Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, ^(A)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^(B)because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ^9 (C)For God is my witness, ^(D)whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^(E)that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^(F)by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(G)I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged ^(H)by each other's faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that ^(I)I have often intended to come to you (but ^(J)thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^(K)harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (L)I am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(M)barbarians,^[b] both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(N)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(O)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(P)first and also to ^(Q)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(R)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(S)from faith for faith,^{[c] (T)}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”^[d]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(U)the wrath of God ^(V)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(W)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(X)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[e] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(Y)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (Z)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(AA)exchanged the glory of ^(AB)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AC)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(AD)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(AE)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AF)who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AG)God gave them up to ^(AH)dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ^(AI)men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^(AJ)God gave them up to ^(AK)a debased mind to do ^(AL)what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know ^(AM)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(AN)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(AO)give approval to those who practice them.

No One Is Righteous

⁹ What then? Are we Jews^[a] any better off?^[b] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both ^(A)Jews and ^(B)Greeks, are ^(C)under sin, ¹⁰ as it is written:

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

²¹ But now ^(A)the righteousness of God ^(B)has been manifested apart from the law, although ^(C)the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God ^(D)through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^(E)For there is no distinction: ²³ for ^(F)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24 (G)and are justified ^(H)by his grace as a gift, ^(I)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God ^(J)put forward as ^(K)a propitiation ^(L)by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in ^(M)his divine forbearance he had passed over ^(N)former sins.

¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For ^(A)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with ^(B)the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now ^(C)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells ^(D)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ^19 (E)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[a] 2} For the law of ^(A)the Spirit of life ^(B)has set you^[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(C)God has done what the law, ^(D)weakened by the flesh, ^(E)could not do. ^(F)By sending his own Son ^(G)in the likeness of sinful flesh and ^(H)for sin,^[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that ^(I)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^(J)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(K)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(L)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(M)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set ^(N)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^(O)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; ^(P)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 ^(Q)the Spirit of God dwells in you. ^(R)Anyone who does not have ^(S)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.