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.

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

⁵⁶ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.

¹⁵ For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. ¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

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.

²⁰ God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

²² They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

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

²⁴ If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.