actions, we know we can’t live up to the law’s standard. This is the very thing that makes us aware of how much we need God’s grace. To deny, especially to ourselves, that we still sin now we’re a Christian is the ultimate self-deception. The question is not whether we still sin but what’s the answer to it, and Paul’s letters explain that in great detail.

So saved people may still be carnal, but people who love the law may still be lost. Wanting to obey the law is not proof of salvation. Galatians 3:3 rebukes those who began in the Spirit but tried to be perfected by the flesh. It says,

Are ye [the Galatians] so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

The Galatians trusted Christ, then turned to the law for sanctification, showing they did not understand grace. Paul questions whether they truly grasped the gospel. The Corinthians abused grace; the Galatians doubted grace. Both errors show why Paul must teach the difference between flesh and spirit.

Romans 7 is the first place Paul applies this distinction to himself. He says, “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” He’s acknowledging the flesh still present in him. Galatians 4:11 and Galatians 5:4 warn that those who seek justification or sanctification through the law fall from grace. They didn’t lose salvation; they lost the ability to walk in the knowledge and peace of grace.

If we think our standing with God depends on our behaviour, we don’t understand grace. Grace justifies, sanctifies, keeps, and completes the believer in Christ.

So when Paul says “I am carnal” and “sold under sin,” he’s describing the Christian struggle, not denying his salvation. He resolves this struggle in Romans 7:25:

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Only a saved person can say that. In Romans 8:1–2, he explains that there is no condemnation for those in Christ who walk after the Spirit. The Spirit of life in Christ has made him free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:23 adds that believers still wait for the redemption of their bodies. Our bodies were not changed at salvation; they remain mortal and corrupted by Adam’s sin. Christ saved us from sin’s penalty and power, but not yet from its presence.

So “sold under sin” refers to the flesh, not the new creature in Christ. We live in a present evil world, and our mortal flesh still carries sin’s corruption. Sin is present, but it cannot condemn us or rule us. Romans 3–6 taught that sin is damnable and that believers are no longer servants of sin. Romans 7 teaches that despite that, sin is still present in us. Romans 8 teaches how to respond: not with self‑condemnation or law‑keeping, but by walking after the Spirit where there is no condemnation.

Because sin remains in our flesh, the law cannot justify or sanctify us. The law only exposes that sin. Grace must justify and sanctify. Christ is our righteousness and sanctification, as 1 Corinthians 1:30 says. Sin works death in our flesh, yet we’re told to bring our bodies under subjection because we’ve been liberated from sin. This creates a conflict inside us: sin dwells in our flesh, but we belong to Christ. Paul describes this conflict personally: “That which I do, I allow not… what I hate, that do I.” The law shows the failure, but can’t fix it. Only grace can.

Romans 7:15–16 shows Paul’s incredible struggle, the same struggle as ours,

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

What he wants to do, he does not do; and what he hates, he ends up doing. He’s testifying to his will—his desire to obey what is good and right—yet his flesh resists him. This is the same battle every honest Christian faces. The conflict is not in the Spirit but in the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit, there is no battle; the battle exists only when the flesh acts.

Paul teaches that our flesh is corrupt, like a broken vehicle that we still have to drive. Christ purchased our bodies as instruments for His service, but the flesh itself remains weak and unreliable. Galatians 5:13 warns believers not to use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh. Liberty from the law does not mean sin is harmless. We must know what sin is without putting ourselves under the law’s condemnation.

Galatians 5:16–17 explains the same struggle:

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

This matches Paul’s words in Romans 7. The saved person has a new man who desires righteousness, but the flesh still pulls in the opposite direction. Romans 6 taught that the old man is crucified and sin’s power is broken, yet sin’s presence remains in our mortal flesh.

Paul separates his inner desire from his outward actions. The “want to” comes from the inward man; the “doing” comes from the flesh. James 1 shows that sin begins with inward temptation before it becomes outward action.

Romans 6 focused on changing how we think of ourselves in Christ. Romans 7 shows the reality that sin is still present in what we do.

Paul hates the sin he commits. This is where every Christian must stand. We cannot excuse sin or pretend it is harmless. We must acknowledge sin as sin without placing ourselves under the law’s condemnation. When Paul says he does what he hates, he’s agreeing with the law that the law is good. He joins the law in condemning the sin in himself. This is the right response: to stand with God’s law against sin, even when it’s found in us.

The law judges actions, not intentions. Even if Paul did not want to sin, the law still exposes the sin in his flesh. This is how he knows his flesh is “sold under sin.” His inner man desires righteousness, but his flesh acts opposite to that desire. This conflict proves that sin still dwells in his flesh, not in his new identity in Christ.

Christians must acknowledge this truth. If we begin to think sin is “not that bad,” we drift into dangerous territory. Sin remains corrupt and destructive. Its presence in us does not mean we are unsaved or unspiritual; our response to sin reveals our spirituality. We must recognise sin, hate it, and walk after the Spirit where there is no condemnation. The law cannot justify or sanctify us because sin is still present in our flesh. Only grace can. Christ is our righteousness and sanctification.

Paul’s struggle is the Christian struggle: liberated from sin’s power, yet still living in mortal flesh where sin dwells. The conflict between flesh and spirit is real, and Romans 7 teaches us how to understand it so we can walk in the Spirit without losing confidence in God’s grace.

Christians must never grow comfortable with sin. Even though we are saved by grace and freed from sin’s penalty and dominion, sin itself is still terrible. Grace teaches us to live righteously, and because Christ died for our sins, sin should be disgusting to us—even though it’s still found in our flesh. Paul knows his flesh is a slave to sin, and in Romans 7:17 he says,

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

He is separating his true identity in Christ from the sin that remains in his flesh.

Calvinists often misunderstand this passage by assuming the problem must be in Paul’s willpower. But Paul shows he genuinely wants to do good; the problem is not his desire but the sin in his flesh. Verse 18, Romans 7:18, explains it clearly:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Sin dwells in the flesh, not in the regenerated spirit. His spirit is quickened, his soul is saved, and his flesh belongs to God—but sin still resides in that flesh.

This truth helps us understand death and glorification. When we die, we put off the mortal flesh where sin dwells. Sin’s penalty and power are already removed in Christ, and at death its presence is finally gone. Paul teaches believers to separate who they are in Christ from the sinful flesh they still carry.

Colossians 2:11 describes this spiritual separation:

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

believers are “circumcised… in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.”

Christ has legally separated us from the flesh, even though we still live in it. Our flesh sits beside us every day, but it is not who we are. One part of us will die forever; the other will live forever in Christ.

Some Christians wrongly believe sin is eradicated at salvation. This leads either to excusing sin or redefining sin as something harmless. Paul warns against this. We must acknowledge sin’s presence so we don’t become blind to it. Denying sin leads to spiritual confusion and moral compromise.

We saw in verse 18, “In me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing.”

A saved person can say this about their flesh. Christ and the Spirit do not dwell in our flesh; they dwell in us spiritually. Our flesh will die, but Christ in us will never die. The old man is destroyed in terms of power, yet we still wrestle with him because sin remains present.

Roman 7:18-19 says,

…for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

You see, he wants to do good, but he cannot always perform it because the flesh interferes. In this way, the saved person resembles the unbeliever: both lack the ability to perform righteousness in the flesh. The difference is that the believer has hope, forgiveness, and a new identity in Christ.

This helps us minister grace. We don’t walk around as glorified beings; we walk in the same flesh as everyone else, yet with the peace and assurance of salvation. We can say to the unbeliever, “I struggle just as you do, but Christ has saved me.” We’re both mortal and eternal, and we’re both dying in the flesh, yet as a believer I’m alive forever in Christ.

Paul concludes that salvation must be by grace, because our flesh cannot perform righteousness. If salvation depended on performance, God would have given us the ability to perform perfectly. But He didn’t. Instead, He saved us freely by grace. The New Covenant will require performance; the mystery of Christ does not.

Again, Romans 7:19 says,

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

He wants righteousness, but the flesh resists. This is the Christian struggle: sin present in the flesh, righteousness present in the inward man, and grace teaching us how to walk in the Spirit despite the conflict.

Paul continues in Romans 7:20 by confessing honestly that although he wants to do good, he often ends up doing the evil he hates. This is not a confession to gain forgiveness—he already has abundant grace in Christ. Instead, he’s describing the real struggle between flesh and spirit so believers can learn how to walk after the Spirit. If we can’t admit the same truth about ourselves, we’re not seeing ourselves clearly through God’s Word.

Paul’s showing that the Christian life requires recognising the flesh and how it lusts against the Spirit, as Galatians 5:17 explains,

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

So we’ve got to learn to identify what comes from the flesh and what comes from the Spirit. Only then can we feed the Spirit and starve the flesh. Walking after the Spirit brings no condemnation; focusing on the flesh only leads to failure and guilt.

Paul hasn’t mentioned the Holy Spirit yet in Romans 7. He’s first identifying the problem: the flesh cannot perform righteousness. If we try to keep the law through the flesh, we will end in despair, saying as Paul does in Romans 7:24,

O wretched man that I am!

But if we see ourselves in Christ, we have something else to look at—our new identity, our freedom, and the Spirit’s work.

Under grace, the flesh does not perform. Christ performed the work to save us, and Romans 8 will show that the Holy Spirit performs the work in us. Our flesh remains broken. This is why we need God’s grace every day. When our flesh fails, we can say that that’s typical of flesh—thank God for His grace.

Romans 20–21 concludes that sin dwells in his flesh, and believers must acknowledge the same,

Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

This is separating two laws: the law in our members that brings us into captivity, and the law in our mind that serves God. This teaches us where to walk—after the mind of Christ, not after the flesh.

Out of the Spirit come good things; out of the flesh come bad things. We must learn to walk in the Spirit, and that is possible because Christ is in us. Romans 7 shows the conflict; Romans 8 shows the solution.

Paul’s honesty helps us understand our own condition. If we focus only on the flesh, we’ll see failure and condemnation. But if we focus on who we are in Christ, we see freedom, righteousness, and hope. The Christian life is learning to walk according to the Spirit while recognising that sin still dwells in our flesh. We don’t deny sin, or excuse it, or pretend it’s gone—we acknowledge it, hate it, and walk in the Spirit where there’s no condemnation.

Until the next episode, may God give us all a deep understanding of the sin within us and the solution – walking in the Spirit.