FAITH TRIUMPHS

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,aj we have peaceI with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.ak 2 We have also obtained access through himal by faithJ into this grace in which we stand,am and we boast* in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that,an but we also boast in our afflictions,ao because we know that affliction produces endurance,ap 4 endurance produces proven character,aq and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us,ar because God’s love has been poured out in our heartsas through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

THE JUSTIFIED ARE RECONCILED

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time,at Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God provesau his own love for usav in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood,aw will we be saved through him from wrath.a 10 For if, while we were enemies,b we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.c 11 And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.d

DEATH THROUGH ADAM AND LIFE THROUGH CHRIST

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,e and death through sin,f in this way death spread to all people,g because all sinned.A 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law.h 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.i He is a type of the Coming One.j

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one mank Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. 16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment,l resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.B 17 If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in lifem through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to lifen for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,o so also through the one man’s obediencep the many will be made righteous. 20 The law came along to multiply the trespass.q But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even morer 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death,s so also grace will reignt through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

6 What should we say then?u Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?v 2 Absolutely not!w How can we who died to sinx still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptizedy into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?z 4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death,aa in order that, just as Christ was raised from the deadab by the glory of the Father,ac so we too may walk in newnessC of life.ad 5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death,ae we will certainly also beD in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old selfE,af was crucified with himag so that the body ruled by sinF might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has diedah is freedG from sin.ai 8 Now if we died with Christ,aj we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead,ak will not die again. Death no longer rules over him.al 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sinam and alive to God in Christ Jesus.H

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obeyI its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts* of it to sinan as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God,ao and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the lawap but under grace.aq

FROM SLAVES OF SIN TO SLAVES OF GOD

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?ar Absolutely not!as 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someoneK as obedient slaves,at you are slaves of that one you obeyau—either of sin leading to deathav or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin,aw you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handedL over,ax 18 and having been set free from sin,ay you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogyaz because of the weakness of your flesh.M For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.A,a 21 So what fruit was producedB then from the things you are now ashamed of?b The outcome of those things is death.c 22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God,d you have your fruit, which results in sanctificatione—and the outcome is eternal life!f 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.g

AN ILLUSTRATION FROM MARRIAGE

7 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters,h don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives.i But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married 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 is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to deathj in relation to the lawk through the body of Christl so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh,m the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in usC,n to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirito and not in the old letter of the law.

SIN’S USE OF THE LAW

7 What should we say then?p Is the law sin? Absolutely not!q But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.r For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.D,s 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,t produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.u 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for lifev resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me,w and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy,x and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not!y But, 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.

THE PROBLEM OF SIN IN US

14 For we know that the law is spiritual,z but I am of the flesh,E soldaa as a slave under sin.ab 15 For I do not understand what I am doing,ac because I do not practice what I want to do,ad but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.ae For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:G,af When I want to do what is good,H evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner selfI I delight in God’s law,ag 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body,J,ah waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?ai 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!aj So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.