Romans 6–11

The New Life in Christ

6What should we say then? ^eShould we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? ^f2Absolutely not! ^gHow can we who died to sin ^hstill live in it? ³Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized ⁱinto Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ^j4Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, ^kin order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead ^lby the glory of the Father, ^mso we too may walk in a new way ⁿof life. ^o5For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, ^pwe will certainly also be ^qin the likeness of His resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self ^rswas crucified with Him ^tin order that sin’s dominion over the body ^umay be abolished, ^vso that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, ⁷since a person who has died ^wis freed ^xfrom sin’s claims. ^y8Now if we died with Christ, ^zwe believe that we will also live with Him, ⁹because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, ^awill not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. ^b10For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin ^cbut alive to God in Christ Jesus. ^d

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey ^eits desires. ¹³And do not offer any parts ^fof it to sin ^gas weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, ^hand all the parts ⁱof yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law ^jbut under grace. ^k

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

¹⁵What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^lAbsolutely not! ^m16Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone ⁿas obedient slaves, ^oyou are slaves of that one you obey ^p—either of sin leading to death ^qor of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, ^ryou obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred ^sto, ^t18and having been liberated from sin, ^uyou became enslaved to righteousness. ¹⁹I am using a human analogy ^vwbecause of the weakness of your flesh. ^xFor just as you offered the parts ^yof yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. ^za21So what fruit was produced ^bthen from the things you are now ashamed of? ^cFor the end of those things is death. ^d22But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, ^eyou have your fruit, which results in sanctification ^fg—and the end is eternal life! ^h23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ⁱ

An Illustration from Marriage

7Since I am speaking to those who understand law, brothers, ^jare you unaware that the law has authority over someone as long as he lives? ²For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. ^kBut if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. ³So then, if she gives herself to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she gives herself to another man, she is not an adulteress.

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death ^lin relation to the law ^mthrough the crucified body of the Messiah, ⁿso that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead—that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵For when we were in the flesh, ^opthe sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us ^qrand bore fruit for death. ⁶But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way ^sof the Spirit ^tand not in the old letter of the law.

Sin’s Use of the Law

⁷What should we say then? ^uIs the law sin? Absolutely not! ^vOn the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. ^wFor example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. ^xy8And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^zproduced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. ^a9Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life ¹⁰and I died. The commandment that was meant for life ^bresulted in death for me. ¹¹For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, ^cand through it killed me. ¹²So then, the law is holy, ^dand the commandment is holy and just and good.

The Problem of Sin in Us

¹³Therefore, did what is good cause my death? ^eAbsolutely not! ^fOn the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, ^gbut I am made out of flesh, ^hsold ⁱinto sin’s power. ^j15For I do not understand what I am doing, ^kbecause I do not practice what I want to do, ^lbut I do what I hate. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. ^mFor the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. ²¹So I discover this principle: ^noWhen I want to do what is good, evil is with me. ²²For in my inner self ^pI joyfully agree with God’s law. ^q23But I see a different law in the parts of my body, ^rswaging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. ^t24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? ^u25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ^vwSo then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

The Life-Giving Spirit

8Therefore, no condemnation ^xnow exists for those in ^yChrist Jesus, ^za2because the Spirit’s law of life ^bin Christ Jesus has set you ^cfree from the law of sin and of death. ^d3What the law could not do ^esince it was limited ^fby the flesh, ^gGod did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours ^hunder sin’s domain, ⁱand as a sin offering, ^j4in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished ^kin us who do not walk according to the flesh ^lbut according to the Spirit. ⁵For those who live ^maccording to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, ⁿbut those who live ^oaccording to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. ⁶For the mind-set of the flesh ^pis death, ^qbut the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile ^rto God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. ⁸Those who are in the flesh ^scannot please God. ⁹You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since ^tthe Spirit of God lives in you. ^uBut if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, ^vhe does not belong to Him. ¹⁰Now if Christ is in you, ^wthe body is dead ^xbecause of sin, but the Spirit ^yis life because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead ^zlives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through ^aHis Spirit who lives in you.

The Holy Spirit’s Ministries

¹²So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, ¹³for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, ^byou will live. ¹⁴All those led by God’s Spirit ^care God’s sons. ^d15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, ^ebut you received the Spirit of adoption, ^fby whom we cry out, “^•Abba, Father!” ^g16The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit ^hthat we are God’s children, ¹⁷and if children, also heirs ⁱ—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that ^jwe suffer with Him ^kso that we may also be glorified with Him.

From Groans to Glory

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing ^lwith the glory ^mthat is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation ⁿfor God’s sons ^oto be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected ^pto futility ^q—not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it ^r—in the hope ²¹that the creation itself ^swill also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains ^tuntil now. ²³And not only that, ^ubut we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits ^v—we also groan within ourselves, ^weagerly waiting for adoption, ^xthe redemption of our bodies. ^y24Now in this hope ^zwe were saved, yet hope ^athat is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, ^bwe eagerly wait for it with patience.

²⁶In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, ^cbut the Spirit Himself intercedes for us ^dewith unspoken groanings. ²⁷And He who searches the hearts ^fknows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸We know that all things work together ^gfor the good ^hof those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. ⁱ²⁹For those He foreknew He also predestined ^jto be conformed to the image of His Son, ^kso that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ^l30And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; ^mand those He justified, He also glorified. ⁿ

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