Romans 5–6

Right with God

5Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have^e peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast^f of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! ³We also boast^g of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, ⁴endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope. ⁵This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

⁶For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. ⁷It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. ⁸But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! ⁹By his blood^h we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! ¹⁰We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! ¹¹But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.

Adam and Christ

^12*Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned. ¹³There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, no account is kept of sins. ¹⁴But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses death ruled over the whole human race, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God’s command.

Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. ¹⁵But the two are not the same, because God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God’s grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶And there is a difference between God’s gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin, came the judgement of “Guilty”; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of “Not guilty!” ¹⁷It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.

¹⁸So then, as the one sin condemned all people, in the same way the one righteous act sets all people free and gives them life. ¹⁹And just as the mass of people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way the mass of people will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.

²⁰Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God’s grace increased much more. ²¹So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God’s grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin but Alive in Union with Christ

6What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God’s grace will increase? ²Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it? ³For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. ^4*By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. ⁵For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. ⁶And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. ⁷For when people die, they are set free from the power of sin. ⁸Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again—death will no longer rule over him. ¹⁰And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. ¹¹In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

¹²Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. ¹³Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. ¹⁴Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace.

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵What, then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under God’s grace? By no means! ¹⁶Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey—either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God. ¹⁷But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received. ¹⁸You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹(I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.

²⁰When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ²¹What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The result of those things is death! ²²But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life. ²³For sin pays its wage—death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.