Paul’s Behavior Problem: Exegetical Analysis of Rom 7:14-25; A Desire Is Not a Decision: Facilitated Wheel-tracks of Wickedness Only Overridden by Doctrine

Romans 7:19 -	For the intrinsic good I habitually desire [ customary present of qšlw, thelō ], I do not habitually do [ customary present of poišw, poieō plus the negative oÙ, ou ], but the evil which I do not habitually desire [ customary present of qšlw, thelō plus the negative oÙ, ou ], this I presently practice [ pictorial present for an ongoing present reality ].
v. 20 -	Now if, as a result of my personal volitional decision, I am presently doing [ pictorial present of pr£ssw, prassō ] what I habitually do not desire to do [ customary present of qšlw, thelō plus the negative oÙ, ou ] (1CC: and I am), I am no longer the one persistently producing [ progressive present of katerg£zomai, katergazomai  for action in a state of persistence] the sinful act but the sinful nature which continuously resides [ durative present of o„kšw, oikeō ] inside of me [ cell structure of the body ].
v. 21 -	Consequently, I discover this principle, that when I habitually desire [ customary present of qšlw, thelō ] to habitually do [ customary present of poišw, poieō ] the honorable thing, the law of evil continuously resides [ durative present of par£keimai, parakeimai ] in me.
v. 22 -	For along with other believers, I habitually delight [ customary present of sun»domain, sunēdomai ] in God’s principles in the soul.
v. 23 -	But I see a different kind of principle in my body parts [ mšloj, melos: always refers to the body, in this case the brain ] laying siege in a campaign against the principle of my mind [ noàj, nous: staging area for volitional consideration of doctrinal truth ] and so making me a continuous prisoner [ durative present of a„cmalwt…zw, aichmalōtizō ] to the principle of the sinful nature which is located in my body parts [ mšloj, melos: the brain ].
v. 24 -	I … a miserable person!  Who will rescue me from the body of this death [ operational death ]?
Romans 7:25 -	Grace belongs to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then, on the one hand, with my mind [ noàj, nous: staging area for volitional response ] I myself am obligated to comply with the principle of God [ wheel-tracks of righteousness ] but, on the other hand, with my flesh [ s£rx, sarx: the body with emphasis on the brain’s neural pathways ] I myself impulsively capitulate [ iterative present of douleÚw, douleuō: describes action that occurs at successive intervals ] to the principle of sin [ wheel-tracks of wickedness ].
	6.	What Paul describes is a battle of wheel-tracks.  As he grows in grace and comes to know and understand the desires of God he develops a habitual desire to obey them.
	7.	But a desire is not a decision.  Thus Paul becomes frustrated by the fact that although he knows what to do and has a habitual desire to do them, he finds that his body overrides this desire and he is bound by the principles of sin.
	8.	Because wheel-tracks of wickedness, e.g., behavior patters motivated by the sinful nature, have become facilitated in the neural memory traces, Paul finds they remain as paths of least resistance when temptation occurs.
		The solution to this dilemma is spiritual growth.  As the believer inculcates divine thought into the kardia the Holy Spirit catalogues the information into the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.
	9.	But the human brain is involved too, for the information cannot be processed unless it is cycled through the brain’s cerebral cortex for vocabulary, syntax, and semantics.
	10.	Thus the soul and brain coordinate in the learning process but the brain cannot keep all its data in the conscious mind simultaneously.
	11.	Therefore, the Holy Spirit uses the brain’s capability to maintain memory to store doctrines in its electrochemical neural traces.
	12.	As a doctrine is repeated it becomes more familiar and with additional information on the subject the memory trace enlarges, becomes more complex, and thus retains more information.
	13.	This enlargement of the memory trace is referred to by neurologists as facilitation.  Here’s the definition as it relates to neurology:
Facilitation: The enlargement of a memory trace into a path of least resistance by means of practice, repetition, or rehearsal.  In the field of leaning, memory traces are facilitated by means of conditioning, instruction, indoctrination, inculcation, review, study, and application.