What is old Adam in Romans 7?
In Romans 7, old Adam is that part of us that never quits working on us. It gets greedy, envious, and covetous. It is the production center of sinful thoughts and sins, so Paul says, 'it is no more I that do it, but old Adam.'
Les teaches that old Adam is never going to quit working on us. He describes old Adam as that part of us which gets greedy, envious, and covetous. For example, when you see something your neighbor has, old Adam says, 'I've got to have that because my neighbor's got it.' Les explains that Paul is warning against living on that plain anymore. In Romans 7:20, Paul writes, 'Now I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but old Adam.' Les says converting the word S-I-N to 'old Adam' opens up this portion of Scripture: our problem is not merely sins, the sinful things we do, but the production center of those thoughts and sins, which is old Adam. Verse 21 then speaks of finding a law, a new one, and Les notes that when Paul uses 'law'—whether the Ten, Judaism, the law of Christ, or another—he points to a fact of life we must reckon with.