In Romans 7:14–25, Paul, referring to his struggle with the power of sin in his life, uses a first-person singular pronoun 36 times. Throughout those 11 verses, the word “I,” “my,” and “me” dominate the narrative. In verse 25 Paul uses the phrase “I myself,” which is a perfect description of the kind of life Paul was sincerely trying to live for God. In Romans seven, Paul shares his own personal testimony about his discovery, as a new creation,about how to live free from the dominion of sin in his daily life. As a new Christian Paul had been given a new heart and, therefore, longed to live a life pleasing to God, but Paul discovered that having a new heart was only half the story.
If you are going to experience real victory, you also have to discover that you’ve been given a new power that is stronger than the power sin. Paul is reminiscing about his early days as Christian, to be a source of encouragement to all those he was mentoring, because he had personally experienced what it was like to have a heart that longs for righteousness without the seeming ability to walk in righteousness. He was living the classic “I myself-life.” The “I myself-life,” is sadly the life that very, very many Christians live. They have a sincere desire to live a life of holiness, and their sincere desire is a testimony of the new heart they had been given as new creations, but they’ve yet to discover that along with that new heart they were also given a new power, which is the person of Jesus himself, to be able to walk in the victory over sin’s dominion that they so long to walk in.
Listen to Paul’s testimony towards the end of this chapter as he bears witness of the liberating discovery that changed his life. In verse 24 he writes these words, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” You see, Paul, like most believers had been looking for victory in a “what,” like a new experience, or a new principal, or a new methodology, or a new formula, or a new key of some kind; but in verse 24 he doesn’t use the word “what,” instead, he uses the liberating word “Who.” The Christian life is a “Who to” life, not a “what or how to” life. As a matter of fact, he declares in open praise in the very next verse the liberating secret to Christian victory. “Thanks be to God through JESUS CHRIST our Lord!” That was Paul’s discovery; the power to live the Christian life victoriously, rested in the person Jesus himself who lived inside of him.
Victory over the power of sin for the believer is not a sincere, self-willed, religious “I myself–life,” but instead, it is the “Christ–life.”