Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 7:21

"I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present." — Romans 7:21 (ASV)

I find then a law.—Of the many ways of interpreting this difficult verse, two seem to stand out as most plausible or possible. In any case, “a law” should be rather “the law.” This is understood by the majority of commentators, including Bishop Ellicott, in the sense of “rule,” or “habitually-repeated fact.” The verse, according to this view, means: “I find this law, or this rule, that when I would do good evil is present with me.” Such is my constant and regular experience.

The objection to this interpretation is that it gives the word “law” an entirely different sense from that which it bears in the context, or in any other part of Saint Paul’s writings.

The other view is maintained by Dr. Vaughan. According to this, we would have to assume an anacoluthon. The Apostle begins the sentence as if he were going to say, “I find therefore the Law (the Mosaic law), when I desire to do good, unable to help me;” but he somewhat changes the form of the sentence in the latter portion. Instead of saying, “I find the Law unable to help me,” he says, “I find that evil is at my side.” The phrase “to me” is also repeated a second time in the Greek, redundantly, for greater clarity.

Or perhaps a still simpler and better explanation would be that the Apostle had intended initially to say, “I find the Law, when I wish to do good, putting evil before me,” and then shrank from using so harsh an expression, and softened it by turning the latter half of the sentence into a passive instead of an active form: “I find the Law, when I wish to do good—that evil is put before me.”