1. Romans 7:7–9 | Awakening to Sin through the External Law
7. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’”
8. “But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.”
9. “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”
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The Law as Mirror of Inner States
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In Neville’s framework, “the law” represents external commandments and rigid belief systems imposed upon consciousness. Before encountering this “law,” Paul had not consciously experienced “sin” (understood here as missing the mark of one’s true imaginative power). He was in an unconditioned state—a direct recognition of “I AM.”
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The moment the command “Thou shalt not covet” enters his awareness, his imagination fixates on lack. According to Neville, when attention is directed outward toward what is forbidden, the subconscious mind conjures precisely that which is feared or denied. This reactivity brings the very “sin” that the law pronounces into being.
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Sin as Dormant until the Command
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Verse 8 reveals that sin lay “dead” until the law awakened it. Neville emphasises that nothing exists in our experience until imagination gives it substance. Similarly, the idea of “lust” or “concupiscence” remained latent until the external command triggered a divided self-image—part wishing to obey, part secretly drawn to the forbidden.
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In essence, the law catalyses a psychological division: a conscious self that tries to comply and a subconscious that rebels by yielding to the very thought it seeks to avoid.
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Death of the Innocent Imagination
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In verse 9, Paul confesses, “I was alive without the law… but… I died.” Neville describes this “death” as the loss of the innocent, imaginative state where one simply “assumes the feeling of the wish fulfilled” without inner conflict. The arrival of the law converts freedom into fear, splitting the imagination and plunging the believer into guilt and self-judgement.
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2. Romans 7:10–13 | The Paradox of Divine Goodness and Inner Turmoil
10. “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.”
11. “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.”
12. “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
13. “Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”
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Intention vs. Result
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Verse 10 underscores a profound paradox: a commandment given “unto life” becomes “unto death” when appropriated by a divided imagination. Neville would assert that every divine principle is meant to awaken our creative imagination. Yet, when misinterpreted as a strict rule exterior to consciousness, it becomes an instrument of self-condemnation.
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The law’s true purpose is to show us how to align with our highest assumption (life), but when taken mechanically, it exposes the chasm between our divine potential and our fearful self-image.
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Sin’s Deceptive Strategy
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Verse 11 describes how sin “deceived” Paul and slew him. Neville teaches that sin is fundamentally “unnatural desire,” the yearning for what one does not yet feel oneself to be. The law makes this desire visible, and the divided imagination mistakes it for an external flaw. Thus, sin “slays” the true self by veiling our imaginative power with guilt.
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Restating the Law’s Holiness
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In verse 12, Paul insists, “the law is holy… just, and good.” Neville would agree: the commandment itself originates from imagination—the creative act of God. The fault lies not in the law, but in the believer’s inability to rightly assume its promise.
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Sin, in verse 13, intensifies by taking the good (the law) and using it to prove our unworthiness. Because the divided self judges its own inability to keep the command, it condemns itself even further. The law thus holds up a mirror to our imperfections, but without the imaginative effort to see a new identity, this mirror only reveals death.
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3. Romans 7:14–20 | The War between the “I” That Wants Good and the “I” That Does the Opposite
14. “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
15. “For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
16. “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.”
17. “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
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.”
19. “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”
20. “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
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Carnal vs. Spiritual Mind
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In verse 14, the law is identified as “spiritual,” pointing to our divine imaginative faculty. In contrast, Paul calls himself “carnal,” meaning bound to the sensations and limitations of the body-mind. According to Neville, this “carnal” state arises when one has “sold under sin”—that is, traded their divine right to imagine for an identification with memory and fear.
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Here, “sold under sin” means cooperation with the habitual self which resists the new assumption.
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The Divided Self
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Verses 15–16 depict the tension between “what I would” (the desire to live from the new assumption) and “what I do” (reverting to past behaviour). Neville has noted that our imagination must be persistently directed toward the desired state; otherwise, old mental patterns seize control.
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When Paul says, “I consent unto the law that it is good,” he concedes intellectually that the law is righteous. Yet, his actions betray him because he has failed to re-educate his subconscious mind to assume the law’s promise. In Neville’s terms, the subconscious obeys the most dominant assumption—often the longest-held fear-based assumption.
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Sin Dwelling within
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Verse 17, “it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me,” reveals the core Neville principle: unless we consciously “put off the old man” (old identity), habitual states (sin) will continue to act from within. The word “sin” here personifies the old, reactive self clinging to separation.
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In verses 18–20, Paul acknowledges that although he wills to do good, he “finds not” the way. The reason? The subconscious, laden with memory and fear, obstructs the conscious will. According to Neville, only by persistently assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled—convincing the subconscious that the new state is already real—can one break this cycle. Otherwise, the subconscious continues to play out the old script.
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4. Romans 7:21–23 | Recognition of the Inner Enemy
21. “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”
22. “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.”
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.”
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Two Laws at War
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Verse 21 introduces a “law” unexpectedly different from the divine law: when Paul “would do good,” evil (the habitual self) emerges. Neville describes this as the eternal struggle between the conscious assumption (the law of God) and dormant assumptions lodged in the subconscious.
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Verse 22 acknowledges that “inwardly” Paul delights in the law of God—his true self resonates with the creative imagination. Yet, an opposing “law in my members” wages war. These “members” represent the senses and memory patterns of the body-mind.
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Captivity to Old Assumptions
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This internal conflict depicts how deeply ingrained beliefs (e.g., “I am unworthy,” “I will always fail”) continue to govern behaviour until consciously replaced. Neville stresses that awareness of this war is the first step toward emancipation. By realising that the “evil” is merely a product of old assumption, one can refuse its authority.
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The captivity mentioned is captivity of consciousness. This captivity can only be broken by consistently assuming a new, victorious identity—“I am the law fulfilled, free from condemnation.”
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5. Romans 7:24–25 | The Cry for Deliverance and Victory through Christ
24. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
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.”
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The Heart’s Cry
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Verse 24 captures the anguish of the divided self: “Who shall deliver me?” In Neville’s teaching, this cry is the soul’s recognition that self-effort alone cannot dissolve old assumptions. The “body of this death” is the composite of every past fear and limitation embedded in the subconscious.
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This anguished question is itself an awakening: the ego realises that external striving (laws, rules, moralising) cannot remove the deep-rooted beliefs imprisoning consciousness.
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Victory in “Christ”
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“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Neville would interpret “Jesus Christ” not as a historical figure but as the universal Christ consciousness—the living symbol of perfected assumption. When Paul speaks of being “delivered… through Jesus Christ,” he indicates surrendering to and identifying with the new imaginative state where “I am already free.”
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The conscious mind (“with the mind I myself serve the law of God”) begins to reign. However, if the subconscious (“the flesh”) is not similarly aligned, it continues to “serve the law of sin.” Neville emphasises that victory requires both conscious and subconscious assumption to be in harmony with the new reality.
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Bridging Mind and Flesh
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The resolution implied in verse 25 is two-fold:
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Conscious Alignment (Mind): Continual affirmation of one’s divine identity—“I am the law of God fulfilled”—to maintain faith in the new state.
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Subconscious Reeducation (Flesh): Deliberate, imaginative revision of past experiences—to live as if the new state is already accomplished. This involves persisting in a state “as though” until the subconscious is convinced and “carries” the new assumption forward in behaviour.
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Conclusion: Living Beyond the Divided Self
Romans 7:7–25, when viewed through Neville Goddard’s prism of the Law of Assumption, becomes an intimate portrayal of consciousness in conflict. The “law” externalised by Mosaic commandments is, in truth, an invitation to awaken the dormant creative imagination. However, until one consciously discards old assumptions and assumes the feeling of the wish fulfilled, the subconscious will continue to operate under its familiar programmes, generating inner strife.
Paul’s candid confession—“I was alive once… but now I die”—mirrors our own cycles of freedom and bondage. Yet, his triumphant declaration in verse 25 points to the solution: identification with the Christ consciousness (the new assumption), which liberates us from “the body of this death.” By persistently living “as though” we already embody the fulfilled promise, the mind and subconscious unite, ending the war within.
As you meditate on Romans 7:7–25, remember that the “deliverance” Paul celebrates is not a distant theological concept but an immediate shift available to every individual. Embrace the Law of Assumption: recognise that you never truly fell into fear, except in thought; know that you are forever “alive” in the imagination; and allow Christ—the living principle of fulfilled assumption—to be your constant guide.
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