Beginning
The Example of Abraham
4 What, then, are we to say about Abraham, our human ancestor? 2 For if Abraham was justified by actions, he would have had something to boast about—though not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to someone who works, wages are not considered a gift but an obligation. 5 However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions:
7 “How blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered!
8 How blessed is the person whose sins
the Lord[b] will never charge against him!”[c]
9 Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, “Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.”[d] 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised. 11 Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them. 12 He is also the ancestor of the circumcised—those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Promise Comes through Faith
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith. 14 For if those who were given the Law[e] are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless, 15 for the Law produces wrath. Now where there is no Law, neither can there be any violation of it.
16 Therefore, the promise[f] is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham’s[g] descendants—not only for those who were given the Law,[h] but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17 As it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations.”[i] Abraham[j] acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don’t yet exist. 18 Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,”[k] just as he had been told:[l] “This is how many descendants you will have.”[m] 19 His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already[n] as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah’s inability to have children, 20 nor did he doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God, 21 being absolutely convinced that God would do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[o]
23 Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for him 24 but also for us. Our faith will be regarded in the same way,[p] if we believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.
We Enjoy Peace with God through Jesus
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have[q] peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.[r] 2 Through him we have also obtained[s] access by faith[t] into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast[u] because of our hope in God’s glory. 3 Not only that, but we also boast[v] in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 For at just the right time, while we were still powerless,[w] the Messiah[x] died for the ungodly. 7 For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person. 8 But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah[y] died for us while we were still sinners.
9 Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life! 11 Not only that, but we also continue to boast about God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah,[z] through whom we have now been reconciled.
Death in Adam, Life in the Messiah
12 Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned. 13 Certainly sin was in the world before the Law was given,[aa] but no record of sin is kept when there is no Law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled from the time of[ab] Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed.[ac] He is a foreshadowing of the one who would come.
15 But God’s free gift[ad] is not like Adam’s offense.[ae] For if many people died as the result of one man’s offense, how much more have God’s grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah,[af] been showered on many people! 16 Nor can the free gift be compared to what came through the man who sinned.[ag] For the sentence that followed one man’s offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift brought justification, even after many offenses. 17 For if, through one man, death ruled because of that man’s offense, how much more will those who receive such overflowing grace and the gift of righteousness rule in life because of one man, Jesus the Messiah![ah]
18 Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man’s obedience many people will be made righteous. 20 Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more, 21 so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death,[ai] so also grace might rule by bringing justification[aj] that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah,[ak] our Lord.
No Longer Sin’s Slaves, but God’s Slaves
6 What should we say, then? Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 Of course not! How can we who died as far as sin is concerned go on living in it?
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into union with the Messiah[al] Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore, through baptism we were buried with him into his death so that, just as the Messiah[am] was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too may live an entirely new life. 5 For if we have become united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old natures were crucified with him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin. 7 For the person who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with the Messiah,[an] we believe that we will also live with him, 9 for we know that the Messiah,[ao] who was raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For when he died, he died once and for all as far as sin is concerned. But now that he is alive, he lives for God. 11 In the same way, you too must continuously consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah[ap] Jesus.[aq]
12 Therefore, do not let sin rule your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. 13 Stop offering[ar] the parts of your body[as] to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body[at] as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have mastery over you, because you are not under Law but under grace.
15 What, then, does this mean?[au] Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted! 18 And since you have been freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
19 I am speaking in simple[av] terms because of the frailty of your human nature.[aw] Just as you once offered the parts of your body[ax] as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater disobedience, so now, in the same way, you must offer the parts of your body[ay] as slaves to righteousness that leads to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were “free” as far as righteousness was concerned. 21 What benefit did you get from doing those things you are now ashamed of? For those things resulted in death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah[az] Jesus our Lord.
Now We are Released from the Law
7 Don’t you realize, brothers—for I am speaking to people who know the Law—that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive? 2 For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. 3 So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.
4 In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah’s[ba] body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living according to our human nature,[bb] sinful passions were at work in our bodies[bc] by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings.
The Law Shows Us What Sin Is
7 What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn’t have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn’t have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, “You must not covet.”[bd] 8 But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead. 9 At one time I was alive without any connection to[be] the Law.[bf] But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me. 12 So then, the Law[bg] itself is holy, and the rule is holy, just, and good.
The Problem of the Sin that Lives in Us
13 Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being[bh] sinful than ever before. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human,[bi] sold as a slave to sin.[bj] 15 I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. 16 Now if I practice what I don’t want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. 17 As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
21 So I find this to be a principle:[bk] when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, 23 but I see in my body[bl] a different principle[bm] waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.[bn] 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by[bo] death? 25 Thank God through Jesus the Messiah,[bp] our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature[bq] I serve the law of sin.
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