Romans 7:15
Romans 7:1515I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.
JWs read Romans 7 as Paul's pre-conversion reflection — the struggle of a man under law before receiving the spirit. The passage is treated as historical rather than describing the ongoing experience of a Spirit-indwelt believer. Pastoral application of "what I want to do, I do not do" to a baptised brother fighting pornography is therefore limited.
is Paul — apostle Paul, the inspired writer of fourteen New Testament letters — describing the inner war of the Spirit-indwelt believer. "What I want to do, I do not do; what I hate, I do". Paul's testimony is not "I never struggled" but "I struggled and was rescued by Christ" — verse 25, "Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!" The man fighting pornography in the JW congregation is in Paul's category. follows immediately: "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". The architecture is confession of struggle → no condemnation → walk by the Spirit (). The Watchtower's tribunal escalates from the same struggle to reproof; Paul's letter escalates to grace.