Concerning Romans 7:14-25:

            Paul was describing his own present (hence the use of present tense[1]) experience[2] with his sinful nature after his conversion.  There is no doubt however that Paul did not pretend that this experience was limited to him: quite the opposite.  He wrote it because it is the experience of any born again Christian.  His goal here is to warn the born again Christians from a spiritual pitfall: if they rely on their own strength to keep the law, it will be a failure as it was for him.  Well understood, this passage helps born again Christians realize that they should not rely on a 30-year old conversion experience to fight today’s battles.  But, a misunderstanding of the text has caused Christians to quote these verses to excuse or justify their shortcomings, their sins[3].  However, it is hard to believe that God would give in His own Word excuses to men's sins.  The Bible is encouraging Christians to progress in sanctification, toward perfection, until the Second Coming of Christ (Phil 1:6).  The more they will reflect Christ the more they will see their own defects and will go on in the sanctification process[4].  There are enough examples of weaknesses and failures in the lives of the men and women of the Bible, to not add a text that would tell Christians that there is no hope of getting out of this circle: sin, repentance, and confession, and again sin, repentance, confession … endlessly. 

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[1] Thomas A.  Davis, Romans for the Everyday Man, (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing, 1971), 93

[2] F.  F.  Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.  B.  Eerdmans, 1963), 151; Curtis Vaughan, Bruce Corley, Romans, A Study Guide Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976), 87.

[3] Joe Crews, Square Circles and Carnal Christians, (Roseville, CA: Amazing Facts, 1980), 3

[4] Ellen White, Sanctified Life (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing, 1889), 7.2.