Freedom in Christ

5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.^(A) Stand firm,^(B) then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.^(C)

³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^(A)

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants^(B) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.^{(C) 35} Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.^{(D) 36} So if the Son sets you free,^(E) you will be free indeed.

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,^(A) how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,^(B) overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

²³ For the wages of sin is death,^(A) but the gift of God is eternal life^(B) in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^(A)

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person;^(A) similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.^{(B) 23} You were bought at a price;^(C) do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.^(D)

Concerning the Unmarried

²⁵ Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord,^(E) but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy^(F) is trustworthy. ²⁶ Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.^{(G) 27} Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.^{(H) 28} But if you do marry, you have not sinned;^(I) and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹ What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.^(J) From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰ those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.^(K)

³² I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs^(L)—how he can please the Lord.