So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. | Hence, I advise you to be guided by the Spirit, so that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. |
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. | And so you should put to death everything in your nature that is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and greed (which is idolatry). |
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You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. | You want something that you cannot have, so you commit murder. And you covet something but cannot obtain it, so you engage in quarrels and fights. You do not have because you do not ask. |
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. | And the world with all its enticements is passing away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. |
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? | Or can a man walk on red-hot coals without scorching his feet? |
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. | “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not allow myself to be dominated by anything. |
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. | However, to avoid the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. |
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. | For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be. |
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. | I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look with desire upon a virgin. |
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Remain sober and alert, for your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. |
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. | For everything that is in the world— the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world. |
Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. | Let marriage be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for those who are immoral and adulterers will have to face God’s judgment. |
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. | Brethren, you were called to freedom. However, make sure that you do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Instead, serve one another in love. |
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. | As a deer longs for running streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. |
Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! | Stay awake and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. |
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. | No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it. |
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. | While experiencing temptation, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. |
Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. | As we proceed in the path of your judgments, we wait for you, O Lord; your name and your renown are all that our heart desires. |
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. | By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature. |
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. | The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds. |
In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. | When you fix your gaze upon it, it is gone before you realize it. For it suddenly sprouts wings and flies up to the sky like an eagle. |
Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! | All day long the godless man continues to covet, whereas the righteous man gives unsparingly. |
Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” | What then should we say? That the Law is sinful? Absolutely not! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin was. I would not have known what covet is if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” |
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. | Brethren, if anyone is detected committing a transgression, you who are spiritual must set him right in a spirit of gentleness. Meanwhile, you should take care so that you yourselves are not tempted. |
That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. | Those who live according to the flesh can never be pleasing to God. |