The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are God's children;

And not just the world, but even we [Christians] ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit [i.e., the first installment of our inheritance from God] also groan within us, eagerly waiting to be adopted as [God's] children, and receive back our bodies [i.e., in the resurrection].

This means that it is not the physical descendants [of Abraham] who are God's children, but it is the children [born] according to [God's] promise who are [Abraham's true] descendants.

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.

For all who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.

that even nature itself might finally be set free from its bondage to decay, so as to share the glorious freedom of God's children.

For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God's children,

and hope never disappoints us; for through the Holy Spirit that has been given us, God's love has flooded our hearts.

And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.

It is through him that, by reason of our faith, we have obtained admission to that place in God's favor in which we not stand. So let us exult in our hope of attaining God's glorious ideal.

So if we have already been brought into right standing with God by Christ's death, it is much more certain that by Him we shall be saved from God's wrath.

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, shall we be saved by virtue of Christ's Life.

What are we to conclude? Are we to keep on sinning, because we are not living as slaves to law but as subjects to God's favor? Never!

the Israelites. These people are God's adopted children; they have [experienced] His glorious presence; they have [received] His Agreements; they have been given the law of Moses; they possess the [Temple] service and the promises [of God].

But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God's righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.)

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?

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.

Yet before their children had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's plan of election might continue to operate

It is through Him that we have received grace and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the Gentiles,

Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].

Now we know that God's judgment justly falls on those who practice such sins as these.

But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach.

Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.

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

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;

Seeing that, while we were still powerless, Christ, in God's good time, died on behalf of the godless.

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"].

Now in response to the [proclamation of the] good news [about Christ], the Jews became [God's] enemies for the sake of you [Gentiles]. But concerning [God's] select people, these Jews became [God's] dearly loved ones for the sake of their forefathers [i.e, who believed God's promises regarding their 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].

That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us;

endurance produces character, and character produces hope ??5 a hope which never disappoints us, since God's love floods our hearts through the holy Spirit which has been given to us.

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!

So then, just as [God's] judgment came, condemning all people [to physical death] because of one sin [i.e., Adam's]; even so the free gift of being made right with God and [resulting in] life may be received by all people because of one man's [i.e., Christ's] act of righteousness. [Note: This "life" may refer to spiritual life now, or to being made alive in the resurrection, which would reverse the curse of physical death caused by Adam's sin].

And God, who searches our hearts, knows what the Holy Spirit [has] in mind, because He [i.e., the Holy Spirit] goes to God on behalf of the saints [i.e., God's holy people] in harmony with God's will.

But God's free gift is not at all to be compared with the offense. For if by one man's offense the whole race of men have died, to a much greater degree God's favor and His gift imparted by His favor through the one man Jesus Christ, has overflowed for the whole race of men.

For he is the servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, have fear; for the sword is not in his hand for nothing: he is God's servant, making God's punishment come on the evil-doer.

And the gift [of salvation] is not like [the effect of] one man's sin [i.e., Adam's], for [God's] judgment of condemnation came [upon mankind] through one man [i.e., Adam], but the free gift [of salvation] came as the result of [the] many sins [of mankind] and [it] made people right with God.

Because one's thinking the things suggested by the lower nature means enmity to God, for it does not subject itself to God's law, nor indeed can it.

who can condemn them? Christ Jesus who died, or rather, who was raised from the dead, is now at God's right hand, and is actually pleading for us.

For they were ignorant of God's way of right standing and were trying to set up one of their own, and so would not surrender to God's way of right standing.

But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for it is not without reason that they bear the sword. Indeed, they are God's servants to administer punishment to anyone who does wrong. Therefore, it is necessary for you to be acquiescent to the authorities, not only for the sake of God's punishment, but also for the sake of your own conscience.

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.

Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?

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.

Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

To all in Rome who are dear to God and have been called to become Christ's People, From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, who has been called to become an Apostle, and has been set apart to tell God's Good News.

whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;

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.

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.

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.

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?

Do not destroy God's work [i.e., someone's life] for the sake of something to eat. All foods are truly clean [ceremonially]; however, it is wrong for a person to eat something when it causes another person to fall [away from God].

to all those in Rome who are God's loved ones, called to be His people: spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as God's seal of his right standing with Him on condition of faith which he had before he was circumcised, that he might be the forefather of all who have faith while still uncircumcised, that they might have their faith credited to them as right standing with God;

nor did he doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God,

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.

Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God's permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,

in God’s sight. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.

Because of the charge with which God has entrusted me, that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to go to the Gentiles--that I should act as a priest of God's Good News, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit.

For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry:

For if Abraham had been made right with God by doing good deeds he would have had something to boast about, but not in God's presence.

For if [only] those who are obedient to the law deserve an inheritance, [then their] faith [in God] is for nothing, and God's promise is nullified.

But it is not as if the word of God [i.e., His promise to Israel] has failed [in its fulfillment]. For not all those descended from the Israelites are [truly] Israelites [i.e., God's people].

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, now these [same] Jews have also been disobedient [to God], so that they may also now obtain [God's] mercy by means of the mercy [He has] shown to you [Gentiles].

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.

For in the good news God's Way of man's right standing with Him is uncovered, the Way of faith that leads to greater faith, just as the Scripture says, "The upright man must live by faith."

and that if it's God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.