We noted in section 14 that chapters 6–7 are something of a theological entrenchment on Paul’s part designed to defend his gospel against three objections. In 6:1–14 he contended against a misunderstanding of 5:20 (“where sin increased, grace increased all the more”), which would argue that if grace increases with sin, why not sin all the more? In 6:15–7:6 he answered a second objection that freedom from the law leads to moral anarchy. Now in the present section (7:7–25) we hear his final defense, in which he endeavors to clarify the exact relation between the law and sin, and, in particular, to dispel the idea that if the law reveals and increases sin then law itself must be evil.

With the choice of the first person singular in verse 7 and the present tense after verse 13, Paul establish…