Pilgrim said, "However, you have taken what Ferguson was addressing and applied it to those who profess to be Christians; changed by the power of the Spirit and thus are no longer enemies of God and have the indwelling Spirit. You further want to apply this "patience" we are to have with unbelievers to professing believers in the matter of heretical doctrine and life [implied]."

Additional quote by Sinclair Ferguson, "The apostle (Paul) is apparently viewing himself from one particular aspect, namely in the light of the holy and spiritual law of God (Rom. 7:14,16). In that light, even as a believer, indwelling sin is revealed in all its ugly rebellion against God. Sin remains, and its nature as rebellion and its native enslaving tendencies remain unchanged." and "The believer lives within the context of a real contradiction to which he or she has been introduced by the gift of the Spirt. He or she has been sold as sin's slave; not even redemption obliterates the influences of that bondage - at least not yet. Even when it is being lavishly rebuilt, a ruined castle continues to be marked by past devastations. Rather than tone down the contrast flesh and Spirit, Paul states it plainly. Only when Christ finally delivers him out of the body of death (7:24) will the contradiction be finally resolved (cf. Rom. 8:23)."

As a Christian I am going through life long withdrawl symptoms in the process of my sanctification. While there has been a separation with my past addiction to sin, my new nature creates tension rather than destroys conflict with it. I live with the tension as a permanent reality.

Back to Ferguson, "The startling reality of divine sanctification is that it is the presence of the Spirit in our hearts that is the root cause of the establishment of the conflict. It is those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit who groan inwardly as they wait eagerly for the adoption, the redemption of their bodies (Rom. 8:23). and "this view of Romans 7:14-15 should not be taken to suggest that Paul views the Christian as paralysed by sin and the flesh. Rather, it is the Christian's task to put to death the misdeeds of the body (Rom. 8:13ff.; Col. 3:4) in the light of union with Christ and the leading and indwelling of the Spirit of sonship."