[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 exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles.

As they did not seek the favour of God, by worshipping him, God gave them over to a depraved sense, to act unworthy of human nature;

faithless to their promises, without natural affection, without human pity.

but anger and wrath to those who are wilful, who disobey the Truth and obey wickedness ??9 anguish and calamity for every human soul that perpetrates evil, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well,

[There will be] affliction and distress for every {human being} who does evil, of the Jew first and of the Greek,

on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture],

“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].”

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not wrong to inflict His wrath [on us], is He? (I am speaking in purely human terms.)

as the Scriptures say: "Not a single human creature is upright,

Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin.

So where has human boasting gone? It was completely shut out. On what principle? On that of doing something? No, but on the principle of faith.

What, then, are we to say about Abraham, our human ancestor?

In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: “So [numberless] shall your descendants be.”

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through [the action of] one man [i.e., Adam] and [physical] death through that sin, so [physical] death has spread to all people, because all people have sinned. [Note: This difficult passage (verses 12-21) seems to be saying that the entire human race must experience physical death because of Adam's sin (I Cor. 5:22), which is somehow considered to be everyone's sin. See Murray, pp. 180-187, for a thorough discussion].

I am speaking in [familiar] human terms because of your natural limitations [your spiritual immaturity]. For just as you presented your bodily members as slaves to impurity and to [moral] lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness, so now offer your members [your abilities, your talents] as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification [that is, being set apart for God’s purpose].

For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human, sold as a slave to sin.

Thank God through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature I serve the law of sin.

For what was impossible to the Law--powerless as it was because it acted through frail humanity--God effected. Sending His own Son in a body like that of sinful human nature and as a sacrifice for sin, He pronounced sentence upon sin in human nature;

so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.

To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.

That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God's Law because it is powerless to do so.

Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God.

You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him.

Consequently, brothers, we are not with respect to human nature, that is under an obligation to live according to human nature.

For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continuously put to death the activities of the body, you will live.

The Holy Spirit Himself bears testimony [along] with our [human] spirit that we are the children of God.

and He who searches the human heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, since the Spirit pleads before God for the saints.

For I could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.

[to] whom [belong] the patriarchs, and from whom [is] the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed {forever}! Amen.

That is, [it is] not the children {by human descent} [who are] children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.

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].

But who indeed are you -- a mere human being -- to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

But if it is in His grace that He has selected them, then His choice is no longer determined by human actions. Otherwise grace would be grace no longer.

For just as there are in the one human body many parts, and these parts have not all the same function;