Beginning

Abraham Justified through Faith^[a]

Chapter 4

Justified through Faith, Not Works.^{[b] 1} What then are we to say about Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? ² If Abraham was justified by the works he did, he has good reason to boast, but not in the eyes of God. ³ For what does Scripture say? “Abraham placed his faith in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^[c]

⁴ Now when a man works, his wages are not regarded as a gift but as something that is due to him. ⁵ However, when someone who does not work places his faith in one who justifies the godless, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. ^6 [d]In the same way, David speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God attributes righteousness apart from works:

Justified before Being Circumcised.^{[e] 9} Is this blessedness granted only to the circumcised, or does it apply to the uncircumcised as well? We have asserted that Abraham’s faith “was credited to him as righteousness.” ¹⁰ How was it credited? Was it when he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not when he was circumcised, but when he was uncircumcised.

¹¹ Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. In this way, he was the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness credited to them. ¹² Therefore, he is the father of the circumcised who have not only received circumcision but also follow that path of faith traversed by Abraham before he was circumcised.

¹³ Justified Apart from the Law.^[f] It was not through the Law that Abraham and his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ If those who live by the Law are the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the Law produces only wrath, and where no Law exists, there cannot be any violation.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift and the promise may be guaranteed to all descendants, not only to the adherents of the Law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations,” in the sight of God in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.

¹⁸ The Power of Faith.^[g] Though he hoped against hope, he believed that he would become the father of many nations, in fulfillment of the promise, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ His faith was not shaken when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (for he was about one hundred years old), and the barren womb of Sarah. ²⁰ Confident in the promise of God, he did not doubt in unbelief; rather, he was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ remaining fully convinced that he was able to fulfill his pledge. ²² Therefore, his faith “was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³ “It was credited to him” was not written with Abraham alone in mind. ²⁴ This was also meant for us as well, to whom it will be credited as righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord ²⁵ who was handed over to death for our sins and who was raised to life for our justification.

Faith, the Riches of Life^[h]

Chapter 5

At Peace with God

Hope Does Not Disappoint. ¹ Therefore, now that we have been justified by faith, we are at peace^[i] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom by faith we have been given access to this grace in which we now live, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we realize that suffering develops perseverance, ⁴ and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵ Such hope will not be doomed to disappointment,^[j] because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Reconciliation Already Obtained. ⁶ At the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, it is seldom that anyone will die for a just person, although perhaps for a good person someone might be willing to die. ⁸ Thus, God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

⁹ And so, now that we have been justified by Christ’s blood, how much more certainly will we be saved through him from divine retribution.^{[k] 10} For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more certain it is that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we now even trust exultantly in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already been granted reconciliation.

Adam and Christ—Sin and Grace^[l]

¹² Humanity’s Sin through Adam. Therefore, sin entered the world as the result of one man, and death^[m] as a result of sin, and thus death has afflicted the entire human race inasmuch as everyone has sinned. ¹³ Sin was already in the world before there was any Law, even though sin is not reckoned when there is no Law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned by disobeying a command, as did Adam who prefigured the one who was to come.

¹⁵ Grace and Life through Christ. However, the gift is not like the transgression. For if the transgression of one man led to the death of the many,^[n] how much greater was the overflowing effect of the grace of God and the gift of the one man Jesus Christ that has abounded for the many. ¹⁶ The gift of God cannot be compared with the sin of the one man. For the one sin resulted in the judgment that brought condemnation, but the gift freely given after many transgressions resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man’s transgression, death reigned through that man, how much more shall those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness come to reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, just as one man’s transgression brought condemnation for all, so one man’s righteous act resulted in justification and life for all. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man the many will be made righteous.^[o]

²⁰ Purpose of the Law. When the Law was added, offenses multiplied; but the increase in sins was far exceeded by the increase in grace. ²¹ Hence, as sin’s reign resulted in death, so the grace of God also might reign through righteousness resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Death and Life with Christ^[p]

Chapter 6

Baptized in Christ Jesus.^{[q] 1} What then shall we say? Should we persist in sin in order that grace may abound? ² Of course not! We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Through that baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,^[r] so we too might begin to live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶ We know that our old^[s] self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For whoever has died has been freed from sin.

⁸ However, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.^{[t] 9} We know that Christ, once raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died to sin once and for all. However, the life he lives, he lives for God. ¹¹ In the same way, you must regard yourselves as being dead to sin and alive for God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Therefore, do not allow sin to reign over your mortal body and make you obey its desires. ¹³ Nor should you present any part of your body as an instrument for wickedness leading to sin. Rather, present yourselves to God as having been raised from death to life and the parts of your body to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin is no longer to have any power over you, since you are not under the Law but under grace.

¹⁵ A Slave of Righteousness. What then? Should we sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Of course not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you offer yourself as an obedient slave, you are the slave of the one you obey—either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

¹⁷ Once you were slaves of sin, but, thanks be to God, you have become obedient in your heart to that pattern of teaching to which you have been delivered. ¹⁸ Now, having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms because you are still weak human beings. For just as you once offered your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to greater iniquity, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the restraints of righteousness. ²¹ But what advantage did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² However, now that you have been freed from sin and bound to the service of God, the benefit you receive is sanctification, and the end is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ Has Freed Us from the Law^[u]

Chapter 7

The Time of the Law Has Passed.^{[v] 1} Are you aware, brethren (for I am certain that you are people who have knowledge of the Law), that a person is bound by the Law only during that person’s lifetime? ² For example, a woman is bound by the Law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from her husband in regard to the Law. ³ Therefore, she will be judged to be an adulteress if she has relations with another man while her husband is still alive. However, if her husband dies, she is free from that provision of the Law, and if she then has relations with another man, she is not an adulteress.

⁴ In the same way, brethren, through the body of Christ you have died to the Law and have been set free to belong to another, that is, to the one who rose from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions were aroused by the Law and at work in our bodies, and they bore fruit for death. ⁶ But now, we are released from the Law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit in contrast to the old written code.^[w]

The Function of the Law.^{[x] 7} What then should we say? That the Law is sinful? Absolutely not! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin was. I would not have known what covet is if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin seized the opportunity offered by the commandment and produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the Law, sin is dead.

⁹ I lived apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin came to life, ¹⁰ and I died. The commandment that was for life proved to be death for me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity offered by the commandment, deceived me,^[y] and through it killed me. ¹² And so the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

¹³ Did what is good, then, cause my death? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as such, it brought about my death through what is good, and therefore through the commandment sin became completely sinful.

¹⁴ Sin and Death. We clearly understand that the Law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want; rather, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, then I agree that the Law is good.^{[z] 17} This indicates that it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot do what is good. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I desire; rather, it is the evil I do not desire that I end up doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not desire, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I have thus discovered this principle: when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²² In my innermost self, I delight in the Law of God, ²³ but I perceive in the members of my body another law at war with the Law that I cherish in my mind. Thus, I am made captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body destined for death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with my mind I am a slave to the Law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin.