In vv. 7-25 Paul used his own experience, which he had before he believed in the Lord, to illustrate the wretchedness of trying to do good under the law in order to please God. Neither the human spirit nor the Spirit of God is mentioned in this section; rather, the will and the mind of the human soul (vv. 19, 23), which attempt to please God with the good of the natural life (vv. 18-19, 21), are referred to. Although this is the situation of an unsaved person, nearly all Christians pass through this kind of experience after they are saved.
