I understand that interpretation because it is the interpretation I held for a long time. But I doubt it now. One reason is the nuance of the word θέλω and the nuance when Paul uses it combination of the word ποιέω. The two words are found together, not in Romans 8, but in the outcry or lament of Romans 7:14-22 where the "I" voice expresses a combination of on one hand, being under the law, but on the other hand: οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν ἀλλὰ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω (7:19).Jason Hare wrote: ↑January 13th, 2022, 1:54 am“ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός, ταῦτα γὰρ ἀλλήλοις ἀντίκειται” (Galatians 5:17a) places the flesh and spirit at odds with one another, just as Paul did in Romans 8. This means “πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε” (Galatians 5:16). The desires of the flesh are the things that you want to do by nature (which Paul listed in Galatians 5:19–21).Gregory Hartzler-Miller wrote: ↑January 12th, 2022, 8:41 pm I think I understand this interpretation so far, but I'm not clear where it leads vis-a-vis the exegesis of the passage in question: ἵνα μὴ ἃ ἐὰν θέλητε ταῦτα ποιῆτε (Gal 5:17b). What is your interpretation of these words?
The reason this was brought up in a discussion of law keeping? Because Paul is saying that being free from observance of Torah law does not mean that you are free to do any old thing that you want to do. You are not free to be immoral just because you are not under law. Rather, those who walk with the spirit with produce the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).
I was aware of that, and still I held the view you expressed because Galatians is not Romans, and I still thought it fit Galatians. But what doubled my doubt is when I studied the nuance of the word θέλω in Galatians and found that in every other usage Paul is characterizing what the troublemakers and those under their influence might "want"; that is, except for the one usage where Paul says he himself "wants" to see the Galatians because he is perplexed about them (Gal 4:20). In this exception, Paul is expressing a want for something good; on the other hand, it is a want that Paul seems not to expect to carry out. So even that exception fits the pattern of wanting something that you will not do. Apart from Gal 5:17, is there any place in the NT (or in the Greek) where θέλω is used to describe "wanting" to do something that the doer thinks of as vice? I know of none, but I should ponder such an usage if there is one out there. Anyone know of one?
When Paul addresses his Galatian audience saying, Λέγετέ μοι, οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι...(Gal 4:21), this audience fits the profile of the "I" in the pericope framed by Rom 7:14 (We know that [the] Law is spiritual...) and Rom 7:22 (For in [my] inner being I delight in God’s Law). They want to be under the law, and by extension they surely also want to do good things under the law.
With that as background, it became difficult for me to imagine that ἵνα μὴ ἃ ἐὰν θέλητε ταῦτα ποιῆτε (Gal 5:17b) did not mean something like this: ...in order that (or with the result that) you (who want to be under the law) do not do the good things you want. How frustrating for someone who identifies with οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι. Such a person may well ask: Is he really addressing us with such bad news--οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι? The next line's mention of being "under the law" seems to answer that question in the affirmative--i.e. you who aspire to a life of doing good works while being under the law will not do what you might want, "But (by liberative contrast) if you are led by the Spirit, (the good news is) you are not under the law" (Gal 5:18).
Thus my new "thesis", which I am altering (but I am not at present rejecting it). I still present it here as a thesis because I am still subjecting it to reasons for doubting it.