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.

God’s Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(AV)If God is for us, who can be against us? ^32 (AW)He who did not spare His own Son, but ^(AX)delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? ^(AY)It is God who justifies. ^34 (AZ)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, ^(BA)who is even at the right hand of God, ^(BB)who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

^37 (BD)Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ^(BE)principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at ^(A)Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. ³ The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

⁴ And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named ^(B)Goliath, from ^(C)Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was ^[a]armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷ Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the ^(D)servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and ^(E)serve us.” ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “I ^(F)defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was ^(G)the son of that ^(H)Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had ^(I)eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. ¹³ The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The ^(J)names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. ¹⁵ But David occasionally went and returned from Saul ^(K)to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. ¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and ^(L)see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” ¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰ So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. ²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. ²² And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. ²³ Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke ^(M)according to the same words. So David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. ²⁵ So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, ^(N)will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

²⁶ Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away ^(O)the reproach from Israel? For who is this ^(P)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^(Q)defy the armies of ^(R)the living God?”

²⁷ And the people answered him in this manner, saying, ^(S)“So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s ^(T)anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? ^(U)Is^[b] there not a cause?” ³⁰ Then he turned from him toward another and ^(V)said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.

³¹ Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. ³² Then David said to Saul, ^(W)“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; ^(X)your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³ And Saul said to David, ^(Y)“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a ^(Z)lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵ I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Moreover David said, ^(AA)“The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, ^(AB)“Go, and the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ So Saul clothed David with his ^[c]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he ^(AC)disdained^[d] him; for he was only a youth, ^(AD)ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So the Philistine ^(AE)said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine ^(AF)said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. ^(AG)But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have ^(AH)defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give ^(AI)the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, ^(AJ)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord ^(AK)does not save with sword and spear; for ^(AL)the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ^(AM)ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a ^(AN)sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his ^(AO)sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(AP)they fled. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of ^[e]the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to ^(AQ)Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

A Calm Resolve to Wait for the Salvation of God

To the Chief Musician. To ^(A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.