This week's lesson answers the sin problem of last week's lesson.

Here is the link to this week's lesson material:

http://www.ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/10c/less09.html

From the Sabbath afternoon section:

Romans 7 describes Paul successfully submitting and subjecting the unholy thoughts and feelings generated and communicated by his fallen flesh nature to a sanctified will and mind. Instead of sinning Paul triumphantly overcomes the ungodly clamorings of his sinful flesh nature. In Romans 8 Paul goes on to say that Jesus also successfully reigned in and overcame the unholy clamorings produced by His sinful flesh nature.

That isn't what the author of the Sabbath School Quarterly says in the Sabbath PM Section, which I will repeat again here and bold the relevant part.

Right. But I disagree with him. Paul says, "I allow not ... it is no more I that do it ... I myself serve the law of God."

http://www.spectrummagazine.org/articles/sabbath_school/2010/08/21/romans_8_context

Mike,

Don't you think there is a struggle with the flesh before (in the process of) conversion, and a struggle with the flesh after conversion?

Mike, you disagree that "in Romans 7 Paul speaks of frustration, failure, and condemnation"?

Indeed, Daryl...and Mike, that's not what the lesson Quarterly says or what the text says.

Rom 7 presents failure, not success in spiritual exercises - that is, lack of spiritual exercises. The chapter ends with the knowledge of the solution to that misunderstanding of spiritual warfare by the unconverted believer, not the actual success of his endeavours.

Also, the freedom and victory of a personal relationship "in Christ" with Jesus by his Spirit, the Father (Rom 8:11a) and Son's omnipresence among us, comes by a miracle....

Putting the old man to death each day is the essence of this miracle: living in the Spirit comes after crucifying the old man of sinful flesh and carnal mind by grace through faith. That's a double miracle, too.

Denying self, thus, is possible since Jesus crucified self literally on his cross: that's the legal necessity of the cross for our salvation, enabling believing sinners to be converted by the experience of putting self, sinful flesh & carnal mind, to death through the faith of Jesus. Without our death to sin in Christ on his cross, we cannot be converted.