Inner being (New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible “inmost self”; Moffatt “inner self”; An American Translation* “inner nature”) is also used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4.16. In each case it refers to one’s essential self, and is almost synonymous with the “I” that wants to do good and hates evil (vv. 14-17; 19-20). It is also to be taken as a synonym of the mind in verse 23 and 25. What Paul evidently has in mind is the inner being of man which has been transformed by God’s grace and so attempts to do God’s will. Paul may refer to it as his inner being and also as his mind, because this is the aspect of human personality which is not seen, whereas the part of one’s self which can be seen in its involvement in sin is the outer self, that is the body (see vv. 23-24).

In a number of languages my inner being is simply “my heart.” In some languages, the equivalent is “the man in my heart”; in others, “down deep in my heart.”

Delights in the law of God may be rendered as “is happy because of the law that comes from God.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .