I agree that it is difficult to imagine Paul describing his own pre-conversion state in Romans 7. I also find the holiness tradition more persuasive, particularly its view that Paul adopts the persona of a struggling, unregenerate person rather than narrating his own Christian experience. Positioned between Romans 6 and 8—two of the most profound chapters on the believer’s freedom and transformation through Christ—it seems unlikely that Paul intended Romans 7 to represent the normative Christian life. Instead, he exposes the futility of life under the law and then presents the only solution: Jesus Christ our Lord. In Him, we are not divided or doomed to perpetual defeat, but made righteous and empowered by the Spirit. Though sanctification is indeed a process, the starting point is not inner fragmentation, but a new identity rooted in the righteousness of Christ.
