So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
Parallel translations
- KJV Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
- BSB In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
- NKJV But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
- NASB But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.
- NLT So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul concludes that it is no longer he himself but indwelling sin that produces these actions. He distinguishes his renewed will from the sin still resident in him.
Overview
Paul locates the source of his failures in 'sin which dwells in me,' not in his deepest renewed self. This is not an evasion of responsibility but a recognition of the principle of sin still lodged in the flesh. The statement assumes a self at odds with sin, which many take as evidence of a regenerate speaker.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rom 7:20But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
- Rom 7:18For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
- Phil 3:8–9Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
- Jas 4:5–6Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
- 2 Cor 8:12For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have.
- Rom 4:7–8“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- Rom 7:23but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 7:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.