[metmom]

Been there, done that.

Matter of fact, still there way too many times.

Some people think that chapter 7 describes Paul before he was saved, but I disagree.

A saved person isn’t going to be that tormented over sin. Chapter 8 is the reassurance that we are not condemned even when we feel like it.

Just my opinion.

[Mr. Douglas]

Some people think that chapter 7 describes Paul before he was saved, but I disagree.

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Yep, and we are in agreement. For starters, he does not use past tense. There are a LOT of beliefs people have about scripture that forces the reader to deviate from the plain meaning of the words used in the Bible. Not all of the bible is raw symbolism like Revelation.

And oddly, many people, to re-enforce their beliefs, will take a “symbolic language” approach to the rest of the new testament while reading Revelation literally. If it were not so serious, it would be funny.

[.45 Long Colt]

Exactly, lost men aren’t under conviction of sin. Those under that conviction are those who have been given a new heart. I’ve read those who adopt a different understanding of Romans 7 and never found them persuasive. Paul was clearly writing about the believer’s ongoing war with his old sin nature.

I question anyone who claims Christ who doesn’t also believe they still deal with their old nature. As soon as I believe I’ve mortified one aspect of sin in my life my eyes are opened to another manifestation of sin. It’s never-ending. I know exactly what Paul was experiencing in verse 24 when he wrote, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”