In this verse Paul gives the outcome of the two ways of life. To have your mind controlled by human nature results in death is literally “the mind of the flesh is death.” There is no verb connecting “flesh” and “death,” and so one has to be supplied from the context. Most translations supply “is” and a number of others supply “means,” while the Good News Translation supplies results in. Although Paul is describing the present condition of the man of faith and of the man who lives apart from faith, his focus of attention seems to be on the final outcome of their lives, and this is why the Good News Bible has supplied the verb results in. The same is true of the second half of this verse.

In many languages expressions of result may be effectively restructured as conditions—for example, “If you think only about what your body wants you will die, but if you think only about what God’s Spirit wants you will truly live and have peace.” In some instances there must be an agent of life and peace, and therefore one may translate as “God will cause you to live and have peace.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .