But now we have died to what used to control us, and we have been set free from the law. We serve in the new way of the Holy Spirit, not in the old way of the written law.
He has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. It’s not based on the written Law of Moses; it comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.
My brothers and sisters, when Christ died, you also died, and so you were no longer “married” to the law. Then it became possible for you to belong to Christ instead. He was raised from the dead so that our lives could produce what God wanted.
By being baptized, we were buried with Christ and joined him in death. But Christ has been raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, and like Christ we too can live a new life.
Don’t live the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you’ll be able to recognize what God wants for you and agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.
But you’ve been set free from sin, and you’ve become slaves of God. You’re gaining a great benefit from that: You’re living in the right way, and the end result will be eternal life.
Let me say something to those who are familiar with the law. Don’t you know, brothers and sisters, that the law has authority over people only while they’re alive?
I’m using an example from everyday human life to help you understand. You used to offer yourselves as slaves to dirty habits, and you did more and more things that were wrong. Now offer yourselves as slaves to the right way of living. Then you will become holy.
We’re the ones who have truly been circumcised: We serve God by his Spirit, we boast in Christ Jesus, and we don’t put our trust in who we are or what we can do—although I myself could do that for many reasons.