Who am I in Rom 7?

i) Rom 7 is a well-known crux. What is Paul talking about? Is this autobiographical? If so, is Paul referring to his pre-Christian situation or his Christian situation? If the former, is he considering that from his pre-Christian viewpoint or his Christian viewpoint? 

Some think it's about Paul coming-of-age. Conversely, some scholars think it's not about Paul. Some think it's about Gen 3. Before and after the Fall. Some think it's about Israel. Before and after she received the law. Some think it's about humanity in general. Some combine two or more perspectives, viz. Israel recapitulates Adam. 

ii) One consideration is the question of how this section functions in Paul's overall argument. In Romans, Paul discusses the law in relation to Jews and Gentiles alike. So which group does he have in view here? Jews, gentiles, or both? And that can be broken down further. Christian gentiles or pagan gentiles? Jewish Christians or non-Jewish Christians? 

iii) This is further complicated by how we think Paul understands the relationship between the old covenant and the new covenant. Is there still a sense in which Christian are "under the law," or is that defunct? 

iv) Apropos (iii), there's the additional question of how sinfulness relates to lawlessness. Even if you say Christians are no longer under the law, Christians remain sinful. Even if we don't define sinners as lawbreakers, there's still a tension between sin and sanctification. Paul makes that abundantly clear in his letters. 

Keep in mind, too, that some things which were unlawful in the Mosaic code would still be sinful for Christians. They aren't sinful because they're unlawful; rather, they're unlawful because they're sinful. It's still sinful for Christians to commit theft, adultery, or murder (to name a few). Swapping categories doesn't affect the underlying issue, for the inability to keep the law goes back to our fallen condition.

v) We also have "confessional" literature in the OT, viz. Ezra 9, Neh 9, Dan 9, Ps 32, Ps 51. The tension or struggle we see in Rom 7 has OT counterparts. That's not confined to the Mosaic law. That's due to our fallen condition. That's something the regenerate experience, whether Christians or OT saints. 

vi) There are some problems with the Adamic interpretation:

a) If Paul is referring to the Fall, why doesn't he just say so–like did in Rom 5? Why be so oblique? Likewise, why does he quote from the Decalogue rather than Gen 2:17 if the latter is really in view? 

b) Gen 3 isn't about the temptation and deception of Adam, but Eve. By contrast, Rom 5 is about Adam rather than Eve. Moreover, Paul elsewhere denies that Adam was deceived (1 Tim 2:14). 

That doesn't necessarily rule out an allusion to Gen 3. But it can't be the exclusive or primary referent.

I don't think the coming-of-age interpretation has much going for it. To begin with, we have no evidence that bar Mitzvah was a 1C rite of passage. More to the point, kids hit the age of reason (or discretion) well before they hit adolescence. And Jewish kids were always obliged to honor their parents. 

Casting the issue in terms of law, which–in context–has reference to the Mosaic law, renders it unlikely that Paul is talking about humanity in general. 

vii) My own best guess is that Paul is using the rhetorical "I" to personify different ways of experiencing the law. I don't think he singles out a particular experience. Rather, he's using that literary device to generalized about different groups in relation to the law.

I also think there's probably an autobiographical element to his personification. He's a representative of Judaism and Christianity alike. He's been on both sides of the law–as a Pharisee, and then a Christian. I expect his personal experience had a suggestive influence in how he cast Rom 7. But I don't think it's reducible to his personal experience. The comparison is more generic. A mirror. How it looks reflects the looker. But there are commonalities.