Bible Strands
Romans 7:17
In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Roman believers while tracing the mechanics of moral failure under the law. He speaks at the moment of acknowledging a repeated pattern: choosing good but executing the opposite.
The words — The text foregrounds οὐκέτι (ouketi), literally "no longer," and κατεργάζομαι (katergazomai), literally "am producing" or "am working out." These terms mark a grammatical separation between the speaker's conscious will and the action being carried out.
The thread — The identical formula reappears in Romans 7:20, while Romans 7:18 immediately follows with the admission that nothing good dwells in the flesh. The passage intersects with Philippians 3:8 through the shared theme of abandoning former standing.
Why it lands — The text states that the actor performing the unwanted deed is sin residing within, not the conscious self. It requires the reader to acknowledge this distinction without attributing moral agency to the flesh or excusing the action.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Cross-references
- Romans 7:20 And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
- Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- James 4:5 Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Romans 4:7 “Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- Romans 7:23 But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
- 2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.