Audio commentary on this verse

Note 2 at Ro 7:17: As already stated in note 9 at Ro 5:21, 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 to Paul's statements in Ro 6 about the old self being dead (see note 6 at Ro 6:4).

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

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

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 here and in Ro 7:20 about sin dwelling in him? The key is in Ro 7:23 where Paul spoke of a law (influence) of sin that dwelt in his members, not sin itself (see note 5 at that verse).

Therefore, this passage is referring to the force or influence of the "old man," which does still exist, but not the "old man" itself. The argument for the complete abolishment of the sin nature is further strengthened in Ro 7:24 (see note 2 at that verse) where Paul referred to "the body of this death." This is referring to the same thing that Paul spoke of in Ro 6:6 where he used the terminology "the body of sin" (see note 8 at that verse).