13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not!y But, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

THE PROBLEM OF SIN IN US

14 For we know that the law is spiritual,z but I am of the flesh,E soldaa as a slave under sin.ab 15 For I do not understand what I am doing,ac because I do not practice what I want to do,ad but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.ae For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:G,af When I want to do what is good,H evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner selfI I delight in God’s law,ag 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body,J,ah waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?ai 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!aj So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.