Audio commentary on this verse

Note 2 at Rom. 7:17: As already stated in note 9 at Romans 5:21, page 775, this sin is not speaking of an individual act of sin, but of the "old man" or "sin nature" itself. This looks like a direct contradiction of Paul's statements in Romans 6 about the old man being dead (see note 6 at Rom. 6:4, p. 777).

To harmonize these apparently opposite accounts, most people have said that the death spoken of in Romans 6 is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Experience and Paul's testimony here seem to bear that out.

However, Romans 6:9,10, and 11 make a specific point of comparing our death to sin to Christ's death to sin. Verse 10 clearly states that Christ died unto sin once (see note 11 at Rom. 6:9, p. 780) and verse 11 says we should likewise reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin (see note 1 at Rom. 6:11, p. 779). To further strengthen this point, Paul begins Romans 7 with the illustration of marriage (see note 3 at Rom. 7:2, p. 785). In the same way that a woman cannot have two husbands, a Christian cannot have two natures (see note 4 at Rom. 7:3, p. 785).

So, in context, there is a very strong case for our old man being dead in the absolute sense. But, what about Paul's statements in verses 17 and 20 about sin dwelling in him? The key is in verse 23 where Paul speaks of a law (influence) of sin that dwelt in his members, not sin itself (see note 5 at Rom. 7:23 below).

Therefore, this passage is referring to the force or influence of the old man, which does still exist, but not the old man himself. The argument for the complete abolishment of the sin nature is further strengthened in verse 24 (see note 2 at that verse, p. 792) where Paul refers to "the body of this death" which is referring to the same thing that Paul spoke of in Romans 6:6 where he used the terminology "the body of sin" (see note 8 at Rom. 6:6, p. 778).