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

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.

⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.^[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

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

⁵ Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.^{[a] 6} And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,

¹² Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

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