Dead to Sin, Alive to God

1 What shall we say then? ^mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can ⁿwe who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us ^owho have been baptized ^pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were ^qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ^rChrist was raised from the dead by ^sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^tnewness of life.

5 For ^uif we have been united with him in ^va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that ^wour old self^{1 x}was crucified with him in order that ^ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For ^zone who has died ^ahas been set free² from sin. 8 Now ^bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that ^cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, ^eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves ^fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Let not ^gsin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 ^hDo not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ⁱpresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For ^jsin ^kwill have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 “For ^rno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for ^seach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 ^tThe good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^uevil, ^vfor out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

5 ^jPut to death therefore ^kwhat is earthly in you:^{1 l}sexual immorality, impurity, ^mpassion, evil desire, and covetousness, ⁿwhich is idolatry. 6 ^oOn account of these the wrath of God is coming.² 7 ^pIn these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now ^qyou must put them all away: ^ranger, wrath, malice, ^sslander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 ^tDo not lie to one another, seeing that ^uyou have put off ^vthe old self³ with its practices 10 and ^whave put on ^xthe new self, ^ywhich is being renewed in knowledge ^zafter the image of ^aits creator. 11 ^bHere there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,⁴ free; but Christ is ^call, and in all.

12 ^dPut on then, as ^eGod’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^fcompassionate hearts, ^gkindness, ^hhumility, meekness, and patience, 13 ^hbearing with one another and, ⁱif one has a complaint against another, ^gforgiving each other; ^gas the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on ^jlove, which ^kbinds everything together in ^lperfect harmony. 15 And let ^mthe peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called ⁿin one body. And ^obe thankful. 16 Let ^pthe word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^qsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^rwith thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And ^swhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^tgiving thanks to God the Father through him.