I cheated and looked ahead to the next chapter, Romans 8! This is why I voted for the second choice:
✔️ He Was Describing His Former Life Before Jesus Found Him On The Damascus Road
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
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Romans 8:10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
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Indeed. Thank you for sharing. You know, as I continue my chronological study through the Epistles, I have been cataloging each piece of Scripture that references his holiness, purity, the number of times he calls people to be just like himself, commands that people live pure lives, praises churches for being pure and doing all that he had asked of them. When you look at his demand for obedience, and when a person understands the role of the Law of Moses as it relates to each page of the Bible, it's pretty easy to determine that Paul was writing about his life as the man whose mind was filled with thoughts of sin and death when he was actually living that way . . . he was killing Christians.
Take a look at these writings from Paul from Phillippians alone, and compare them to all that he talked about in R7. It's unbelievable:
Phil 01:11 - NLT - "May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation--the
righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ--for this will bring much glory and praise to God."
Phil 01:19 - ESV - ". . . for I know that through your prayers and
the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance . . ."
Phil 01:20 - ESV - ". . . as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now
as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death."
Phil 01:27 - CSB - "Just one thing: As citizens of heaven,
live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel . . ."
Phil 02:05 - NLT - "
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."
Phil 02:14-15 - NLT - "Do everything without complaining and arguing,
so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people."
Phil 03:18-19 - NLT - "For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that
there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth."
According to Paul's own words, his conduct in R7 proved that he was an enemy of the cross. As he said in R7, his mind was dominated by sin and death. Therefore, as he says in Phillippians, he must be headed for destruction.