Romans 8

¹Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

²For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.[#7:23–24; 2 Cor 3:17.]

³For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,[#Acts 13:38; 15:10 / Jn 3:16–17; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; 4:4; Phil 2:7; Col 1:22; Heb 2:17; 4:15; 1 Jn 4:9.]

⁴so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.[#Gal 5:16–25.]

⁵For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit.

⁶The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.[#6:21; 7:5; 8:13; Gal 6:8.]

⁷For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;[#5:10; Jas 4:4.]

⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.[#1 Jn 2:16.]

⁹But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.[#1 Cor 3:16.]

¹⁰But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.[#Gal 2:20; 1 Pt 4:6.]

¹¹If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

¹²Consequently, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.[#Gal 5:24; 6:8; Eph 4:22–24.]

Children of God Through Adoption.

¹⁴For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.[#Gal 5:18.]

¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”[#: see note on Mk 14:36.; #Mk 14:36; Gal 4:5–6; 2 Tm 1:7.]

¹⁶The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,[#Jn 1:12; Gal 3:26–29.]

¹⁷and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.[#Gal 4:7; 1 Pt 4:13; 5:1.]

Destiny of Glory.

¹⁸I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.[#2 Cor 4:17.]

¹⁹For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God;

²⁰for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope[#Gn 3:17–19.]

²¹that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.[#2 Pt 3:12–13; Rev 21:1.]

²²We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;[#2 Cor 5:2–5.]

²³and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.[#2 Cor 1:22; Gal 5:5.]

²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees?[#2 Cor 5:7; Heb 11:1.]

²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

²⁷And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.[#Ps 139:1; 1 Cor 4:5.]

God’s Indomitable Love in Christ.

²⁸We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.[#These verses outline the Christian vocation as it was designed by God: , who is to (Rom 8:29). God’s redemptive action on behalf of the believers has been in process before the beginning of the world. Those whom God chooses are (Rom 8:29) or elected. Those who are (Rom 8:30) are or predetermined. These expressions do not mean that God is arbitrary. Rather, Paul uses them to emphasize the thought and care that God has taken for the Christian’s salvation.; #: a few ancient authorities have God as the subject of the verb, and some translators render: “We know that God makes everything work for good for those who love God….”; #Eph 1:4–14; 3:11.]

²⁹For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.[#: while man and woman were originally created in God’s image (Gn 1:26–27), it is through baptism into Christ, the image of God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15), that we are renewed according to the image of the Creator (Col 3:10).; #Eph 1:5; 1 Pt 1:2.]

³⁰And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.[#Is 45:25; 2 Thes 2:13–14.]

³¹What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?[#The all-conquering power of God’s love has overcome every obstacle to Christians’ salvation and every threat to separate them from God. That power manifested itself fully when God’s own Son was delivered up to death for their salvation. Through him Christians can overcome all their afflictions and trials.; #Ps 118:6; Heb 13:6.]

³²He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?[#Jn 3:16.]

³³Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us.[#Is 50:8.]

³⁴Who will condemn? It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.[#Ps 110:1; Heb 7:25; 1 Jn 2:1.]

³⁵What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?

³⁶As it is written:[#Ps 44:23; 1 Cor 4:9; 15:30; 2 Cor 4:11; 2 Tm 3:12.]

“For your sake we are being slain all the day;

we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.[#1 Jn 5:4.]

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,[#and may refer to astrological data. Paul appears to be saying that the gospel liberates believers from dependence on astrologers.; #1 Cor 3:22; Eph 1:21; 1 Pt 3:22.]

³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.[#may refer to positions in the zodiac, positions of heavenly bodies relative to the horizon. In astrological documents the term for “height” means “exaltation” or the position of greatest influence exerted by a planet. Since hostile spirits were associated with the planets and stars, Paul includes (Rom 8:38) in his list of malevolent forces.]