²⁴In addition to discussing the main point in Romans chapter seven, I want to mention a misunderstanding of Romans 7:14–25. Many use this passage to argue that we Christians are just saved sinners and that we struggle mightily to live obediently. This comes about from Paul’s use of the first person in this passage. However, this passage cannot be describing a Christian for the one speaking is “of the flesh and sold into bondage to sin” (14) and is a “prisoner of the law of sin” (23). Paul has gone to great lengths to show that those in Christ are no longer slaves to sin, having been freed from the law of sin and death. What then can this passage mean? It is a continuation of the first part of Romans seven where Paul also uses the first person in a general way to discuss the effect of the Law of Moses to increase sin. Thus, verses 14-25 describe what it was like to live under the Law. The use of the first person, as it is used here, was a common rhetorical technique in the ancient world. See Ben Witherington III, New Testament Rhetoric, pgs. 139-142.