Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

tornado through Asia and Europe till he laid down his head on Nero’s block. Instead of being
identified with the sin, he meets the charge with a flat denial: “It is not at all I that do it, but him that
dwelleth in me.” Light had shone in, revealing to him that indwelling enemy. He enters the conflict
like a hero, and is determined to have it out with him. So he wages a three years’ war with Adam the
First, and achieves a complete victory, which lasts him to the end of his life.
18. “I know that in me, that is in my carnality, there is no good thing.” This is the carnal “me,”
representing Adam the First, in whom there is no good thing. “Me” is here antithetical to spiritual
“I” representing his own personality. “To will is present with me, but to work out that which is
beautiful is not present with me.” This is the hackneyed confession of the unsanctified. Justification
brings us into the kingdom of peace and sanctification into the kingdom of power. “Beautiful” in this
verse (E.V. “good”) means the beauty of holiness, which literally charms all true Christians, who
spontaneously leap to the conclusion that they can do it, only to sink broken-hearted in
contemplation of constant failure. Every real Christian desires and wills to do his whole duty, yet
signally failing for lack of power which sanctification alone can supply.
19. “For the good that I wish, I do not; but the evil that I do not wish, that I do.” That is a strong
stating, in harmony with the vigor of Pauline thought and expression. It is explained by what follows.
20. “But if I do that which I do not wish, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
Unscholarly people reason over this, founding a grave charge against Paul on the identity of “I,”
which is utterly untrue, because “I” is not at all identical with itself, as it alternately represents
carnality and spirituality, which instead of being identical are unlike as God and Satan, the one being
the Son of God, the other that of the devil. Hence such an argument is radically untrue. Here the
carnal “I,” representing old Adam, does all the mischief. Verse 20 repeats verse 17, certifying his
utter innocence in the matter, and laying all the blame on that indwelling sin represented in verses
18 and 19 by carnal “I.” Hence Paul repeatedly affirms his irresponsibility, laying all the blame on
the inbred sin which is causing all the trouble. It is a matter of fact that we are not condemned for
the existence of inbred sin in our hearts nor its stirring within us. All this we can not prevent, but we
are guilty if we yield to it and commit known and willing sin. This Paul repeatedly abnegates. Again,
we become guilty if we do not walk in the light which God gives, and do our best by the grace of
God to have this inbred sin destroyed.
21. “Moreover, I find a law, that, to me, wishing to do good, evil is present with me.” This is
where the counterfeit professors woefully lie on Paul, making his language an apology for
committing sin. They differ from Paul wide as the poles. While they wickedly pervert this Scripture
to their own destruction, making it an apology for known and willing sin, Paul positively and
repeatedly certifies that he did no such thing, and the only trouble in his case was the inward conflict
of an indwelling enemy. His testimony in this verse is that the evil is ever present to menace, tempt
and antagonize him in his enterprises to glorify God. While this is true, we must remember his
positive abnegation of all yielding to it, and repeated affirmation that this indwelling sin, of its own
spontaneity, was really doing all the mischief in the case, while he pleads constantly his own
innocency.