Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although 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 law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

It was a custom of ancient medieval tyrants when they wished to torture and torment captured enemies, to tie a dead body to them, placing the two back to back. There was the captured, living man with a dead body closely strapped to him, rotting, putrid, and corrupting. And this dead body, the living one, must drag with him wherever he goes in his confinement for weeks and months on end. Though the torment sounds simple enough, carrying around the dead body was found to often drive the living person insane. In a spiritual sense, this is just what a Christian has to do. He has within him new life but often feels that every day he has to drag with him this dead body, his old self, this body of death, a thing as loathsome, as hideous, and as abominable to his new life as a dead, stinking carcass would be to a living man. In the same way, this can drive a person insane or take them back to living in a way they were never intended to live. Instead, we who are new in Christ should cut the old, dead carcass free and live in newfound freedom the way we were created to.

Paul used today's passage to communicate a similar point many deal with even today. He longed to be free from what he referred to as the wretched body of death clinging to him. Within each of us, there is an internal battle within our two selves: the old self and the new self, the flesh and the spirit, the old man and the new man, the man of Law and the man of Grace. We wrestle between what I do that I don't want to do and what I want to do, but I don't do. Paul articulated the struggle of every person and how frustrating and maddening it can be. C.S. Lewis said it like this: "Anyone who has tried to do good is aware of this internal struggle. We never know how hard it is to stop sinning until we try. Certainly, no man knows how bad he really is until he has tried to be good.” Many people excuse sinful desires and actions because they claim these things are a part of their identity and need to be acted on. They would say: "I sin; therefore, I am a sinner. And if I am a sinner, I am free to sin." Paul dispels this flawed argument by stating that the old man is not the real Paul; the old man is dead. Paul would say: "I am created by God, therefore, I am a child of God, and if I am a child of God, I cannot remain in sin because that is no longer who I am." The new man is the real Paul, not the old one. Now, Paul’s challenge (and ours) is to live like how God intended for him to live. We are not our sins. Our sinful behavior does not define us. Our sinful, fallen nature does not make up our identity. Our sexuality is not our identity; our addictions are not our identity; our temptations are not our identity, nor are our failures or insecurities. We are who God tells us we are and nothing more or less.

Paul uses the Greek word "Sarkikos" or "Sarx," which is translated as 'Carnal' or 'Of the flesh'. Paul sees this carnality or fleshly desire in himself and knows that the law, though it is useful as a spiritual tool, has no answer for his carnal nature. Paul, like each of us, is in bondage under sin, and the law cannot help him to be free. He is like a man arrested for a crime and thrown in jail. The law will only help him if he is innocent, but Paul knows he is guilty and that the law argues against him, not for him. Paul’s problem isn’t a lack of desire to do what is right because he truly wants to do what is right. His problem isn’t knowledge either because he knows what the right thing is. Paul's problem is a lack of power to do what is right because the law gives no power. The law says: “Here are the rules, and you had better keep them." But it gives us no power to keep the law. Sin is able to war within us and win because there is no power in ourselves to stop sinning other than our own weak will. Paul, like all of us, is caught in the desperate powerlessness of trying to battle sin in the power of self. Paul is completely worn out and self-described as wretched because of his unsuccessful effort to please God under the principle of Law. Legalism always brings a person face to face with their own weakness and wretchedness. If people continue in legalism, they will react in one of two ways: either they will deny their wretchedness and become self-righteous Pharisees, or they will despair because of their wretchedness and give up following God. The entire tone of the passage communicates to the reader that Paul is desperate for deliverance. He is overwhelmed with a sense of his own powerlessness and sinfulness. We, too, must come to this same place of desperation to find victory outside of our own human limits. Your desire must go beyond a vague hope to be better and holier. We, too, must cry out to the only one who has the power to save. In searching for the answer, Paul finally turns to someone outside of himself. Up to this point, Paul has referred to himself over 40 times in this chapter alone. In the pit of his unsuccessful struggle against sin, Paul became entirely self-focused and self-obsessed. Paul speaks from the position of any believer living under the law, who looks to self and personal performance rather than looking first to Jesus. The words “Who will deliver me?” show that Paul has given up on himself, and he asks “Who will deliver me?” instead of “How will I deliver myself?" Finally, Paul looks outside of himself as savior and unto Jesus. Paul has put Jesus in the right place – as Lord and master of his life. He acknowledges the state of struggle but thanks God for the victory in Jesus. Paul doesn’t pretend that looking to Jesus takes away the struggle but that Jesus works through us in the battle against sin. Jesus didn’t come and die just to give us more or better rules but to live out His victory through those who believe. The message of the gospel is that there is victory over sin, hate, death, and all evil as we surrender our lives to Jesus and let Him live out victory through us. In the end, Paul shows that even though the law is good, it can’t save us – but we still need a Savior. Paul never found any peace until he looked outside of himself and beyond the law as his solution, but instead to his Savior, Jesus Christ.