Sin Doesn’t Have to Dictate Our Lives
1If we put our faith in Christ Jesus, we won’t be condemned as guilty. 2Sin was the law code you used to follow. It led you down the path of death. But because of what Christ Jesus did, the Spirit has freed you to follow the path of life.3God did what the Jewish law couldn’t do: put an end to sin running our lives. The Law was limited by the weakness of human beings. [1] But God sent his own Son in the flesh to sacrifice himself. 4God did this out of respect for the rule of law, and to do what the Law required: enforce consequences for sin. With that taken care of, we’re free to follow the Spirit instead of letting sin control our lives.
Selfish Thinkers Do Selfish Things
5People who live selfish lives think selfish thoughts. People who live Spirit-led lives have minds hardwired to the Spirit. 6A selfish mind will get you killed. A Spirit-led mind will bring you peace and life. 7A mind hardwired to selfishness can’t connect to God. It won’t submit to God’s protocol. So there’s no way it can connect to God.8We can’t please God if all we do is please ourselves. 9You, however, aren’t controlled by selfishness. You’re controlled by the Spirit if God’s Spirit lives in you. But if you don’t have the Spirit of Christ, you’re disconnected from him. 10Even though Christ is in you, your body will die because of sin. But the Spirit will give you life because everything is right between you and God.
11I’m telling you that if God’s Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then that same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead is going to put life back into your bodies. He’s going to do this through his Spirit who lives in you. 12So, dear family, we don’t owe a thing to selfishness. We don’t have to live that way anymore. 13If you live a selfish life, it will be the death of you. But if you let the Spirit destroy the selfishness in you, you can count on living.
God Is “Dad” to Us
14I’ll tell you who the children of God are. They’re the people led by the Spirit. 15God’s Spirit doesn’t turn you into slaves who are afraid of him. God’s Spirit has adopted us. We’re his children. He’s Dad to us; our spirit calls him Father. 16God’s Spirit and our own spirit both confirm that we are God’s children.17If we are God’s children, we’re going to inherit everything God has for his children. Think of it, we share our inheritance with Christ. That’s assuming we suffer as needed, like he did, so we can one day enjoy praise and celebration with him.
Creation, All Messed Up, Groans in Pain
18We’re facing hard times right now. But this suffering is nothing compared to the glorious wonders we’re going to see one day. 19Excitedly, creation waits for God to identify his true children.20Creation malfunctioned. [2] It wasn’t creation’s fault, but it got so messed up that it became useless. [3] God condemned it, but for a hopeful reason. 21Creation is decaying, as though it’s a slave to decay. God plans to free it and to turn it back into a glorious place for his children to live. 22Creation has been groaning in pain, like a woman giving birth. Even now. We all know it.
23It even affects us too. We groan in pain like everyone else. That’s in spite of the fact that we’ve been given the Spirit, as the first sample of what’s ahead for us. In the meantime, we wait to inherit what God will give his adopted children. One item on that list: our bodies, which he’ll save. 24We were saved. That’s our hope. Hope isn’t something you can see. I mean, come on, who hopes for something they already have? 25But when we hope for something that’s nowhere in sight, we patiently keep a lookout for it.
We Can’t Pray, but the Spirit Can
26We’re weak, but the Spirit helps us. We don’t have a clue how to pray. But the Spirit does our talking for us, using a language too intense for words. 27God reads us. He knows what the Spirit is saying when the Spirit steps in to help God’s people pray.28Anything that happens to people who love God can eventually produce something good. I’m talking about God’s plan and about the people he has invited to become a part of it. 29God knew who would become his children. That’s why he chose them to take on the characteristics of his Son and to become the first among many of God’s children. 30The people God prepicked, he invited. The people he invited, he accepted. [4] The people he accepted, he honored with praise.
With God, Why Worry Who’s Against Us?
31So what does it all mean? If God’s on our side, why worry who’s on the other side? 32God didn’t spare even his own Son. He sacrificed him for us. If God did that, how’s he not going to give us everything? 33If God says we’re okay with him, who’s going to challenge that by saying we’re not okay with him? 34Who’s left to condemn us? No one. Christ Jesus died for us. Then he was raised from the dead. Today he’s at God’s right hand, talking for us. 35What can stop Christ from loving us? Can any of these: trouble, crises, bullying, starvation, poverty, danger, weapons? 36Our Bible says,“Because of you, we’re in mortal danger all day long.
We’re considered no better than sheep tagged for slaughtering.” [5]
38I’m sure of this: Nothing can stop the love God has for us, which he has shown through Christ Jesus our Lord. Not death or life. Not angels or rulers. Not anything today or in the days to come. Not even powerful beings. 39From high to low, not one created thing can keep us from the love God shows us through Jesus.
