24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24 (LSB)
All genuine Christians have one thing in common—they are imperfect people who, no matter how much they desire to be Christlike, will struggle with the paradox of being new creations slowly becoming conformed to the image of their Saviour while being mired in a body of death that wants to be ruled by their old sin nature. How often do we cry out to God to release us from this prison? What good can it do for us to struggle so with the demands of the flesh?
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:21-24
It is only through Jesus Christ our Lord that we are delivered from death and walking according to the flesh. This happens as we die to self, take up our crosses and follow Him. It is our death in Him that brings us true life and victory. It must be this way because no matter how “good” we appear to be to other people or ourselves, the best we can do is as filthy rags to God.