by whose favour I have received the office of an apostle to bring the Gentiles every where to the obedience of faith preached in his name:

if it be God's will, that I might now at length have the happiness of coming to you.

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

now I would not have you ignorant, my brethren, that I often purposed to come to you, tho' I have been hindered hitherto, that I might be useful among you as well as among other Gentiles.

For as many as have sinned without the law, shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law, shall be condemned by the law,

when the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature what the law prescribes, tho' these have not the law, they are a law to themselves:

an instructer of the ignorant, a teacher to the weak, because you have a clear view of the true meaning of the law.

but it is the Jew, who is so inwardly, and it is the circumcision of the heart, according to the spiritual, not the literal sense, which have the approbation, I do not say of men, but of God.

"how then are we better than they?" why, not at all: for we have already convicted both Jews and Gentiles, of being all under the guilt of sin.

their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

and the way of peace have they not known.

for all having sinned, all have forfeited eternal glory:

and he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the justification by that faith, which the uncircumcised have: that he might be the father of all those who believe, tho' they are uncircumcised, that it might be accounted to them also for righteousness:

for if they only who are of the law have right of possession, faith is made useless, and the promise becomes of no effect.

because the effect of the law is punishment: for if there had been no law, there could have been no transgression.

therefore the inheritance is of faith, that it might be meerly of favour, to the end the promise might be assured to all his posterity, not to that part only who have the law, but to that also who have the faith of Abraham, the father of us all, as it is written,

" I have made thee a father of many nations," then existing in the sight of God, whom he believed, who gives life to the dead, and calls forth things that are not, as if they were:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,

now for a wicked man no one would willingly die; but for a benefactor some have readily offer'd to die.

and not only so, but we have present joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now obtained the reconciliation.

God forbid, that we who have died to sin should live any longer therein.

for then sin shall have no dominion over you: because you are not under the legal, but under the gospel dispensation.

but God be thanked, that you, who were the vassals of sin, have sincerely obeyed in the manner the gospel prescribed.

Do we then conclude, that the law is the cause of sin? by no means; but I should not have had such a notion of sin, had it not been for the law: for I should not have known concupiscence was a sin, unless the law had said, "thou shalt not covet."

what I do I allow not: for what my mind leads me to, that do I not; but what I have an aversion to, that I do.

I find then a settled custom, that evil is objected in my way whenever I have a mind to act well:

you are not in such a state, but in a spiritual one, provided the divine spirit dwell in you. now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

for the spirit you have received is not servile to keep you still in fear; but it is the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, that is, father.

and not only they, but even those who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we our selves do inwardly groan for the fruit of our adoption, by the deliverance of our body from corruption.

that I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart.

However, the divine promise cannot but have its effect. for they are not the whole of Israel, who are descended from Israel:

for the words of the promise run thus, "at this time I will come, and Sara shall have a son."

as it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have discarded."

God forbid. for he saith to Moses, "I will show favour to whom I will show favour, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

for 'tis said in scripture to Pharaoh, "even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth."

What shall we hence conclude? that the Gentiles who sought not after justice, have obtained justice, even to that which is by faith:

for I bear them witness, that they have a zeal for God, but not guided by true knowledge.

because being ignorant of the justice which is of God, and going about to establish a justification of their own, they have not submitted themselves to that which is of God.

For Moses describes the justice that was to be had by the law, thus : "the man who performeth the things here required, shall have life thereby."

In reality there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: they have all the same Lord, who is bountiful to all that call upon him.

But how, say you, shall they call on him on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

I reply, have they not heard? on the contrary, "their voice spread thro' all the earth, and their words to the remotest inhabitants thereof ."

and to Israel he says, "all day long I have stretched forth my hands to an incredulous and rebellious people."

in these words, "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I alone am left, and they seek my life also."

but what said the oracle to him? "I have reserved to my self seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

"What then, hath not Israel obtained what he sought for?" no, but the chosen remnant have obtained it, and the rest are obdurate to this day,

I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this secret, (for fear you should presume too much on your selves) that blindness has fallen upon a part of Israel, until the time when the Gentiles shall be fully come in.

as you in times past did not obey God, yet have now obtained mercy upon the occasion of their disobedience:

for God hath manifested to all the disobedient, that he would have mercy upon all.

for as there are many members in one and the same body, but all the members have not the same office:

have the same respect for one another. let not your behaviour be haughty, but soften'd to the condition of those below you. be not wise in your own conceits.

rulers are not a terror to virtue, but to vice. would you then live without any dread of the civil power? do what is right, and you shall have his commendation.

for his administration is appointed by God for your good. but if you do wrong, you have reason to be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: he being the minister of God, to execute punishment upon malefactors.

keep the persuasion you have, to your own conscience. blessed is he that approves himself to God, without making any difference about meats:

now whatever was heretofore writ, was writ for our instruction; that we through patience and the comfortable promises of the scriptures might have hope.

nevertheless, brethren, I have writ to the Gentile part of you, and admonish'd you with the greater freedom by virtue of the commission that God has given me,

I have therefore matter of glorying thro' Jesus Christ, with respect to divine service.

I have effectually preached the gospel of Christ: yet so as studiously to avoid preaching it where Christ was owned, lest I should build upon another man's foundation; for,

as it is written, "they to whom he was not mentioned, shall see: and they that have not heard, shall understand."

for those of Macedonia and Achaia, have thought fit to make a contribution for the poor converts at Jerusalem.

they have thought fit, I say, and they owed them as much. for if the Gentiles have participated of their spirituals, they are bound on their side to minister to them in their temporals.

when I have dispatch'd this affair, and have secur'd to them this collection, I will come to you in my way to Spain.

who have for my life readily exposed their own: to whom not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles too give thanks.

salute Herodion my kinsman. salute the family of Narcissus, who have embraced the gospel.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark those who cause divisions and revolts against the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.

your christianity is very well known in the world. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you as expert in that which is good, as unpractis'd in what is evil.