Romans 5-6

Contemporary English Version

What It Means To Be Acceptable to God

5 By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace^[a] with God. ² Christ has also introduced us^[b] to God's gift of undeserved grace on which we now take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. ³ But that's not all! We gladly suffer,^[c] because we know that suffering helps us to endure. ⁴ And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope ⁵ that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love.

⁶ Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. ⁷ No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. ⁸ But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

⁹ But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger. ¹⁰ Even when we were God's enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by the life of his Son. ¹¹ And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.

Adam and Christ

^12 (A) Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die. ¹³ Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law. ¹⁴ Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did.

In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later. ¹⁵ But the gift of God's undeserved grace was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of undeserved grace to many people.

¹⁶ There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. ¹⁷ Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has treated us with undeserved grace, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.

^18 (B) Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. ¹⁹ Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.

²⁰ The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God's gift of undeserved grace was even more powerful. ²¹ Sin ruled by means of death. But God's gift of grace now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.

Dead to Sin but Alive because of Christ

6 What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God's gift of undeserved grace will show up even better? ² No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning? ³ Don't you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? ^4 (C) When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.

⁵ If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. ⁶ We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. ⁷ We know sin doesn't have power over dead people.

⁸ As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. ¹⁰ When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. ¹¹ In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.

¹² Don't let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don't obey its desires ¹³ or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God. ¹⁴ Don't let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God's undeserved grace and not by the Law.

Slaves Who Do What Pleases God

¹⁵ What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God's gift of undeserved grace and not by the Law? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. ¹⁷ You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you followed the example set forth in the teaching you received. ¹⁸ Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God.

¹⁹ I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him.

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you didn't have to please God. ²¹ But what good did you receive from the things you did? All you have to show for them is your shame, and they lead to death. ²² Now you have been set free from sin, and you are God's slaves. This will make you holy and will lead you to eternal life. ²³ Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.