What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow?

For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God’s favor and mercy].

What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under [God’s] grace? Certainly not!

But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God's slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life.

For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For by means of God's commandment [against sinning], sin found an opportunity to deceive me and [even] kill me [spiritually].

Therefore, did what is good cause my death? Absolutely not! On the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law.

I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve God's law; but with the flesh sin's law.

the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot,

But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you; but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him:

But if the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in your hearts, [then] that One [i.e., God] who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead, will restore life to your mortal bodies also, through [the power of] God's Spirit who lives in your hearts.

All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.

The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.

that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorious freedom 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].

And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will.

Yes, we know that all things go on working together for the good of those who keep on loving God, who are called in accordance with God's purpose.

And [that class of] persons whom God [so] predetermined, He also called [through the Gospel. See II Thess. 2:14]. And those He called, He also made right with Himself. And those He made right with Himself, He also [determined to be] honored [i.e., in the future life].

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Who is there to condemn them? He who died for us is Christ Jesus!-or, rather, it was he who was raised from the dead, and who is now at God's right hand and is even pleading on our behalf!

nor [things] above, nor [things] below, nor any [other] created thing will be able to separate us from God's love [for us], revealed through Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: The idea of this passage is "Regardless of what happens to us, God still loves us"].

who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory (Shekinah), the [special] covenants [with Abraham, Moses, and David], the giving of the Law, the [system of temple] worship, and the [original] promises.

However, it is not as though God’s word has failed [coming to nothing]. For not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are [the true] Israel;

they are not all children of Abraham because they are descended from Abraham. No, it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned ??8 meaning that instead of God's children being the children born to him by natural descent, it is the children of the Promise who are reckoned as his true offspring.

That is, it is not the children of the body [Abraham’s natural descendants] who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as [Abraham’s true] descendants.

For this is the word of God's undertaking, At this time will I come, and Sarah will have a son.

and though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything either good or bad, so that God’s purpose [His choice, His election] would stand, not because of works [done by either child], but because of [the plan of] Him who calls them,

For even before the twins were born, and therefore had not done anything good or bad, Rebecca was told [Gen. 25:23], "The older one [i.e., Esau] will serve the younger one [i.e., Jacob]." This was so that God's purpose of choosing and calling [whomever He wanted to] might prevail, instead of [it depending on] what a person did.

What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not!

So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift].

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—

So faith then is by a report, but the report by God's word.

But I say, did they not hear? Indeed they have;

“Their voice [that of creation bearing God’s message] has gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the [farthest] ends of the world.”

But what is God’s response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

So too then, at the present time there has come to be a remnant [a small believing minority] according to God’s gracious choice.

And if [they were selected] by God's unearned favor, [then] the choice is not based on the good that people may do. Otherwise, God's favor would not be [really] unearned.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking [that is, God’s favor by obedience to the Law], but the elect [those chosen few] obtained it, while the rest of them became hardened and callously indifferent;

For if their rejection [by God] meant that [the rest of] the world could be restored to favor [with God], what would [God's] receiving the Jews back into fellowship be, except like dead people coming back to life?

But some of the branches [of a cultivated olive tree] were broken off [i.e., God's rejection of the Jews] and you [Gentiles], representing a wild olive tree [branch], were grafted into it. So then, you [Gentiles] were able to benefit from the roots and sap of the olive tree, along with the Jews.

True, but they [i.e., the Jews] were [really] broken off because they did not believe [in Christ], and you [Gentiles] remain [in God's favor] because you do believe [in Him]. So, do not become arrogant [about it], but be fearful.

Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews [at present] are enemies [of God] for your sake [which is for your benefit], but from the standpoint of God’s choice [of the Jews as His people], they are still loved by Him for the sake of the fathers.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].

For you Gentiles were disobedient to God in the past, but now you have obtained [God's] mercy by means of the disobedience of the Jews.

So in the same way these have gone against the orders of God, so that by the mercy given to you they may now get mercy.

Oh, how inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His decrees or trace His footsteps!

I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.

And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.

And because of God's unearned favor shown to me [i.e., in appointing me to be an apostle], I am telling every person among you not to think he is more important than he really is. Instead, he should have a sensible estimate [of his gifts] in harmony with the degree of faith God has given to each person.

contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality.

Ask God's blessing on people who persecute you, instead of cursing them.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for God’s wrath [and His judicial righteousness]; for it is written [in Scripture], “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God.

so that he who is setting himself against the authority, against God's ordinance hath resisted; and those resisting, to themselves shall receive judgment.

for it is God's minister to thee for good. But if thou practisest evil, fear; for it bears not the sword in vain; for it is God's minister, an avenger for wrath to him that does evil.

Therefore one must be subject [to civil authorities], not only to escape the punishment [that comes with wrongdoing], but also as a matter of principle [knowing what is right before God].

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Let not him who takes food have a low opinion of him who does not: and let not him who does not take food be a judge of him who does; for he has God's approval.

For God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats.

The faith which you have [that gives you freedom of choice], have as your own conviction before God [just keep it between yourself and God, seeking His will]. Happy is he who has no reason to condemn himself for what he approves.

Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God's glory.

For I tell you that Christ has become a servant and a minister to the circumcision (Jews) on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm and verify the promises made to the fathers,

And again it says--'Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with God's People.'

May the hope-inspiring God so fill you with perfect joy and peace through your continuing faith, that you may bubble over with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of God’s good news. My purpose is that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

So I have pride in Christ Jesus in the things which are God's.

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

But for now, I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints (Jewish believers).

for Macedonia and Greece have kindly contributed a certain sum in relief of the poor among God's people, in Jerusalem.

[and pray] that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints (Jewish believers) there;

in order that I may come to you in joy by God's will, and that I may be refreshed with you.

that you may receive her in the Lord [with love and hospitality], as God’s people ought to receive one another. And that you may help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many, including myself.

to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas, and to all God's people associated with them.

Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, by God's will, and Sosthenes the brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified (set apart, made holy) in Christ Jesus, who are selected and called as saints (God’s people), together with all those who in every place call on and honor the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus,

For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us that are saved it is God's power.

For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

but to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ God's power and God's wisdom.

because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

For consider, brethren, God's call to you. Not many who are wise with merely human wisdom, not many of position and influence, not many of noble birth have been called.

so that no one may boast in God's presence.

But you--and it is all God's doing--are in Christ Jesus: He has become for us a wisdom which is from God, consisting of righteousness and sanctification and deliverance;

When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come and tell you about God's secret with rhetorical language or wisdom.

that your faith might not stand in men's wisdom, but in God's power.

but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory:

But God hath opened them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searcheth all things, yea the bottom of God's secrets.

For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God's Spirit.

But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God.

But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are just God's servants, through whose efforts, and as the Lord granted power to each, you accepted the faith.

I [Paul] planted [i.e., preached God's word], Apollos watered [it], but God made it grow.

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it.

Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]?