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.”
He is not here. He has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified and rise again on the third day.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall also be united with him in his resurrection. We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to the entire human race. It teaches us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and in the present age to lead lives that are temperate, just, and godly.
Recognizing that laws are not designed for the upright. They are for the lawless and insubordinate, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and irreligious; they are for those who slay their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for those who are fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which has been entrusted to me.
Those who live according to the flesh fix their attention on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit set their thoughts on spiritual things.
The one who sows in his flesh will reap a harvest of corruption, but the one who sows in the Spirit will reap from the Spirit the reward of eternal life.
For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Spirit, and those of the Spirit are opposed to the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that you cannot do what you want.
Do I derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? asks the Lord God. Would I not rather rejoice to see them turn away from their wickedness and live?
If you, then, despite your evil nature, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you previously, that no one who does such things will inherit the kingdom of God.
Everyone who sins comes from the devil, for the devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very purpose: to destroy the work of the devil.
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.
Do not lie to one another, since you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self that is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you will be able to discern the will of God and to know what is good and acceptable and perfect.