Context is one of the most important parts of biblical exegesis. This is essential when it comes to specific words. In common first century Greek one word was use in multiple ways with different meanings, so context needs to be determined when trying to define what a word means. The NIV does an excellent job doing this. It's not perfect but the scholars that were involved in translating did great work in this area. Let's look at the word "sarx" in the New Testament.
Paul uses the Greek word "sarx" or "flesh" in several senses in Romans:
(1) the humanity of Jesus Christ (1:3)
(2) the physical body (2:28)
(3) mankind—"all flesh" (3:20)
(4) moral, or possibly intellectual, weakness (6:19)
(5) the so-called "ethical" meaning of flesh, which is the most common use of the word in his writings and denotes the old sinful human nature. It is the invisible part of us that is expressed through the body or flesh.
It is this 5th sense of the word that pervades chapters 7 and Ro 8, together with a final use in 13:14. Paul did not employ the word "flesh" in this sense when exposing in his earlier chapters the universality of sin. In noting that the sinful passions are aroused by the law, Paul is anticipating his fuller statement in Rom. 7:7-13 about the manner in which the law energizes sin.
Now, is the term "sinful nature" a good translation for this 5th way of using "sarx" when it comes to describing the fallen human condition? Scholars of the language would say yes. When God create humans we were created with a human nature as opposed to a divine nature. This human nature reflects God's nature but in a limited sense. Where God is omniscient humans are limited in what they can know. Where God is omnipresent humans are limited in where they can be. Where God is omnipotent humans are limited in their power. God has a will and so do humans. God feels and so do humans. Where God creates so do humans. When God created humans he created us perfect. Our human nature was without sin. Our inclinations from within our nature was to do what God wanted. Then there came an outside influence that was evil. This evil influence gave humans the chance to exercise their free will. Before the Fall humans had a free will however, after the Fall this free will was forfeited and humans became a slave to the sin that permeated the human nature. This was the result of humans exercising their free will to not do what God wanted thereby shattering their human nature which is the consequence of breaking God's laws for the human condition. This perfect human nature became an imperfect human nature. It became an human nature that was incline to commit sin, to reject God's will. It became a human nature full of sin. Every part of the human nature has been invaded by sin. Our will, our emotions, our mind, our spirit, our body has been infected by sin. It became a sinful human nature.
This sinful human nature came to all humans through Adam. However, God was not going to leave us in this condition. He had a plan to redeem us from this problem. He wanted to restore our free will. We see this plan of redemption unfold before us in the bible. From the Old Testament to the New Testament. This plan culminating in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He came to us with a perfect human nature. He was inclined to do God's will as oppose to the rest of humanity which is inclined to resist God's will because of their imperfect human nature, their sinful human nature. Now when Jesus' work was done and he was resurrected from the dead and ascended to his place of position with God he gave all of humanity an opportunity to be set free from the tyranny of their sinful human nature, which is always inclined to resist God's will, and have their free will restored back to them. So that they would not be a slave to the resisting inclination of the sinful human nature and to be able to chose to do God's will from a place of love and joy. This restoration and repair of the human condition made us a new creation by introducing the Holy Spirit. However, did the newness extinguish the sinful human nature or just add something to our human nature?
Since the sins we commits are a product of the sinful human nature and since people continue to sin after becoming a new creation then the "Sin" part of the human nature is not extinguished. If our human nature was made perfect like Jesus' human nature or the first Adam before the fall and we then sinned as Adam did then that perfect human nature would become a sinful human nature again. But that is not what we read in scripture. Paul the apostle struggled with his sinful human nature as a follower of Jesus Christ. So much so that God gave him a thorn in his flesh to help him keep his sinful nature in check, specifically the sin of pride which is a product of Sin. The sin of pride is not a product of the new creation side of born again believers. It is a product of a sinful human nature.
There is what I call Big "S" sin and small "s" sin or sins. Now when Paul speaks about Big "S" sin he's making a distinction but not a separation. It's not some separate entity that exists apart from the human nature. It's apart of our human nature. It permeates every aspect of our human nature. Our human nature is full of Sin. It's a sinful human nature. For example a car factory produces cars. The Sin factory (sinful human nature) produces sins. Since we still sin as believers this sin comes from somewhere, this somewhere is our sinful human nature. So when Paul use the figurative language that it is dead he means it has been rendered powerless and as believers we need to considered it this way. That it no longer has power over us in order to make decision for God instead of against God. Even though this is our condition as humans we are not a slave to this condition. In Jesus we are free to chose God.
Some say that as believers Sin no longer exists in a believer and all that remains is the "Power of Sin". This is nonsense. First because nowhere in scripture is the "Power of Sin" presented this way. It is a descriptive phrase that describes what happens to Sin when it comes in contact with the Law. Second the "power of Sin" cannot exist without the presence of Sin. We can make a distinction without a separation. This separation does not exist in scripture. Furthermore Paul say to believers in Romans 6:12, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires." Something cannot reign if it does not exist therefore Sin must still exist in the human nature of believers if Paul is encouraging them to NOT let in reign. Sin cannot exist and exist at the same time and the same place in a believer. This would be a contradiction. God does not contradict himself.
Even with all this said the most important testimony to this truth is that the bible teaches this. In the New Testament the letters from the apostle were written to believers and they were constantly telling them to stop sinning, stop obeying their sinful human nature (flesh) and obey the Holy Spirit. This is made abundantly clear in Revelation were Jesus himself speaks to the believers of certain churches.
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