Romans 7:17

Now then. Gr. nuni, which may be understood either in a temporal sense, meaning “at the present time,” or in a logical sense, “this being the case.” The latter seems more appropriate here (cf. Rom. 7:20; 1 Cor. 14:6).

No more I. The “I” is emphatic in the Greek. By “I” Paul here refers to the “inward man” (v. 22), which is distinguished from another “me” in which sin dwells and which is defined in v. 18 as “my flesh” and in v. 23 as “my members.” Paul does not say this to deny man’s responsibility for sinful acts, but to show the great power of indwelling sin, which asserts itself against his most earnest efforts, and which, if the Christian is off guard, may gain the upper hand. When, in speaking of his labors, Paul says, “not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10), he does not mean that he did not perform the works, but that he performed them under the influence of the grace of God. Likewise, when he says, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20), he means that he was dependent on Christ for the origin and maintenance of his new and better life. So here, he does not excuse himself for violations of the law, but asserts that he did such things under an influence that was no longer the dominant one in his mind.