Who is the "I" in Romans 7:7-25?

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Paul says he cannot understand his own actions. There is much controversy over exactly who Paul is referring to in this passage. Throughout verses 7-25, he uses the personal pronoun I. In his amazing commentary, Douglas Moo lays out the four main views.

1. The autobiographical direction. Paul is describing his experience as a Jew under the law, his immediate post-conversion struggle with the law, or his struggle to obey the law as a Christian.

2. The Adamic direction. Paul is referring to Adam in his description of the struggle with sin and the law.

3. The Israel direction. Paul describes the continuing situation of Jews under the Mosaic law.

4. The existential direction. Paul describes nobody in particular and everybody in general. 

Despite the controversy on who the I is, the main point is that the sin indwelling man is the problem. The law highlights that problem and prepares us for the remedy, which is the person and work of Jesus Christ. The main point, therefore, is that our righteousness cannot come from inside of us, wicked as we are. It must come from somewhere outside. And that’s the good news of the gospel. We can’t save ourselves so God saves us through Jesus Christ.

Personally, I believe Paul is taking the autobiographical direction in these verses. He is speaking about himself. Why use I if you’re not talking about yourself? Paul is such a clear writer elsewhere, qualifying his manner of speech. For instance, in 6:19 he says, “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.” He qualifies his argument so as to be crystal clear. If he was meaning someone different than himself in 7:7-25, I believe he would have qualified it there as well. But he doesn’t.

Assuming Paul is referring to himself in this passage, the question then is what stage of his life he is talking about. There are two primary views here: the unregenerate self and the regenerate self. Let me explain each before I explain my position.

THE TWO AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL VIEWS

Among modern commentators and scholars, no one today makes the case for the unregenerate view as strongly as Douglas Moo. His commentary is considered one of the best modern commentaries on the book of Romans. I will summarize his arguments below for both views.

The case for the unregenerate Paul:

1. The strong connection of I with the flesh (vv. 14, 18, 25) suggests that Paul is elaborating on the unregenerate condition mentioned in 7:5 being “in the flesh.”

2. I throughout this passage struggles “on his/her own” without the aid of the Holy Spirit. For example, in verse 25, he uses the phrase, “I myself.”

3. I is under the power of sin (v. 14)—a state from which every believer is released (6:2, 6, 11, 18-22).

4. As the unsuccessful struggle of vv. 15-20 shows, I is a “prisoner of the law of sin” (v. 23). Yet Romans 8:2 proclaims that believers have been set free from this same “law of sin (and death).”

5. While Paul makes clear that believers will continue to struggle with sin (eg. 6:12-13, 13:12-14, Gal. 5:17), what is depicted in 7:14-25 is not just a struggle with sin but a defeat by sin. This is a more negative view of the Christian life than can be accommodated within Paul’s theology.

6. The I in these verses struggles with the need to obey the Mosaic law; yet Paul has already proclaimed the release of the believer from the dictates of the law (6:14, 7:4-6).

The case for the regenerate Paul:

1. I must refer to Paul himself, and the shift from past tense of vv. 7-13 to the present tense of vv. 14-25 can be explained only if Paul is describing in those latter verses his present experience as a Christian.

2. Only the regenerate truly “delight in God’s law” (v. 22), seek to obey it (vv. 15-20), and “serve” it (v. 25). The unregenerate do not “seek after God” (3:11) and cannot “submit to the law of God” (8:7).

3. Whereas the “mind” of people outside of Christ is universally presented by Paul as opposed to God and his will (Rom. 1:28, Eph. 4:17, Col. 2:18, 1 Tim. 6:5, 2 Tim. 3:8, Tit. 2:15), the “mind” of I in this text is a positive medium, by which I “serves the law of God” (vv. 22, 25).

4. I must be a Christian because only a Christian possesses the “inner person.” Paul’s only other two uses of the phrase in 2 Cor. 4:15, Eph. 3:16 prove this.

5. The passage concludes after Paul’s mention of the deliverance wrought by God in Christ with a reiteration of the divided state of the I (vv. 24-25). This shows that the division and struggle of the I that Paul depicts in these verses is that of the person already saved by God in Christ.

WILL THE REAL PAUL PLEASE STAND UP?

So who is Paul talking about, assuming the autobiographical view is the right one?

I remain unconvinced of the unregenerate view. My problem is that as I read Romans 7:7-25, I feel a bond with Paul in this struggle today. I do not look at this as my past experience but as my present reality. If this is an unregenerate Paul, then I have very little hope for my regenerate self. I still fight to do what I want to do and not do what I do not want to do. I still give in to sin. I still want to sin. I also follow Jesus and I certainly want Jesus. It seems to me that the unregenerate view is reconciling a problem not meant to be reconciled. As Martin Luther said, we are simul justus et peccator—we are simultaneously justified yet sinful.

Furthermore, the regenerate Paul interpretation gives me great hope. It makes Romans 8:1 all the more powerful. “For there is therefore now no condemnation for this in Christ Jesus.” Despite my struggle with sin, I am not condemned. I have peace with God in Christ right now. That applies to today and every day until the end. I never lose my standing with God because Jesus did all the work to secure me forever in God’s love.

Hermeneutical approach aside, Romans 7:7-25 has much to teach us about the purpose of the law. So, whatever position you ultimately take, be careful not to make this passage about the scholarly pursuit of Paul’s rhetorical style, but of the death to the law that Jesus Christ affects in the life of the Christian. The main point is not to settle on who the I is. The main point is to settle on what Christ has done.