Life in the Spirit

1 There is therefore now no ^acondemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.¹ 2 For the ^blaw of the Spirit of life has set you^{2 c}free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done ^dwhat the law, ^eweakened by the flesh, could not do. ^fBy sending his own Son ^gin the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,³ he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the ^hrighteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who ⁱwalk ^jnot according to the flesh but ^kaccording to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh ^lset their minds on ^mthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ⁿthe things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 ^oFor the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God ^pdwells in you. Anyone who does not have the ^qSpirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is ^rin you, although the ^sbody is dead because of sin, the Spirit is ^tlife because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of ^uhim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus⁴ from the dead will also ^vgive life to your mortal bodies ^wthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

12 So then, brothers,⁵ we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For ^xif you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^yput to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are ^zled by the Spirit of God are sons⁶ of God. 15 For you did ^anot receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^badoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^c“Abba! Father!” 16 ^dThe Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then ^eheirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^fprovided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that ^gthe sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with ^hthe glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For ⁱthe creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that ^jthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits ^kof the Spirit, ^lgroan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this ^mhope we were saved. Now hope ⁿthat is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself ^ointercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And ^phe who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because⁷ the Spirit intercedes for the saints ^qaccording to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who ^rlove God ^sall things work together for good,⁸ for those who are called according to his ^tpurpose. 29 For those whom he ^uforeknew he also ^vpredestined to be ^wconformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^xthe firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also ^ycalled, and those whom he called he also ^zjustified, and those whom he justified he also ^aglorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 ^bWhat then shall we say to these things? ^cIf God is for us, who can be⁹ against us? 32 ^dHe who ^edid not spare his own Son but gave him up for us ^fall, ^ghow will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 ^hWho shall bring any charge against God’s ⁱelect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is ^jto condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^kwho is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.¹⁰ 35 Who shall separate us from the ^llove of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

37 No, in all these things we are more than ^oconquerors through him who ^ploved us. 38 For I am sure that ^qneither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor ^rheight nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s Sovereign Choice

1 ^sI am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that ^tI have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were ^uaccursed and cut off from Christ ^vfor the sake of my brothers,¹¹ my kinsmen ^waccording to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the ^xadoption, the ^yglory, ^zthe ^acovenants, ^bthe ^cgiving of the law, the ^dworship, and the ^epromises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and ^ffrom their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God ^gover all, blessed forever. Amen.

6 ^hBut it is not as though the word of God has failed. For ⁱnot all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ^j“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the ^kchildren of the promise are ^lcounted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: ^m“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also ⁿwhen Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s ^opurpose of ^pelection might continue, ^qnot because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, ^r“The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, ^s“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 ^tWhat shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, ^u“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends ^vnot on human will or exertion,¹² but on God, who has ^wmercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^x“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he ^yhardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^zwho can resist his will?” 20 But ^awho are you, O man, to answer back to God? ^bWill what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 ^cHas the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^done vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much ^epatience vessels of wrath ^fprepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the ^griches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has ^hprepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, ⁱnot from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^l“Though ^mthe number of the sons of Israel¹³ be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel’s Unbelief

30 ^oWhat shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a ^prighteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{14 q}did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^rstumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

By Grace Through Faith

1 And you were ^ydead in the trespasses and sins 2 ^zin which ^ayou once walked, following the course¹ of this world, following the ^bprince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the ^csons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the ^dpassions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.² 4 But³ God, being rich in ^emercy, ^fbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 ^geven when we were dead in our trespasses, ^hmade us alive together with Christ—ⁱby grace you have been saved— 6 and ^jraised us up with him and seated us with him in the ^kheavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^lriches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For ^mby grace you have been saved ⁿthrough faith. And this is ^onot your own doing; it is the ^pgift of God, 9 ^qnot a result of works, ^rso that no one may ^sboast. 10 For we are his ^tworkmanship, ^ucreated in Christ Jesus for good works, ^vwhich God prepared beforehand, that we should ^wwalk in them.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that ^xat one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^ythe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^zalienated from the commonwealth of Israel and ^astrangers to ^bthe covenants of ^cpromise, ^dhaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus ^eyou who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our ^fpeace, who has made us both ^gone and has broken down ^hin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 ⁱby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^jreconcile us both to God ^kin one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^lpreached ^mpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have ⁿaccess in ^oone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,⁴ but you are ^pfellow citizens with the saints and members of the ^qhousehold of God, 20 ^rbuilt on the ^sfoundation of the ^tapostles and prophets, ^uChrist Jesus himself being the ^vcornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, ^wbeing joined together, grows into a ^xholy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being ^ybuilt together into a ^zdwelling place for God by⁵ the Spirit.