This is where the NIV's use of the term "sinful nature" is unhelpful, and old term "flesh" is better. In fact the Good News does a good job with "human nature". For Paul is not saying here that if we indulge in sinful activities such as adultery, lying, stealing etc we cannot please God. It is certainly true that these things do not please God, and they merit the judgement of God, but that is not the point here.
Paul is showing us how to live. The Law was a way of life for the Jews, it was how they were to live in the Promised Land, but it lead nowhere. For the root of the problem is our very nature. Our very nature is sinful, so if we live out of our own strength, out of the flesh, we will fail to please God.
If we live by the flesh, ie by our own strength, our minds will be set on what the flesh wants. And that will lead to disaster. If instead we live by the Spirit our minds will be set on what the Spirit wants, and that will lead to life.
The mind set on the flesh is death, the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Now a mind set on the flesh is concerned with its own protection, its own security. We seek to save our own lives, and Jesus said that if we seek to save our own lives we will lose it. Walking in the Spirit requires trusting God, building our lives on the fact that He is our ultimate provider, making ourselves vulnerable. These are all things that our flesh does not like doing! But if we do this we will actually find a peace far greater and more reliable than anything we can give ourselves.
If we don't then our mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to Him. For every path that God chooses is a path of faith, a path that at some point will only work if He provides, if His power is going to work in our lives. We have to live by faith if we want to please God.
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