For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. 
And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, 
he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit 
living within you.

And Christ lives within you, 
so even though your body will die because of sin, 
the Spirit gives you life 
because you have been made right with God.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. 
You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. 
But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined 
with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?

And because you belong to him, 
the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you 
from the power of sin that leads to death.

So now there is no condemnation 
for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Now you are free from the power of sin 
and have become slaves of God. 
Now you do those things that lead to holiness 
and result in eternal life.

You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, 
things that end in eternal doom.

Because of the weakness of your human nature, 
I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. 
Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, 
which led ever deeper into sin. 
Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, 
but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 
 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, 
and you have become slaves to righteous living.

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, 
does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? 
You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, 
which leads to righteous living.

Sin is no longer your master, 
for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. 
Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. 
Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, 
but now you have new life. 
So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

Do not let sin control the way you live; 
do not give in to sinful desires.