The Holy Spirit Gives Life

8 Those who belong to Christ Jesus are no longer under God’s sentence. 2I am now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit. That law gives me life because of what Christ Jesus has done. It has set me free from the law of sin that brings death.

3The written law was made weak by our sinful nature. But God did what the written law could not do. He made his Son to be like those who have a sinful nature. He sent him to be an offering for sin. In that way, he judged sin in his Son’s human body. 4Now we can do everything the law requires. Our sinful nature no longer controls the way we live. The Holy Spirit now controls the way we live.

5Don’t live under the control of your sinful nature. If you do, you will think about what your sinful nature wants. Live under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do, you will think about what the Spirit wants.

6The way a sinful person thinks leads to death. But the mind controlled by the Spirit brings life and peace. 7The sinful mind is at war with God. It does not obey God’s law. It can’t. 8Those who are controlled by their sinful nature can’t please God.

9But your sinful nature does not control you. The Holy Spirit controls you. The Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.

10Christ lives in you. So your body is dead because of sin. But your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. 11The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. So the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies, which are going to die. He will do this by the power of his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Brothers and sisters, we have a duty. Our duty is not to live under the control of our sinful nature. 13If you live under the control of your sinful nature, you will die. But by the power of the Holy Spirit you can put to death the sins your body commits. Then you will live.

14Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15You didn’t receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear once again. Instead you received the Holy Spirit, who makes you God’s child. By the Spirit’s power we call God “Abba.” Abba means Father. 16The Spirit himself joins with our spirits. Together they give witness that we are God’s children.

17As his children, we will receive all that he has for us. We will share what Christ receives. But we must share in his sufferings if we want to share in his glory.

The Hope of Future Glory

18What we are suffering now is nothing compared with the glory that will be shown in us. 19Everything God created looks forward to the time when his children will appear in their full and final glory. 20The created world was bound to fail. But that was not the result of its own choice. It was planned that way by the One who made it. God planned 21to set the created world free. He didn’t want it to rot away completely. Instead, he wanted it to have the same glorious freedom that his children have.

22We know that all that God created has been groaning. It is in pain as if it were giving birth to a child. The created world continues to groan even now. 23And that’s not all. We have the Holy Spirit as the promise of future blessing. But we also groan inside ourselves as we look forward to the time when God will adopt us as full members of his family. Then he will give us everything he has for us. He will raise our bodies and give glory to them.

24That’s the hope we had when we were saved. But hope that can be seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25We hope for what we don’t have yet. So we are patient as we wait for it.

26In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak. We don’t know what we should pray for. But the Spirit himself prays for us. He prays with groans too deep for words. 27God, who looks into our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit. And the Spirit prays for God’s people just as God wants him to pray.

We Will Win

28We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. He appointed them to be saved in keeping with his purpose.

29God planned that those he had chosen would become like his Son. In that way, Christ will be the first and most honored among many brothers. 30And those God has planned for, he has also appointed to be saved. Those he has appointed, he has made right with himself. To those he has made right with himself, he has given his glory.

31What should we say then? Since God is on our side, who can be against us? 32God did not spare his own Son. He gave him up for us all. Then won’t he also freely give us everything else?

33Who can bring any charge against God’s chosen ones? God makes us right with himself. 34Who can sentence us to death? Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also praying for us. He died. More than that, he was raised to life.

35Who can separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or hard times or harm or hunger? Can nakedness or danger or war? 36It is written,

“Because of you, we face death all day long.

We are considered as sheep to be killed.” (Psalm 44:22)

37No! In all these things we will do even more than win! We owe it all to Christ, who has loved us.

38I am absolutely sure that not even death or life can separate us from God’s love. Not even angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can do that. 39Not even the highest places or the lowest, or anything else in all creation can do that. Nothing at all can ever separate us from God’s love because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.