Romans 8 (New International Version)
Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do
because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he
condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of
the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.
Those
who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the
Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind
governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the
flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do
so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You,
however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if
Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because
of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because
of his Spirit who lives in you.
Therefore,
brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live
according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but
if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The
Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear
again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to
sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are
children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we
share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation
for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated
from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the
children of God.
We
know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of
childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For
in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who
hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet
have, we wait for it patiently.
In
the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought
to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through
wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the
Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with
the will of God. And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose. For those God
foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those
he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those
he justified, he also glorified.
What,
then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up
for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who
will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who
justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who
died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and
is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As
it is written:
“For
your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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