Galatians 5:17
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17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.(A)
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John 3:6
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6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
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Romans 8:13
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13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.(A)
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Romans 8:5-8
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5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit[a] set their minds on the things of the Spirit.[b](A) 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit[c] is life and peace.(B) 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot,(C) 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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Psalm 119:20
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20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.(A)
James 4:5-6
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5 Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks to no purpose? Does the spirit that God caused to dwell[a] in us desire envy?(A) 6 But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”(B)
Footnotes
- 4.5 Other ancient authorities read the spirit that dwells
Matthew 26:41
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41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;[a] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(A)
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- 26.41 Or into testing
Ecclesiastes 7:20
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20 Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning.(A)
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Psalm 119:32
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32 I run the way of your commandments,
for you enlarge my understanding.(A)
Psalm 51:10-12
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Psalm 19:12-13
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12 But who can detect one’s own errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.(A)
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;[a]
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless
and innocent of great transgression.(B)
Footnotes
- 19.13 Or from proud thoughts
James 3:2
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2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is mature,[a] able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.(A)
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- 3.2 Gk a mature man
Luke 22:46
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46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.”[a](A)
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- 22.46 Or into testing
Matthew 16:23
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23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[a] to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
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- 16.23 Or stumbling block
1 John 1:8-10
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8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(A) 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(B)
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Philippians 3:12-16
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Pressing toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal,[a] but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ[b] has laid hold of me.(A) 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold[c] of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,(B) 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly[d] call of God in Christ Jesus.(C) 15 Let those of us, then, who are mature[e] think this way, and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you.(D) 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.(E)
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Romans 7:10-25
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10 and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.(A) 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.(B)
13 Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin that was working death in me through what is good, in order that it might be shown to be sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure.
The Inner Conflict
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.[a] 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.(C) 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability.(D) 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,(E) 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.(F) 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God[b] through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.
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Romans 7:7-8
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The Law and Sin
7 What then are we to say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”(A) 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law sin lies dead.(B)
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Matthew 12:30
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30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.(A)
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Psalm 51:1-5
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Psalm 51
Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
blot out my transgressions.(A)
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.(B)
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.(C)
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.(D)
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.(E)
Galatians 3:21
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21 Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law.
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Luke 22:54-61
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Peter Denies Jesus
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance.(A) 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a female servant, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”(B)
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Luke 22:33
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33 And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!”
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Matthew 16:17
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17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.(A)
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Matthew 5:6
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6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(A)
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