Summary
Paul now proceeds to evaluate the situation in which he finds himself (along with every other Christian):
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
We have noted at a number of places the care required to catch the proper meaning of the Greek noun nomos. It occurs five times in verses 21 to 23, and each time our translators have rendered it “law.” That’s not impossibly bad, but Paul seems to intend three slightly different slants on the word.
Distinguishing those meanings will enhance our understanding of Paul’s emphasis. Let’s look at the five instances individually, to determine the meaning that fits in each context, and then reassemble the section.
Paul says, “I find this [nomos] at work.” The apostle has indicated in the previous verses that the combination of old Adam and new self within him is not something he can change. It’s a fixed principle that sets a pattern, or scheme, in his life. Hence Paul sees in his life the pattern that although he wants to do good, evil is right there with him.
That pattern causes a tension in Paul’s life because, as he says, “in my inner being I delight in God’s [nomos].” Here the term unquestionably refers to the holy will of God that has been revealed in his Word. Let’s leave the standard translation of law for this instance.
There is a guiding principle, or pattern, in Paul’s life that has him wanting to do God’s will. The apostle, however, continues, “but I see another [nomos] at work in the members of my body.” Alongside the positive impulse, or pattern, there is another pattern. This one, unfortunately, is negative.
This negative pattern is “waging war against the [nomos] of my mind.” Before addressing this version of the term, we need to take another concept into consideration. It’s Paul’s use of terminology for what we have come to call the believer’s “new self.” Paul expresses that concept in various ways. In the previous verse, he used the term “my inner being.” In this verse and the next, he refers to his new self, or inner being, as his “mind.”
Hence Paul now speaks of a negative pattern at work in him that battles against the nomos of his new self. Here Paul is using the term in a third sense (alongside “pattern” and “law”). Here it refers to the force, or control, that Paul’s new self attempts to exert in the struggle against temptation. Unfortunately, the efforts of the new self all too often fall short, and Paul succumbs to the evil at work in the members of his body. Then he becomes a “prisoner of the [nomos] of sin at work within my members.” As in the previous clause, so here too the sense of control fits the context, only this time it is the control exerted by sin.
Let’s go back and reconstruct the sentence, substituting the italicized words from the above commentary wherever forms of nomos occur in the Scripture text. Paul would then be saying, “So I find this pattern at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another pattern at work in the members of my body, waging war against the control my new self tries to exert and making me a prisoner of sin’s control at work within my members.”
In a Christian the real “I” is the new self. This new self delights in the law of God and wants to do God’s will. But sin keeps getting in the way and spoiling the Christian’s best efforts. It is a terrible frustration, one that makes Christians totally miserable. With Paul we cry out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” But for us, as for Paul, there is a solution to the problem. It’s the forgiveness of sin earned by Christ’s perfect sacrifice.
As one who trusts that promise of full and free forgiveness, Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The apostle raises a very similar shout of triumph in his letter to the Corinthians, where we hear him say, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Paul is not despairing. He does, however, close his summary paragraph with a realistic description of himself and every Christian:
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Perfect sanctification is not possible here on earth; that will happen only in heaven.