Romans 7

Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? Begin Abide·

For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Begin Abide·

So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. Begin Abide·

Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. Begin Abide·

For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death. Begin Abide·

But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Begin Abide·

What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” Begin Abide·

But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead. Begin Abide·

Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. Begin Abide·

So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death. Begin Abide·

For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death. Begin Abide·

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. Begin Abide·

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. Begin Abide·

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Begin Abide·

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. Begin Abide·

And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good. Begin Abide·

In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Begin Abide·

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Begin Abide·

For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. Begin Abide·

And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Begin Abide·

So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Begin Abide·

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. Begin Abide·

But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. Begin Abide·

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Begin Abide·

Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Begin Abide·