The Law and Sin

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^oI would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^pthe law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, ^qseizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^rFor apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment ^sthat promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, ^tseizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^udeceived me and through it killed me. 12 So ^vthe law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For ^dI delight in the law of God, ^ein my inner being, 23 but I see in my members ^fanother law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^gthis body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.