Romans 7:16-24

¹⁶Since I do the evil things that I do not want to do, I agree that the laws of God are good.

¹⁷So, it is not that I do evil things because I wish to do them. Instead, what happens is that I do sinful things because the desire to sin causes me to do them. The desire to sin ◄is within/permeates► me PRS.

¹⁸I know that my self-directed nature will not let me PRS do anything that is good. I know this because I want to do what is good, but I do not do what is good.

¹⁹I do not do the good things that I want to do. Instead, it is evil things that I do not want to do that I do.

²⁰Because I do evil things that I do not want to do, it is not that I do evil things because I want to. Instead, I do them because my self-directed nature, which permeates me PRS, causes me to do them.

²¹I find, then, that what always happens is that when I want to do what is good, there is an evil desire present within me that PRS prevents me from doing good.

²²With my new inner nature I like the laws of God very much.

²³Nevertheless, I sense that there is a different force that is in ◄my body/me► PRS, SYN. It is opposed to what with my mind I desire to do MET, and it puts me inescapably under the control of MET the sinful desires that I have SYN.

²⁴When I consider this, I feel that I am a very wretched person. I want someone to set me free from the control of what my body desires, in order that I might not be separated from God. RHQ I also think that what I have experienced is the same as what all believers experience.