Albert Barnes on Romans 7:14

We know. We admit. It is a conceded, well-understood point.

That the law is spiritual. This does not mean that the law is designed to control the spirit, in contradistinction from the body, but it is a declaration showing that the evils of which he was speaking were not the fault of the law. That was not, in its nature, sensual, corrupt, earthly, carnal; but was pure and spiritual. The effect described was not the fault of the law, but of the man, who was sold under sin. The word spiritual is often thus used to denote that which is pure and holy, in opposition to that which is fleshly or carnal, Rom 8:5,6; Gal 5:16-23. The flesh is described as the source of evil passions and desires; the spirit as the source of purity, or as that which is agreeable to the proper influences of the Holy Spirit.

But I am. The present tense shows that he is describing himself as he was at the time of writing. This is the natural and obvious construction; and if this be not the meaning, it is impossible to account for his having changed the past tense (Rom 7:7) to the present.

Carnal. Fleshly; sensual; opposed to spiritual. This word is used because in the Scriptures the flesh is spoken of as the source of sensual passions and propensities, Gal 5:19-21. The sense is, that these corrupt passions still retained a strong, and withering, and distressing influence over the mind. The renewed man is exposed to temptations from his strong native appetites; and the power of these passions, strengthened by long habit before he was converted, has travelled over into religion, and they continue still to influence and distress him. It does not mean that he is wholly under their influence; but that the tendency of his natural inclinations is to indulgence.

Sold under sin. This expression is often adduced to show that it cannot be of a renewed man that the apostle is speaking. The argument is, that it cannot be affirmed of a Christian that he is sold under sin. A sufficient answer to this might be, that, IN FACT, this is the very language which Christians often now adopt to express the strength of that native depravity against which they struggle, and that no language would better express it. It does not mean that they choose or prefer sins. It strongly implies that the prevailing bent of their mind is against it, but that such is its strength that it brings them into slavery to it. The expression here used, "sold under sin," is "borrowed from the practice of selling captives taken in war, as slaves." (Stuart.) It hence means to deliver into the power of any one, so that he shall be dependent on his will and control. (Schleusner.) The emphasis is not on the word sold, as if any act of selling had taken place, but the effect was as if he had been sold; i.e., he was subject to it, and under its control, and it means that sin, contrary to the prevailing inclination of his mind, (Rom 7:15-17) had such an influence over him as to lead him to commit it, and thus to produce a state of conflict and grief, Rom 7:19-24. The verses which follow this are an explanation of the sense, and of the manner in which he was "sold under sin."

(s) "sold under sin" 2Kgs 17:17