Romans 7:23. But I see a different law. Not simply ‘another,' but a ‘different,' one; comp. Galatians 1:6-7. Paul represents himself as witnessing the conflict within his own person.

In my members. To be joined with Maw. This does not mean ‘in my flesh,' i.e., carnal nature, over against my renewed nature, but points to the members or the body, as the locality where the working of the opposing law is most evident. It is not implied that these members are the sole seat of sin. This is unpauline, whether applied to the regenerate or to the unregenerate.

Warring against the law of my mind. The conflict is against the law of God, not as such, but as having the locality of its operation in the ‘mind.' This term refers to the higher part of man's nature, or spirit; here regarded in its practical activity. This does not mean the unfallen human spirit, there being no trace of such a notion in the New Testament. Nor on the other hand is ‘mind' here equivalent to renewed nature. In that case we would find some hint of the Holy Spirit's influence. So far as a man is living under the law, the best that his ‘mind' can do for him is to present a powerless opposition to the law in the members.

Bringing me into captivity, ‘taking me prisoner,' under the law of sin. ‘In' is the literal sense. The sense is not materially altered by this change of reading. The law in the members is the warrior that takes the captive, the law of sin is the victor under whom the captive is held; the two laws are practically identical. A wretched condition (Romans 7:24), but some recognition of it is a necessary preliminary to deliverance.

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Old Testament