⁸ and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God.

¹³ for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.

⁵ So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God]. ⁶ Because of these [sinful] things the [divine] wrath of God is coming ^[a]on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts],

²² that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, ²³ and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], ²⁴ and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].

²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the ^[a]sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.