Parallel Bible results for "romans 7"

Romans 7

New Century Version NCV

1 Brothers and sisters, all of you understand the law of Moses. So surely you know that the law rules over people only while they are alive.

2 For example, a woman must stay married to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law of marriage.

3 But if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, the law says she is guilty of adultery. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law of marriage. Then if she marries another man, she is not guilty of adultery.

4 In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died, and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. This happened so that you might belong to someone else -- the One who was raised from the dead -- and so that we might be used in service to God.

5 In the past, we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things that controlled our bodies, so the things we did were bringing us death.

6 In the past, the law held us like prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way with the Spirit, and not in the old way with written rules.

7 You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same thing. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin meant. I would never have known what it means to want to take something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, "You must not want to take your neighbor's things."

8 And sin found a way to use that command and cause me to want all kinds of things I should not want. But without the law, sin has no power.

9 I was alive before I knew the law. But when the law's command came to me, then sin began to live,

10 and I died. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death.

11 Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die.

12 So the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good.

13 Does this mean that something that is good brought death to me? No! Sin used something that is good to bring death to me. This happened so that I could see what sin is really like; the command was used to show that sin is very evil.

14 We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I were its slave.

15 I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate.

16 And if I do not want to do the hated things I do, that means I agree that the law is good.

17 But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them.

18 Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me -- I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them.

19 I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.

20 So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.

21 So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me.

22 In my mind, I am happy with God's law.

23 But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner.

24 What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?

25 I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So in my mind I am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin.

New Living Translation NLT

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters —you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?

2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her.

3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.

6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”

8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power.

9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life,

10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.

11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.

12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.

17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.

19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.

22 I love God’s law with all my heart.

23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.