St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - Weekly Talks

Paul speaks of the self, the person, in relation to sin and Christ (Rom. 7; Gal. 2:20). Romans 7:17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Let’s call this the conflicted self – desiring the good, yet in the grip of sin’s colonizing power (Susan Eastman). To whom is Paul addressing? Is it autobiographical? And if so, is Paul describing his inner condition under the law before his baptism into Christ or is this Paul’s inner life as a Christian? Or, is Paul using a rhetorical device, as Origin thought, to speak in the person of a weaker Christian? Is Paul addressing all of humanity in Adam or perhaps Israel, under the law, apart from Christ? The quest g