Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative), set apart for [preaching] the gospel of God [the good news of salvation],

[the good news] regarding His Son, who, as to the flesh [His human nature], was born a descendant of David [to fulfill the covenant promises],

And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

It was through Jesus, and for His name's sake, that we [i.e., I] received God's favor to become an apostle, in order to bring about obedience based on faith from among people of all nations.

among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ,??7 to all who are at Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

For I long to see you, That I might impart to you some spiritual grace, in order for you to be firm;

or indeed that we may have mutual consolation from the faith which is in common to you and to me.

And I desire you to know, brethren, that I have many a time intended to come to you--though until now I have been disappointed--in order that among you also I might gather some fruit from my labours, as I have already done among the rest of the Gentile nations.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

and in the same way also the men turned away from the natural function of the woman and were consumed with their desire toward one another, men with men committing shameful acts and in return receiving in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.

They reveled in every form of wickedness, evil, greed, vice. Their lives were full of envy, murder, quarreling, treachery, malice.

to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.

but to those [who act] from selfish ambition and who disobey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger.

For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another].

For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned whilst living under the Law, will be judged by the Law.

know His will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,

An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

You who warn men to stop committing adultery, do you practice it yourself? You who shrink in horror from idols, do you rob their temples?

For, “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written [in Scripture].

But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and [true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by [the fulfillment of] the letter [of the Law]. His praise is not from men, but from God.

What special privilege, then, has a Jew? Or what benefit is to be derived from circumcision?

The privilege is great from every point of view. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God's truth.

Be it far from us; for in that case how could God judge the world?

And why should we not say, "Let us do what is wrong so something good will come from it," as some people slanderously claim that we are saying? These people deserve to be condemned.

All have turned aside from the right path; they have every one of them become corrupt. There is no one who does what is right--no, not so much as one."

But it cannot be denied that all that the Law says is addressed to those who are living under the Law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may await sentence from God.

This is because no human being can be considered right with God by [obeying] the requirements of a law. [Note: It is difficult to determine the exact sense in which "law" is used in these verses. It may be law generally, or the law of Moses specifically. See Bruce, pages 52-58]. For the knowledge of what sin is comes from the law of Moses.

But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;

For all have done wrong and are far from the glory of God;

gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus.

(in the forbearance of God), for proof of his justice at the present time, for him to be righteous, and who makes the man from Jesus' faith righteous.

We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

since indeed it is one [and the same] God who will justify the circumcised by faith [which began with Abraham] and the uncircumcised through [their newly acquired] faith.

Is this using faith to overthrow law? Far from it. This confirms the Law.

How then can we assert, "that Abraham our father obtained this from circumcision?"

For if Abraham was justified [that is, acquitted from the guilt of his sins] by works [those things he did that were good], he has something to boast about, but not before God.

Now when a workman gets his pay, it is not considered from the point of view of a favor but of an obligation;

whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

Even as David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works,

and the father {of those who are circumcised} to those who are not only from the circumcision, but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham {which he had while uncircumcised}.

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith.

For if those from law are heirs, faith has been made void, and the promise has been made useless.

For this cause, it is by faith, in order that it may be by way of favour, so that the promise is firm unto all the seed, - not unto that by the law only, but unto that also which is such by the faith of Abraham; who is father of us all, -

far from being weak in faith, unconcern'd at his own bodily decay, being then about an hundred years old, and at Sarah's incapacity of child-bearing,

On the contrary, his faith gave him strength; and he praised God, in the firm conviction that what God has promised he is also able to carry out.

But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal—absolving us of all sin before God].

Therefore having been made righteous from faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Through Jesus we have also gained access by [our] faith to this unearned favor [of God]. We stand firm in it, and are glad that we have the hope of being honored by God.

And [having such] hope keeps us from being disappointed, because God's love [for us] has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us [by God].

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].

Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

but the gift is very different from the trespass. For while the rest of men died by the trespass of one man, the grace of God and the free gift which comes by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed far more richly upon the rest of men.

And the gift [is] not as through the one who sinned, for on the one hand, judgment from the one [sin] [led] to condemnation, but the gift, from many trespasses, [led] to justification.

Now what are we to infer from this? That we are to 'remain on in sin, so that there may be all the more grace'?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For, if we have become united with Christ in an act similar to His death [i.e., by being buried in water], we will also be [united with Him] in an act similar to His resurrection from the dead [i.e., our rising from the water to live a new life].

knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

I will speak grossly because of the infirmity of your flesh. As ye have given your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, from iniquity unto iniquity: even so now give your members servants unto righteousness, that ye may be sanctified.

For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death!

But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead.

And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;

For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, beguiled and completely deceived me, and using it as a weapon killed me [separating me from God].

For we know that the law of Moses is spiritual [i.e., from the Holy Spirit in origin and character], but I am fleshly, sold as a slave to sin. [Note: "Flesh" throughout this section refers to a person's natural inclinations to sin].

I do not understand my own actions. For I am so far from habitually doing what I want to do, that I find myself doing the very thing that I hate.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate,

Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever];

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

And if we are [His] children, then we have an inheritance from God [i.e., blessings here and hereafter] and are fellow-sharers with Christ [of such blessings], providing we [are willing to] suffer with Him, so we can also be honored with Him [i.e., in the future life. See verses 18-25].

For nature was subjected to imperfection, not by its own will, but by the will of Him who thus made it subject??21 yet not without the hope that some day nature itself also will be freed from the thralldom of decay, into the freedom which belongs to the glory of the children of God.

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].

For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers.

and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.

What then should we conclude from this? [Just this]: If God is on our side, who can [successfully] oppose us?

God did not withhold His own Son [from dying], but offered Him up for all of us. [Since He did that], will He not, along with Jesus, freely give us everything [else] also?

Who shall impeach those whom God has chosen? God declares them free from guilt.

who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.