Before we can stop doing good and begin to do God’s will, we must be regenerated. We must have our minds renewed by the Holy Ghost. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that can wash our minds and our hearts from doing what is bad. We cannot stop ourselves from doing what is bad. We do not have the power to stop ourselves. We need the help of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 (KJV) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
As humans, we do not have the power to overcome the flesh. We cannot overcome the devil by ourselves. We can only over the instincts of the flesh by yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We should obey the commandments of God and follow His leading.
The human body likes pleasure. The desire for pleasure is what makes us to sin against the commandments of God. The flesh does not want to obey God. It is in contrast to God. It likes disobeying the doctrines of God. When we walk in the flesh, we will not be able to obey the commandments of God. We need the Holy Spirit to help us to obey the doctrines of God.