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And why do I do the evil I do not want to do?
A commentary on Romans 7:14-25

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. [1] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.
20 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.
21 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! 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. (Romans 7:14-25 NIV)

[18] Or my flesh

"As can be seen from the use of the present tense, the "I" in vv. 14-25 is no longer Paul before his conversion, but rather after it: and it also stands for all mankind redeemed by Christ's grace. Here we have a vivid description of the interior struggle which everyone experiences, Christians included. These words are in line with something we are all well aware of: in our bodies there is a "law", an inclination, which fights against the law of our spirit (cf. v. 23), that is, against the spiritual good which God's grace causes us to desire. The very expression "the law of sin which dwells in my members" emphasizes how strenuously our senses, appetites and passions try to reject the dictates of the spirit; however, the spirit can gain the upper hand. The Church's teaching is that Baptism does not take away a person's inclination to sin (fomes peccati), concupiscence: he or she still experiences a strong desire for earthly or sensual pleasure. "Since it [concupiscence] is left to provide a trial, it has no power to injure those who do not consent and who, by the grace of Christ Jesus, manfully resist".

The Jews were able to keep the Law of Moses only through the help of divine grace granted them in anticipation of the merits of Christ. Without grace they were like slaves, "sold under sin" (v. 14). After Christ, a person who rejects the Redemption is in a similar position, for "in the state of corrupt nature man needs grace to heal his nature and enable him to avoid sin entirely. In this present life this healing is brought about in his mind [the spiritual part of man]: the carnal appetite is not completely healed. Hence the Apostle (Rom 7:25) says of the person healed by grace, 'I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.' In this state a person can avoid mortal sin ('deadly sin' - 1 John 5:16) ... but he cannot avoid all venial sin ('sin that is not deadly' - 1 John 5:17), due to the corruption of his sensual appetite"

Hence our need for God's help if we are to persevere in virtue; hence also our need to make a genuine personal effort to be faithful. . . .even after Baptism man is subject to various disabilities, including concupiscence [because] God has willed that death and suffering, which originate in sin, remain part of our lot, thereby enabling us to attain mystical and real union with Christ, who chose to undergo suffering and death; and, likewise, we still have concupiscence, and experience bodily weakness etc. 'that in them we may have the seed and material of virtue from which we shall hereafter receive a more abundant harvest of glory and more ample rewards'.... 'Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?' The cry is Saint Paul's. -- Courage: he too had to fight"....

v.14 After original sin, man was subject to his passions and exposed to the continuous assault of concupiscence--"sold under sin". Healed by Christ's grace in Baptism, he is free from this slavery, but not totally so: there is still this inclination to sin, and his enslavement grows the more he sins. On the other hand, if he responds to grace, he becomes ever more free. 'Just think: the Almighty, who through His providence rules the whole universe, does not want the forced service of slaves; he prefers to have children who are free. Although we are born...inclined to sin due to the fall of our first parents, He has placed in the soul of each and every one of us a spark of infinite intelligence, an attraction towards the good, a yearning for everlasting peace. And He brings us to understand that we will attain truth, happiness and freedom if we strive [with the help of His grace] to make this seed of eternal life grow in our hearts'."

Navarre Bible Commentary