In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Parallel translations
- WEB So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
- KJV Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
- 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 7:20And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
- Rom 7:18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Phil 3:8–9More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Jas 4:5–6Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- 2 Cor 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
- Rom 4:7–8“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- Rom 7:23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
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.