Romans 6-8

Legacy Standard Bible

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 ^(A)What shall we say then? Are we to ^(B)continue in sin so that grace may increase? ^2 (C)May it never be! How shall we who ^(D)died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who were ^(E)baptized into ^(F)Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were ^(G)buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was ^(H)raised from the dead through the ^(I)glory of the Father, so we too might walk in ^(J)newness of life. ⁵ For ^(K)if we have become ^[a]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be ^[b]in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our ^(L)old man was ^(M)crucified with Him, in order that our ^(N)body of sin might be ^[c]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for ^(O)he who has died has been ^[d]justified from sin.

⁸ Now ^(P)if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been ^(Q)raised from the dead, ^[e]is never to die again; ^(R)death no longer is master over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Even so consider yourselves to be ^(S)dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Therefore do not let sin ^(T)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³ and do not go on ^(U)presenting your members to sin as ^[f]instruments of unrighteousness, but ^(V)present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as ^[g]instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For ^(W)sin shall not ^(X)be master over you, for ^(Y)you are not under law but ^(Z)under grace.

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(AA)Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^(AB)May it never be! ¹⁶ Do you not ^(AC)know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as ^(AD)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of ^(AE)sin ^[h]leading to death, or of obedience ^[i]leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(AF)thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that ^(AG)pattern of teaching to which you were ^(AH)given over, ¹⁸ and having been ^(AI)freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ^19 (AJ)I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just ^(AK)as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, ^[j]leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, ^[k]leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For ^(AL)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ Therefore what ^[l](AM)benefit were you then having ^[m]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is ^(AN)death. ²² But now having been ^(AO)freed from sin and ^(AP)enslaved to God, you have your ^[n](AQ)benefit, ^[o]leading to sanctification, and ^(AR)the end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of ^(AS)sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is ^(AT)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, ^(AU)brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? ² For ^(AV)the married woman has been bound by law to her ^[p]husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law ^[q]concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

⁴ So, my brothers, you also were ^(AW)made to die ^(AX)to the Law ^(AY)through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were ^(AZ)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were ^(BA)aroused by the Law, were at work ^(BB)in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been ^(BC)released from the Law, having ^(BD)died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in ^(BE)newness of ^[r](BF)the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

^7 (BG)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(BH)May it never be! Rather, ^(BI)I would not have come to know sin except ^[s]through the Law. For I would not have known about ^[t]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(BJ)You shall not ^[u]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(BK)taking opportunity ^(BL)through the commandment, worked out in me ^[v]coveting of every kind. For ^(BM)apart ^[w]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ Now I was once alive apart ^[x]from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[y](BN)to lead to life, was found ^[z]to lead to death for me. ¹¹ For sin, ^(BO)taking an opportunity ^(BP)through the commandment, ^(BQ)deceived me and through it killed me. ^12 (BR)So, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

The Conflict of Two Natures

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^(BS)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by working out my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would ^[aa]become utterly sinful.

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is ^(BT)spiritual, but I am ^(BU)fleshly, ^(BV)having been sold ^[ab](BW)into bondage under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am working out, ^(BX)I do not understand; for I am not practicing ^(BY)what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ But if I do the very thing I do not want, I agree with ^(BZ)the Law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now, ^(CA)no longer am I the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my ^(CB)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the working out of the good is not. ¹⁹ For ^(CC)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, ^(CD)I am no longer the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹ I find then ^(CE)the ^[ac]principle that in me evil is present—in me who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully concur with the law of God ^[ad]in ^(CF)the inner man, ²³ but I see ^(CG)a different law in my members, waging war against the ^(CH)law of my mind and making me a captive ^[ae]to ^(CI)the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^[af](CJ)the body of this ^(CK)death? ^25 [ag](CL)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh ^(CM)the law of sin.

The Spirit of God Dwells in You

8 Therefore there is now no ^(CN)condemnation for those who are ^(CO)in ^(CP)Christ Jesus. ² For ^(CQ)the law of the Spirit of life ^[ah]in ^(CR)Christ Jesus ^(CS)has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For ^(CT)what the Law could not do, ^[ai](CU)weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in ^(CV)the likeness of ^[aj]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the ^(CW)righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who ^(CX)do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on ^(CY)the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, ^(CZ)the things of the Spirit. ^6 (DA)For the mind set on the flesh is ^(DB)death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is ^(DC)hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are ^(DD)in the flesh are not able to please God.

⁹ However, you are not ^(DE)in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God ^(DF)dwells in you. But ^(DG)if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ^10 (DH)But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is ^[ak]alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who ^(DI)raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, ^(DJ)He who raised ^(DK)Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[al]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for ^(DL)if you are living according to the flesh, you ^[am]must die, but if by the Spirit you are ^(DM)putting to death the ^(DN)practices of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are ^(DO)being led by the Spirit of God, these are ^(DP)sons of God. ¹⁵ For you ^(DQ)have not received a spirit of slavery ^[an]leading to fear again, but you ^(DR)have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “^(DS)Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself ^(DT)testifies with our spirit that we are ^(DU)children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, also ^(DV)heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(DW)if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(DX)are not worthy to be compared with the ^(DY)glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the ^(DZ)anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for ^(EA)the revealing of the ^(EB)sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(EC)was subjected to ^(ED)futility, not willingly, but ^(EE)because of Him who subjected it, in hope ^21 [ao]that ^(EF)the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation ^(EG)groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ^23 (EH)And not only this, but also we ourselves, having ^(EI)the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves ^(EJ)groan within ourselves, ^(EK)eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, ^(EL)the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For ^(EM)in hope we were saved, but ^(EN)hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But ^(EO)if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.

²⁶ And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for ^(EP)we do not know how to pray as we should, but ^(EQ)the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and ^(ER)He who searches the hearts knows what ^(ES)the mind of the Spirit is, because He ^(ET)intercedes for the ^[ap]saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God ^[aq](EU)all things work together for good, for those who are ^(EV)called according to His purpose. ²⁹ Because those whom He ^(EW)foreknew, He also ^(EX)predestined to become ^(EY)conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the ^(EZ)firstborn among many brothers; ³⁰ and those whom He ^(FA)predestined, He also ^(FB)called; and those whom He called, He also ^(FC)justified; and those whom He justified, He also ^(FD)glorified.

God Is for Us

^31 (FE)What then shall we say to these things? ^(FF)If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who indeed ^(FG)did not spare His own Son, but ^(FH)delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring a charge against ^(FI)God’s elect? ^(FJ)God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who ^(FK)condemns? Christ Jesus is He who ^(FL)died, yes, rather who was ^[ar](FM)raised, who is ^(FN)at the right hand of God, who also ^(FO)intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from ^(FP)the love of ^[as]Christ? Will ^(FQ)affliction, or turmoil, or ^(FR)persecution, or ^(FS)famine, or ^(FT)nakedness, or ^(FU)peril, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written,

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly ^(FW)conquer through ^(FX)Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither ^(FY)death, nor life, nor ^(FZ)angels, nor rulers, nor ^(GA)things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from ^(GB)the love of God, which is ^(GC)in Christ Jesus our Lord.