It is striking that in Romans 7:17 Paul does not use the verb reign
(basileuein) to describe the influence sin in his life, but rather living
(oikein), i.e. it is sin living in me
(NIV), or dwelling within me
(ESV). Paul refuses to acknowledge the kingship of sin. He acknowledges the majesty of God and loves God’s law; he submits to it as a subject. But at the same time, he notices that another power still lives in him and exercises influence over him. He writes: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing
(Romans 7:18–19). Paul therefore realizes that the enemy still lives in him: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me
(Romans 7:20). Here again, it concerns the indwelling of sin (Greek: oikein), rather than sin reigning in him. The Lord God is his Lord, but sin still dwells in him and uses his weakness to cause disarray in his life. Death is the inevitable consequence of sin. Its dwelling in us leads to destruction sooner or later, as it did even in the life of Paul or Saul who truly loved the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with his whole being since his youth. The embankment of his faith in God are undermined by the groundwater seepage of sin.1
17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.