4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,

so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we

might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were

aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But

now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so

that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have

come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the

Law had not said, "You shall not covet ." 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the

commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I

was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and

I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed

me. 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be!

Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that

which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For

what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am

doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the

Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin

which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the

willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not

do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not

want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I

joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the

members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of

the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from

the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the

one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh

the law of sin. Romans 7:4-25 NASB