2. For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free
3. to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.
4. That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God.
5. When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die.
6. But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law.
7. Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that.
8. It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead.
9. Before I knew about the Law, I was alive. But as soon as I heard that command, sin came to life,