Book of Common Prayer

7 My brothers, I am saying this to you people who know the law. Do you not know that the law is master over a person only while he lives?

² A married woman belongs to her husband by law as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law that made her belong to her husband.

³ So if she belongs to another man while her husband is living, she commits adultery. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then if she belongs to another man, she does not commit adultery.

⁴ In the same way my brothers, you died when Christ died. And you are free from the law. Now you belong to another person. You belong to the one who has been raised from death. Because of that, we are able to do what God wants us to do.

⁵ One time we lived in the way our bodies wanted to live. The law made us think about doing wrong things. And we did things that made us die.

⁶ But now we have been made free from the law. We died, and so we are no longer slaves to the one who was our master. Now we are slaves to God in our new life. This new life is ruled by the Spirit. We do not work for the old written law.

⁷ So what shall we say? Shall we say that the law is bad? No! I would not have known what is wrong if there had been no law. The law says, `Do not want to take other people's things.' That is how I know it is wrong to want another person's things.

⁸ My wrong ways used the law to make me want all kinds of things. When there is no law, the thing within me that wants to do wrong is dead.

⁹ Once I had no law, and I lived. But when the law came, that which wanted to do wrong things came to life, and I died.

¹⁰ The same law which was meant to make a person live, made me die.

¹¹ My wrong ways used the law to fool me and kill me.

¹² So the law is holy. And what the law says is holy and right and good.

²³ He came to the temple and went in and taught the people. The chief priests and the leaders of the people came to him. They asked, `What right have you to do these things? Who gave you the right to do them?'

²⁴ Jesus answered them, `I will ask you a question also. If you answer me, I will answer you. I will tell you what right I have to do these things.

²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptise people? Did God or did men?' So they talked it over together. They said, `If we say, "God gave John the right to do it," he will say to us, "Then why did you not believe him?"

²⁶ But if we say, "Men gave him the right to do it," we have the people to fear, because all the people say that John was a prophet.'

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, `We do not know.' Then Jesus said, `Neither will I tell you what right I have to do these things.'

²⁸ `What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first one and said, "Son, go and work today on my farm."

²⁹ The son said, "No, I will not go." But he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ The man went to the second son and said the same thing. The son answered, "Yes, sir, I will go." But he did not go.

³¹ Which of the two sons did what his father wanted him to do?' They said, `The first one.' Then Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and women who commit adultery by selling their bodies, are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

³² John came to you to tell you the right way. But you did not believe him. The tax collectors and women who commit adultery believed him. And even when you saw that, you did not change your minds and believe him.'