Romans 7:7-25

71What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? 2May it never be! On the contrary, 3I would not have come to know sin except 4through the Law; for I would not have known about 5coveting if the Law had not said, “6You shall not 7covet.” 8But sin, 8taking opportunity 9through the commandment, produced in me 10coveting of every kind; for 11apart 12from the Law sin is dead. 9I was once alive apart 13from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10and this commandment, which was 1415to result in life, proved 16to result in death for me; 11for sin, 17taking an opportunity 18through the commandment, 19deceived me and through it killed me. 1220So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? 21May 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.

14For we know that the Law is 22spiritual, but I am 23of flesh, 24sold 2526into bondage to sin. 15For what I am doing, 27I do not understand; for I am not practicing 28what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with 29the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17So now, 30no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my 31flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For 32the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, 33I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21I find then 34the 35principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully concur with the law of God 36in 37the inner man, 23but I see 38a different law in 39the members of my body, waging war against the 40law of my mind and making me a prisoner 41of 42the law of sin which is in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from 4344the body of this 45death? 2546Thanks 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 47the law of sin.