While in bondage to sin, we are a slave to the appetites of the flesh. We cannot free ourselves from the flesh on our own. The best perhaps we could do is replace one fleshly habit with another more socially acceptable one.
For true freedom, we must be reborn as a new creature and set free from sin by repentance and receiving the completed work of redemption Jesus purchased for us on the cross.
We are set free and are then able to master the appetites of the flesh by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.