Romans 8:1-30
Contemporary English Version
Living by the Power of God's Spirit
8 If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. 2 The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you[a] free from sin and death. 3 The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. 4 He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.
5 People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7 Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws. 8 If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.
9 You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him. 10 But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. 11 (A) Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.
12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13 If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say “No” to your desires. 14 Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. 15 (B)(C) God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father.[b] 16 God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.
A Wonderful Future for God's People
18 (D) I am sure what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. 19 In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. 20 (E) Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21 that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. 22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.
23 (F) The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children.[c] This means that our bodies will also be set free. 24 And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. 25 However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.
26 In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27 (G) All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people. 28 We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.[d] They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, 29 and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so his Son would be the first of many children. 30 God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 8.2 you: Some manuscripts have “me.”
- 8.15 our Father: The Greek text uses the Aramaic word “Abba” (meaning “father”), which shows the close relation between the children and their father.
- 8.23 to show that we are his children: These words are not in some manuscripts. The translation of the remainder of the verse would then read, “while we wait for God to set our bodies free.”
- 8.28 God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him: Or “All things work for the good of everyone who loves God” or “God's Spirit always works for the good of everyone who loves God.”
Romans 8:1-30
New King James Version
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.
From Suffering to Glory
18 For I consider that (Z)the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For (AA)the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For (AB)the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [f]corruption into the glorious (AC)liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation (AD)groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have (AE)the firstfruits of the Spirit, (AF)even we ourselves groan (AG)within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the (AH)redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but (AI)hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For (AJ)we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but (AK)the Spirit Himself makes intercession [g]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now (AL)He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints (AM)according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those (AN)who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom (AO)He foreknew, (AP)He also predestined (AQ)to be conformed to the image of His Son, (AR)that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also (AS)called; whom He called, these He also (AT)justified; and whom He justified, these He also (AU)glorified.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Romans 8:1 NU omits the rest of v. 1.
- Romans 8:6 fleshly
- Romans 8:7 fleshly
- Romans 8:11 Or because of
- Romans 8:15 Lit., in Aram., Father
- Romans 8:21 decay
- Romans 8:26 NU omits for us
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
