Who Is This Divided Man?

"This is one of the most famous texts in the book of Romans and one of the most controversial. Here we have the well-known words of verse 19: "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." Here we have a divided man, or a man with a divided will, or a divided heart. There is the part of him – the "I" – who wants to do good and does not want to do evil. And there is the part of him – the "I" – who does not do the good he wants but does the evil he does not want.

One of the biggest disagreements over this text is who this man is. Whose experience is Paul describing? Is this the experience of Paul, the believer? Or is this the experience of Paul, the unbeliever? Christian or non-Christian? Or should we pose the question with more precision: Is this a morally awakened but unconverted Paul? Or is this the spiritually quickened converted Paul who is new and immature in the faith? Or could this be the mature Christian Paul, but in times of lapsed faith and vigilance?"

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This is how John Piper begins his first lesson about Romans 7: 14-25 entitled Who is This Divided Man?

John Piper has a six part series of lessons on these verses:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6