Free from Indwelling Sin

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, ^(A)who^[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For ^(B)the law of ^(C)the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from ^(D)the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(E)what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, ^(F)God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who ^(G)do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(H)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, ^(I)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For ^(J)to be ^[b]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because ^(K)the ^[c]carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, ^(L)nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of ^(M)Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, ^(N)He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Sonship Through the Spirit

^12 (O)Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For ^(P)if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you ^(Q)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For ^(R)as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For ^(S)you did not receive the spirit of bondage again ^(T)to fear, but you received the ^(U)Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ^(V)“Abba,^[e] Father.” ^16 (W)The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(X)heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, ^(Y)if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

²⁰ Well said. Because of ^(A)unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, ^[a]goodness, ^(B)if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise ^(C)you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, ^(D)if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

¹¹ Likewise you also, ^[a]reckon yourselves to be ^(A)dead indeed to sin, but ^(B)alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^12 (C)Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed^(A)

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—^(B)take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the ^(C)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and ^(D)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, ^(E)who had married his daughters, and said, ^(F)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” ^(G)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ^(H)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men ^(I)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the ^(J)Lord being merciful to him, ^(K)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[a]he said, ^(L)“Escape for your life! ^(M)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape ^(N)to the mountains, lest you be ^[b]destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^(O)no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

²¹ And he said to him, “See, ^(P)I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For ^(Q)I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore ^(R)the name of the city was called ^[c]Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained ^(S)brimstone and ^(T)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He ^[d]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^(U)what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became ^(V)a pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where ^(W)he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, ^(X)the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God ^(Y)remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

²⁰ And He said, ^(A)“What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. ^21 (B)For from within, out of the heart of men, ^(C)proceed evil thoughts, ^(D)adulteries, ^(E)fornications, murders, ²² thefts, ^(F)covetousness, wickedness, ^(G)deceit, ^(H)lewdness, an evil eye, ^(I)blasphemy, ^(J)pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Walking in the Spirit

¹⁶ I say then: ^(A)Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(B)the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, ^(C)so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But ^(D)if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ Now ^(E)the works of the flesh are evident, which are: ^[a]adultery, ^[b]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, ^[c]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that ^(F)those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But ^(G)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(H)love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, ^(I)goodness, ^(J)faithfulness, ^23 [d]gentleness, self-control. ^(K)Against such there is no law.

²⁰ I have been ^(A)crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh ^(B)I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(C)who loved me and gave Himself for me.

²⁵ Therefore He is also ^(A)able to save ^[a]to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives ^(B)to make intercession for them.

The Race of Faith

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ^(A)let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the ^[a]author and ^[b]finisher of our faith, ^(D)who for the joy that was set before Him ^(E)endured the cross, despising the shame, and ^(F)has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.