In Romans 7, Paul describes a war within that is so vivid and personal that we can almost feel his anguish. But what is he describing, the anguish of a believer battling with remaining sin, or an unbeliever feeling the crushing weight of the law’s demands? The internal conflict sounds familiar to those in Christ— he agrees with the law and wants to do good but finds that he falls short of the glory of God. But could a believer say that he is still in bondage to sin, that nothing good dwells in him, or that he serves the law of sin? Faithful exegetes have come down on both sides of this issue historically, but they all have one thing in common. They labored in the Scriptures until they arrived at a conclusion. So must we. If we love God’s Word, we must be careful interpreters, not allowing personal experience or other biases to influence us. And if we love one another, we must be careful to preserve unity, holding our hard-won convictions with charity toward those who disagree.