Romans 12

Offer Your Bodies to God as Living Sacrifices

¹ Therefore I urge you, brothers, ^[1] by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and pleasing to God—which is your appropriate worship. ² Also, do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you test and approve what is the will of God—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

Humbly Use the Gifts God Gave You

³ So by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think in a way that results in sound judgment, as God distributed a measure of faith to each of you. ⁴ For we have many members in one body, and not all the members have the same function. ⁵ In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in complete agreement with the faith. ^{[2] 7} If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. ⁸ If it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.

Guidelines for Christian Living

⁹ Do not just pretend to love others. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another with brotherly love. Think of others as deserving more honor than yourselves. ¹¹ Do not be lagging behind in zeal, but be fervent in spirit, as you continue to serve the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope. Endure trials patiently. Persist in prayer. ¹³ Share with the saints who are in need. Be quick to welcome strangers as guests.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who are rejoicing; weep with those who are weeping. ¹⁶ Have the same respect for one another. Do not be arrogant, but associate with the humble. Do not think too highly of yourselves.

¹⁷ Do not pay anyone back evil for evil. Focus on those things that everyone considers noble. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, maintain peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” ^[3] says the Lord. ²⁰ But:

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 11:11-24

Romans 11

¹¹ So I ask, “Did they stumble in order to fall permanently?” Absolutely not! Rather, by their trespass, salvation came to the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous. ¹² Now if their trespass meant riches for the world, and their failure meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean!

¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. For as long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am going to speak highly of my ministry. ¹⁴ Perhaps I may make my own people jealous, and so save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, what does their acceptance mean other than the dead coming to life?

Gentiles Should Not Become Proud

¹⁶ If the part offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive branch—were grafted in among them and share in the rich sap from the root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not boast that you are better than the branches. If you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you. ¹⁹ Then you will say: “Branches were broken off so that I am grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true—but remember that they were broken off because of unbelief, and you remain in place by faith. Do not be conceited, but stand in awe. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you. ²² So take note of God’s kindness and his severity: severity on those who have fallen, but God’s kindness on you—if you remain in his kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Some Jews Will Be Grafted in Again

²³ And if they do not remain in unbelief, those branches will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from a wild olive tree and, contrary to nature, were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more easily will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

Romans 9:30 – 10:21

Romans 9

The Majority of Jews Rejected Justification by Faith

³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have obtained righteousness, a righteousness that is by faith. ³¹ But Israel, while pursuing the law as a way of righteousness, did not reach it. ³² Why? Because they kept pursuing it not by faith, but as if it comes by works. ^[1] They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ Just as it is written:

Prayer for Israelites to Believe

Romans 10

¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² Indeed, I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but it is not consistent with knowledge. ³ Since they were ignorant of the righteousness from God and sought to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness from God. ⁴ For to everyone who believes, Christ is the end of the law, resulting in righteousness.

⁵ Indeed, Moses writes this about the righteousness that comes by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.” ^{[4] 6} But the righteousness that comes by faith speaks like this: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” ^[5] (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” ^[6] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” ^[7] that is, the word of faith that we are proclaiming. ⁹ Certainly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and it is with the mouth that a person confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ^[8]

¹² So there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord is Lord of all, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ Yes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ^[9]

Israel Rejected the Message God Sent

¹⁴ So then, how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one about whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, ^[10] who preach the gospel of good things!” ^[11]

¹⁶ But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who believed our message?” ^{[12] 17} So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ. ^[13]

¹⁸ But I ask, did they not hear? Of course, they certainly did.

Romans 9:1-13

Romans 9

The Blessings of the True Israel

¹ I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying—my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit ² that I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart. ³ For I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, ⁴ those who are Israelites. Theirs are the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is God over all, eternally blessed. Amen.

⁶ This does not mean that God’s word has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are really Israel, ⁷ and not all who are descended from Abraham are really his children. On the contrary, “Your line of descent will be traced through Isaac.” ^{[1] 8} This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as his descendants. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “I will arrive at this set time, and Sarah will have a son.” ^[2]

God’s Choice Is Based on His Mercy

¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah also had children by one man, our forefather, Isaac. ¹¹ Even before the twins were born or did anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose in election might continue— ¹² not by works but because of him who calls us—it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” ^{[3] 13} Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ^[4]

Romans 8:1-17

Romans 8

God Placed Our Judgment on Christ

¹ So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ^{[1] 2} For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me ^[2] free from the law of sin and death. ³ Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. ^[3] God condemned sin in his flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. ^[4]

Living in Harmony With the Spiritual Nature

⁵ To be sure, those who are in harmony with the sinful flesh think about things the way the sinful flesh does, and those in harmony with the spirit think about things the way the spirit does. ⁶ Now, the way the sinful flesh thinks results in death, but the way the spirit thinks results in life and peace. ⁷ For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the sinful flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the sinful flesh but in the spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit lives in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.

¹² So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. ¹³ For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.

The Spirit Assures Us We Are Children of God

¹⁴ Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom ^[5] we call out, “Abba, Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.

¹⁷ Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 6:15 – 7:6

Romans 6

¹⁵ What then? Should we continue to sin, because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that when you offer yourselves to obey someone as slaves, you are slaves of the one you are obeying—whether slaves of sin, resulting in death, or slaves of obedience, resulting in righteousness?

¹⁷ Thanks be to God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to the pattern of the teaching into which you were placed. ¹⁸ After you were set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ (I am speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your flesh.) Indeed, just as you offered your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in more lawlessness, so now offer your members in the same way as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ²¹ So what kind of fruit did you have then? They were things of which you are now ashamed. Yes, the final result of those things is death. ²² But now, since you were set free from sin and have become slaves to God, you have your fruit resulting in sanctification—and the final result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7

¹ Or don’t you know, brothers ^[1] (since I am speaking to those who know the law), that a law has jurisdiction over a person only as long as he lives? ² For example, a married woman is bound to her husband by law as long as he is alive, but if he dies, she is released from this law regarding her husband. ³ So then, she will be labeled an adulteress if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from this law, and she is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death in regard to the law by the body of Christ, so that you may be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we might produce fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, strong sinful desires stirred up by the law were at work in our members, with the result that we produced fruit that results in death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the law by dying to what held us in its grip, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the letter of the law.

Romans 5:12-21

Romans 5

Both Adam and Christ Had an Effect on All People

¹² So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned. ¹³ For even before the law was given, sin was in the world. Now, sin is not charged to one’s account if there is no law, ¹⁴ and yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern ^[1] of the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!

¹⁶ And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin, for the judgment that followed the one trespass resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the gracious gift that followed many trespasses resulted in a verdict of justification.

¹⁷ Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification ^[2] for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous.

²⁰ The law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace overflowed much more, ²¹ so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 4:16-25

Romans 4

¹⁶ For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” ^[1]

Abraham’s Faith Was a Firm Trust in God’s Promise

In the presence of God, Abraham believed him who makes the dead alive and calls non-existing things so that they exist. ^{[2] 18} Hoping beyond what he could expect, he believed that he would become the father of many nations, just as he was told: “This is how many your descendants will be.” ^{[3] 19} He did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead (because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered Sarah’s womb to be dead. ²⁰ He did not waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God ²¹ and being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ^[4]

²³ Now the statement “it was credited to him” was not written for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us to whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. ²⁵ He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.

Romans 3:21-31

Romans 3

A Righteousness Apart From the Law by Faith

²¹ But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. ²² This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all ^[1] who believe.

In fact, there is no difference, ²³ because all have sinned and fall short of the glory ^[2] of God ²⁴ and are justified ^[3] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat ^[4] through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. ²⁶ He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle ^[5]—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. ²⁸ For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. ²⁹ Or is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles, ³⁰ since there is one God who will justify the circumcised person by faith and the uncircumcised person through the very same faith. ³¹ So are we doing away with the law by this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we are upholding the law.

Romans 2:17-29

Romans 2

Paul Addresses the Jew Directly

¹⁷ Now if you call yourself a Jew, and you find your comfort in the law, and you boast in God; ¹⁸ and if you know his will, and you approve the things that really matter, since you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹ and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the ignorant, and a teacher of infants (since you have the essence of knowledge and truth in the law)— ²¹ now then, you, the one who is teaching someone else, do you fail to teach yourself? You who preach, “Do not steal,” do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law bring shame on God by breaking the law. ²⁴ Yes, as it is written, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ^[1]

Does Circumcision Make a Difference?

²⁵ Indeed, circumcision has value if you observe the law. On the other hand, if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ So, if an uncircumcised person keeps the righteous requirements of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be credited to him as circumcision? ²⁷ The one who is not circumcised physically, but who fulfills the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker, even though you have the written law and circumcision.

²⁸ In fact, a Jew who is merely one outwardly is not really a Jew, and circumcision that is only outward in the flesh is not really circumcision. ²⁹ Rather, a real Jew is one on the inside, and his circumcision is of the heart—a spiritual circumcision, not one based on carrying out the letter of the law. That person’s praise does not come from people but from God.

Romans 1:18-32

Romans 1

God’s Anger on All Who Reject Him

¹⁸ Indeed, God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness. ¹⁹ This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them. ²⁰ In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made. As a result, people are without excuse, ²¹ because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.

²² Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things. ²⁴ So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves. ²⁵ Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God handed them over to disgraceful passions. Even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ And, in the same way, their males, after abandoning natural sexual relations with females, were consumed by their lust for one another. Males perform indecent acts with males and receive in themselves the penalty that is fitting for their perversion.

²⁸ And since they did not consider it worthwhile to hold on to the true knowledge of God, God handed them over to a corrupted mind to do things that should never be done. ²⁹ They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and malice. They are gossipers, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent mockers, arrogant boasters, and loudmouths. They dream up evil things. They disobey their parents. ³¹ They are senseless, faithless, heartless, and merciless. ³² Even though they know God’s righteous decree that those who do these things are worthy of death, such people not only continue to do them, but also approve of others who continue to commit such sins.

Proverbs 31

The Sayings of Lemuel

The Strong Wife ^[3]

Proverbs 28 – 29

Proverbs 25:1 – 26:12

More Proverbs of Solomon

Assorted Fools