Audio commentary on this verse

Note 1 at Ro 7:24: Paul was not describing his spiritual condition when he said, "O wretched man that I am!" He was speaking of his flesh (see note 3 at Ro 7:18). He made this distinction clear in Ro 7:18 when he said, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." So as explained in note 1 at Ro 7:15, Paul was describing the absolute wretchedness of his flesh.

Note 2 at Ro 7:24: In context, Paul was summarizing his statements from Ro 7:14-23. He didn't say, "Who shall deliver me from this death?" for the Christian has already been delivered from the death that is the wages of sin (see note 3 at Ro 6:23). He made special mention of the body of this death.

The terminology "the body of this death" corresponds to what Paul called "the body of sin" in Ro 6:6. He was not speaking of the sin nature itself, for a Christian no longer has a sin nature (see note 8 at Ro 6:6), but he was rather speaking of the "old man" or the lingering influence of the sin nature that still exerts itself through the un-renewed mind.

So death, or the "old man," is gone, but the body that it left behind (i.e., the thoughts, attitudes, and emotions) still poses a problem to us as Christians. How do we overcome this flesh (see note 3 at Ro 7:18)? The answer is stated in Ro 7:25 and then explained in Ro 8.