Section 2
and even more difficult to understand the term "the law of the Spirit of life." Therefore, in chap ters seven and eight the word "law" is used in different ways: for the law of God, for the law of the mind, for the law of sin and of death, and for the law of the Spirit of life.
ANOTHER LAW In chapter seven, however, there is still an other law: "I find then the law that, at my will ing to do the good, the evil is present with me" (v. 21). Before we can know the law covered in this verse, we need to understand the law of God, the law of the mind, the law of sin and of death (which is in the law of sin in our members), and the law of the Spirit of life. Learning these four laws is like learning the basic principles of math ematics. The law in verse 21 is neither the law of the mind nor the law of sin in our members. We may call it "the law that." There is a law, a prin ciple, that whenever we will to do good, the evil is present with us. The law in 7:21 refers to this principle.
Paul discovered the principle that whenever he tried to do good, evil was present with him. Have you ever realized that there is such a law? If we do not try to do good, it seems that evil is not present. But it is a law that whenever we try to do good, the evil is present. For example, if you