Romans 7:14-15 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
The law to which Paul refers in this chapter is the commandments and directions God has given. For the Jews, this is in the Torah (and other parts of the Old Testament), and for the Gentiles, the law is written on the conscience through culture, self-awareness, family, reasoning, and so on. The law is God’s guide to peaceful and loving relationships with God other people, and nature. The problem is the self bound by the flesh which seeks fulfillment against God’s direction. The flesh is powerful because we are bound to this decaying world. In our flesh, we are constantly fighting the affects of death. Everything we do physically somehow fights death. This fight becomes a trap and is so deeply engrained in our being that we are not away of it. When we try to obey God, this deep problem causes us to fail. It is a hopeless situation from a human perspective.
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