Bible Strands

Romans 7:21

So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Paul writes to a mixed Jewish-Gentile congregation in Rome, mid-argument about the law's role in exposing human inability. He is pivoting from "sin does it" (v.20) to "I delight in God's law" (v.22).

The words — εὑρίσκω (heuriskō, "I find") marks this as a discovered principle, not a casual observation. νόμον (nomon, "principle/law") is the same word Paul uses for the Mosaic law, here applied to an inner governing rule.

The thread — The same tension appears in Romans 7:23 ("another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind") and finds its resolution in Romans 8:2 ("the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death").

Why it lands — It asks the reader to stop treating moral failure as a character flaw and start seeing it as a structural problem that requires a structural solution. The verse is a diagnosis, not a verdict.

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

εὑρίσκωheuriskōI findἄραarasoτὸνtontheνόμονnomonprincipleτῷtōthat whichθέλοντιthelontiis desiringἐμοὶemoime myselfποιεῖνpoieinto doτὸto<the>καλὸνkalongoodὅτιhotithatἐμοὶemoime myselfτὸto<the>κακὸνkakonevilπαράκειται.parakeitaiis present with.

King James Version

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Cross-references