23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
Becoming a prisoner is not a good thing in war. Soldiers do just about anything to not get captured. No one likes to fall into enemy hands. In Iraq we have to take prisoners and there is a certain, very proscribed way to accomplish that safely. Militants often bobby trap themselves or their environments just in case they are captured. One wrong move by a friendly force in subduing that prisoner means that many others get killed and injured. So we have developed a very disciplined routine of searching prisoners for anything that might become a weapon. Soldiers are trained to carry out this routine very deliberately and carefully. Lives are at stake. Sin is very deliberate in its approach to us. Satan is willing to work slowly and methodically over time to make us his prisoner. Each move is small and subtle. And he has a tailored plan for each of us, designed according to our demonstrated weaknesses. Satan keeps a good record of our failings and uses that against us. He gathers intelligence against us. He is a patient student. Paul in this section of Romans describes the battle that takes place in the heart of the believer. Sin wants to take you prisoner, make you its slave, fulfilling its purposes. God wants to give you freedom. But we have to stop walking into enemy territory! If we are going to be victorious over the sin that seems at times to use our bodies as a battleground, then we have to allow the Spirit to have control. We have to yield more and more to His direction and guidance. We must choose life rather than death. We must let our minds rule over our bodies, refusing to yield our bodies to sin.
The Arnold Journey 