Wow. One extended section of Romans, Ch 7:14-25, you consider a mishmash of quote-mined, out of context verses?
What she posted is a mishmash of quote-mined and out of context verses that extends beyond Romans 7:14-25, and your limited reference is no better. In other words, Romans 7:14-25 totally refutes the idea of people not having a free will.
For starters, or to put things in context, Paul began chapter 7 (of course, chapters were added by the translators) by saying this:
Rom 7:1
Know ye not, brethren,
(for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Who, in context, was Paul speaking to? He was speaking to them that not only knew the law, but that it, the law, has dominion over a man as long as he lives. Conversely, Paul had just finished saying this to Christians:
Rom 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
In other words, whereas sin has dominion over somebody who is under the law, it does not have dominion over somebody who is under grace or over a Christian.
Now that we know who Paul was speaking to in chapter 7, let us examine what he said to totally refute the idea that the unsaved or unregenerate do not have a free will.
Rom 7:14
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15
For that which I do I allow not: for
what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16
If then I do
that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good.
Rom 7:17
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for
to will is present with me; but
how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19
For the good
that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20
Now if I do
that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21
I find then a law, that,
when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22
F
or I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Here, Paul was describing himself while under the law or before he was saved. Even in his unregenerate state, he obviously had a free will. For crying out loud, how many more times did he need to mention that which he would do (his free will choice) and that which he would not do (his free will choice). Furthermore, even in his unregenerate state,
he delighted in the law of God after the inward man.
Does this sound like somebody who loved darkness and all the other quote-mined and out of context nonsense that was posted here earlier by someone else?
And before anybody even attempts to suggest that Paul was speaking about himself as a Christian here, I will remind you of his testimony elsewhere.
1Co 9:26
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27
But I keep under my body, and bring
it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
As a Christian, Paul no longer had a law in his members that was bringing him into captivity to the law of sin (Rom. 7:23). Instead, as a Christian, or as someone who was now a partaker of " the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" which "had made him free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2), Paul kept under his body and brought it into subjection.
Why did sin have dominion over Paul before he became a Christian?
Paul told us exactly why when he said "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Rom. 7:14). In other words, it is impossible for anybody to keep a spiritual law with only a fleshly circumcision. However, when someone is truly circumcised in the heart or spirit (Rom. 2:29), or when someone is truly born again of the indwelling Spirit of God, then they can not only will to keep a spiritual law, but also keep it by the power of God's Spirit which dwells inside of them.
Anyhow, even in his unregenerate state, Paul said "to will is present with me" (Rom. 7:18), and he said that because he obviously had a free will.
