The Law, he says, did not become death for me, but sin put me to death, so that it would become clear what an evil sin is, and that despite the healing provided by the Law, it became worse. And by sin, as we said above, understand both the will inclined toward pleasure, and the inclination toward sin, and therefore the devil, and the very activity driven by pleasure. Thanks be to Christ, who freed us from such evil!
Rom. 7:13. Sin becomes exceedingly sinful by means of the commandment.
What a ruin sin is, this was revealed through the commandment; for sin took advantage of the commandment unto death. So also concerning a disease, when it through medical remedies comes to a worse condition, one can say that it revealed its malignancy by means of the medical art, although it received no benefit from it.
Rom. 7:14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
The Apostle said that sin was revealed through the commandment. Therefore, lest you think that the law is the cause of sin, he pronounces a general verdict and says: "for we know that the law is spiritual." It is known to all, he says, and acknowledged by all, that the law is by no means the cause of sin, but that it is "spiritual," that is, an instructor of virtue and an enemy of vice. From what, then, did sin arise under so wonderful an instructor? From the negligence and weakness of the disciples. For "I," he says, "am carnal," which means: all of human nature, both before the giving of the law and during the time of the law, was filled with a multitude of passions; for as a consequence of Adam's transgression, we not only became mortal, but our nature acquired passions, gave itself over to sin, and became a slave, so that it could not even lift its head.
Rom. 7:15. For I do not understand what I do.
Here he speaks not of complete ignorance, for if they sinned in ignorance, then for what would they be punished? What then does he say? I remain in darkness, I am carried away, I do not know how sin carries me away. Therefore, when he says: "I do not understand," he indicates not ignorance of what ought to be done, but dangers, snares, seduction, enticement. All this he says about people who lived before the coming of Christ in the flesh, although he presented himself.
Rom. 7:15. I do not do what I want.
So he expresses himself instead of the following: for the people of that time did not do what they wanted. In expressing himself this way, he does not suggest necessity or compulsion. But what does he say? This: what they did not approve of, what they did not accept, what they did not love, that they did. For further on he adds:
Rom. 7:15. But what I hate, that I do.
Do you see that he introduces neither compulsion nor necessity? For otherwise he would have added: what I am compelled to by necessity, that I do. But he did not say this; rather, he says: "what I hate." How then did evil arise? Through enticement, through the weakness that they had from Adam's transgression. This weakness the law could not heal, although it did say what one ought to do; Christ healed it when He came. So then, in everything that the apostle has said and intends to say, his purpose is to demonstrate that human nature had come into an incurable state and that no one would heal it except Christ.
Rom. 7:16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
That the law is good, he says, is evident from the fact that I naturally know what ought to be done, and that my reason is not impaired, even though I give myself over to vice.
Rom. 7:17. And so it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwelling in me.
Rom. 7:18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells.
He did not say that the flesh does this, but "sin," that is, the tyranny of sin that drags me along. What then do those babble who arm themselves against the flesh and exclude it from the number of God's creations? They object: the apostle says, "there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, anything good." Listen in what sense he said this. Man consists of two parts: the soul and the flesh; of these, the first, that is, the soul, rules over everything, while the flesh is a servant. Therefore the expression "there dwells not in my flesh anything good" means: it does not lie in the power of the flesh, but in the power of the soul; whatever the soul chooses, the flesh does. It is just as if someone were to say that harmonious sound is not in the harp but in the harpist — he does not disparage the harp, but shows the superiority of the musician over the instrument.
Rom. 7:18. The desire for good is in me, but to do it, that I do not find.
Rom. 7:19. For the good that I wish to do, I do not do, but the evil that I do not wish to do, that I do.
Rom. 7:20. But if I do that which I do not wish, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
By the words "I do not find" he indicated the assault and scheming of sin; for he removes the blame both from the essence of the soul and from the essence of the flesh, and ascribes everything to vicious activity and will. When he says, "which I do not want," he removes the blame from the soul, and when he says, "it is no longer I who do it," he removes the blame from the body. Who then does evil? Sin, which, according to John Chrysostom, is a vicious and sin-loving will. And this will is not a creation of God, but our own movement. The will in itself is a creation of God; but the will directed toward a particular end is something of our own, an act of our free choice. It was said above what sin is, that is, the tyranny of sin, which carries away our mind through pleasure.
Rom. 7:21. So then I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
The expression is unclear; something is lacking in it. It should have said: so then, when I wish to do good, I find the law to be my defender, yet I do not do the good, because evil is present with me. The meaning of the present passage is this: the knowledge of good has been implanted in me from the beginning; I also find that the law defends it, and praises it, and I desire to do good, but I am drawn in by some other force, and evil is present with me, that is, the working of evil is not destroyed in me. However, St. John Chrysostom, having interpreted the present passage as incomplete, suggests that it can also be understood differently, namely thus: I find that the law was given not to anyone else, but to me who wishes to do good; for the law is a law only for those who wish to do good, since it desires the same thing that they also desire. This will be made clear from what follows.
Rom. 7:22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man;
Rom. 7:23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
I knew the good even before the law, and when I find it depicted in writings, I praise the law and agree with it "according to the inner man," or according to my mind. "But I see another law," that is, sin, which he called a law because those deceived by it submit to it and are afraid to abandon it, as a law that must be fulfilled. This law wars against "the law of my mind," that is, the natural law (above he called it the inner man, and now he clearly calls it the mind), and prevails, even making me a captive, conquering both the natural and the written law. In what way does it make one a captive? By "the law of sin," that is, by force, by tyranny. He did not say: by the attraction of the flesh, or by the nature of the flesh, but by "the law of sin" dwelling in my members. Therefore, the flesh is not to blame for this. If a robber occupies a royal palace, the palace is in no way to blame for that. So it is here: if sin dwells in my members, the flesh is not evil because of this. Some discern here four laws: one is God's law, which taught us what is proper; another is the opposing law, which comes to us through the activity of the devil; the third is the law of the mind, that is, the natural law; the last is the one residing in our members, that is, the sin-loving disposition and inclination toward evil, which through habit make us insensible and hardened of heart.