It surprises me when I discover older people, who had previously been people of high moral standards, living together without being married. I wonder about their change of standards. Is it because their obedience to high moral standards was only out of fear of the consequences, such as becoming pregnant, and not due to any real sense of right and wrong?

Christians shouldn't avoid sin simply because we fear the consequences. Rather we avoid sin because we trust that God knows best. He has our best interests at heart and restricts our behaviour in order to bless us, and not deprive us of pleasure. God doesn't want us doing the right thing out of fear, but rather out of a sense of freedom. We don’t have to succumb to temptation. We have an inner strength that comes from Christ who enables us to live a godly lifestyle. In the long term, living to please God will bring us more blessing, than pursuing the fleeting pleasures of a sinful lifestyle.

Furthermore, we have "died to sin," and no longer live in bondage. Later in Romans 6, Paul speaks about our baptism as a picture of how we have died with Christ and "anyone who has died has been freed from sin" (6:7).

There may be days when we don't feel free from sin, but God's truth is not dependent on our feelings. As we continue to believe God's word we will find it confirmed in our feelings.