“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. — There is a νόμος (nomos, "law") operating in the flesh: the law of sin's presence and power. Even when the will (θέλημα, thelēma, "desire") orients toward the good, evil (κακόν, kakon) is present as a counter-force. The "law" here is not God's Torah but the principle of sin's habitation in the σάρξ (sarx, "flesh").
Church Fathers on Romans 7:21
“I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me.” What he says is not very clear. What then is it that is said? I praise the law, he says, in my conscience, and I find it pleads on my side so far as I am desirous of doing what is right, and that it invigorates this wish. For as I feel a pleasure in it, so does it yield praise to my decision. Do you see how he shows, that the knowledge of what is good and what is not such is an original and fundamental…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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