ACC ~ Romans 7 v15

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND MY OWN ACTIONS. ORIGEN: Paul does not say that the weak man does not know what he is doing but rather that he does not understand why he is doing it.

Here Paul shows that even the man who is carnal and sold under sin may try, by the instinct of natural law as it were, to resist evil, but he is overcome by sin and is subdued unwillingly. This often happens, for example, when someone decides not to react to provocation, but in the end his anger gets the better of him and he gives in to it against his will. In other words, he gets angry when he does not want to get angry. … Someone who is not yet spiritual will be defeated in instances like these, even against his own will, because that will is not yet strong or resilient enough to retain control of him even to the point of death in his struggle for truth. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

DIODORE: Paul is not condemning himself here but describing the common lot of mankind, which he sees in himself. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

SIN MADE CLEAR BY RIGHTEOUSNESS. AUGUSTINE: This may appear to the less discerning to contradict [verse 13]. How can sin be made manifest if it is not understood? But here “I do not understand” means “I do not approve.” For instance, darkness cannot be seen, but it is perceived in contrast to light; in other words, to perceive darkness is not to see it. Likewise sin, because it is not made clear by the light of righteousness, is discerned by not understanding in the way that darkness is perceived by not seeing. “Who understands his own transgressions? AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 43.”

I DO THE VERY THING I HATE. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: What does Paul say now? “For I do not understand what I do,” that is, he does not want to discern; he does harm but does not want to be harmed. He desires things which are wrong but does not want to be cheated by his own. He indicates this when he says: “For I do not do what I want,” that is, to obtain what is good for me, “but what I hate, that I do,” that is, to obtain what is bad for me. … Sin is odious to any normal person’s judgment; therefore those who commit it either deny it or pretend that it is not evil. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Paul says that he subjected himself to sin of his own accord and then, as if drunk, he did not know what he was doing. Or perhaps he meant that he did not understand that what he accepted against his will was evil. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

SIN IS WILLED. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: It appears that this refers to the ignorant Gentiles, whose thoughts Paul is reproducing. For having consigned their destiny and future to their own lusts even to the point of regarding vain idols as having some power over our lives, they deprive man of his glory, which is the ability to live freely, and to have full and complete control over his own will to do whatever he wishes. … It may be that someone who is forced to act against his will cannot be blamed for it, but at the same time no rational person will praise him for his godliness and righteousness either. For why should somebody be praised for doing things against his own will, even if he is forced to do so by a power over which he has no control? EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: We do not sin from necessity or by compulsion; rather we are overcome by desire and do things which in principle we detest. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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