Although there is some debate, we believe Paul is describing his on-going struggle with sin after his conversion in this passage. The passage shifts from the past tense to the present and mentions desires and loves that a nonchristian would not have (see v.19,22,25).

We know that we struggle with sin too. There is no level of spirituality we achieve in this life that eradicates the conflict within us. We have within us both a new spiritual nature and an old sinful nature. They will always be at war with each other. Ultimately, we must learn to feed the new nature and starve the old nature. This will not cause us to be sinless, but will help us sin less and less and live and walk in the victory God has given us. Romans 8 will teach us more about that.