Romans 7:21

Romans 7:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
• New International Version (NIV)So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

Context of Romans 7:21

19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

Romans 7:21 word by word

εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον τῷ θέλοντι ἐμοὶ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν ὅτι ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• I findεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• thenἄραara · thereforeG686
• a lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• whenθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• goodκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
• evilκακόςkakos · evil/harm: evilG2556
• is presentπαράκειμαιparakeimai · be presentG3873

Cross-references for Romans 7:21

• Romans 7:23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
• Romans 6:12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
• Romans 8:2And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
• Psalms 19:13Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
• Psalms 119:133Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil.
• John 8:34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
• Ephesians 6:11Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
• 2 Peter 2:19They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
• 2 Chronicles 30:18Most of those who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves. But King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were allowed to eat the Passover meal anyway, even though this was contrary to the requirements of the Law. For Hezekiah said, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon those
• Psalms 19:12How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
• Psalms 40:12For troubles surround me— too many to count! My sins pile up so high I can’t see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my head. I have lost all courage.
• Psalms 65:3Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.
• Psalms 119:37Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
• Isaiah 6:5Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
• Zechariah 3:1Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua.
• Luke 4:1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

Commentaries on Romans 7:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21I find then a law - I am in such a condition and state of soul, under the power of such habits and sinful propensities, that when I would do good - when my will and reason are strongly bent on obedience to the law of God and opposition to the principle of sin, evil is present with me, , evil is at hand, it lies constantly before me. That, as the will to do good is constantly at hand, Romans 7:18, so the principle of rebellion exciting me to sin is equally…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21I find then a law - There is a law whose operation I experience whenever I attempt to do good. There have been various opinions about the meaning of the word “law” in this place. It is evident that it is used here in a sense somewhat unusual. But it retains the notion which commonly attaches to it of what binds, or controls. And though this to which he refers differs from a law, inasmuch as it is not imposed by a superior, which is the usual idea of a…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-22Verses 18-22 The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he often does evil, though against the fixed determination of his will…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21the principle (literally law): Paul is referring to something that happens again and again. The struggle between wanting to do what is right and doing what is wrong shows a repeated pattern in human life.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2119-21. For, &c.--The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 7:21

• Conscience
• Depravity of Man
• Good and Evil
• Justification
• Man
• Stoicism

In the dictionaries

• Appear
• Captivity
• Concupiscence
• Condescend
• Consent
• Delight
• Member
• Mind
• Occasion
• Revive

Commentaries on Romans 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings