For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes--the Jew first, and then the Gentile.

although he is a Gentile by birth, if he scrupulously obeys the Law, shall he not sit in judgement upon you who, possessing, as you do, a written Law and circumcision, are yet a Law-breaker?

If, for instance, a falsehood of mine has made God's truthfulness more conspicuous, redounding to His glory, why am I judged all the same as a sinner?

There is not one who is really wise, nor one who is a diligent seeker after God.

He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed--

For we maintain that it is as the result of faith that a man is held to be righteous, apart from actions done in obedience to Law.

Before, not after. And he received circumcision as a sign, a mark attesting the reality of the faith-righteousness which was his while still uncircumcised, that he might be the forefather of all those who believe even though they are uncircumcised--in order that this righteousness might be placed to their credit;

so that the promise should be made sure to all Abraham's true descendants; not merely to those who are righteous through the Law, but to those who are righteous through a faith like that of Abraham. Thus in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and makes reference to things that do not exist, as though they did, Abraham is the forefather of all of us. As it is written, "I have appointed you to be the forefather of many nations."

It follows then that just as the result of a single transgression is a condemnation which extends to the whole race, so also the result of a single decree of righteousness is a life-giving acquittal which extends to the whole race.

This accounts for the fact that if during her husband's life she lives with another man, she will be stigmatized as an adulteress; but that if her husband is dead she is no longer under the old prohibition, and even though she marries again, she is not an adulteress.

For we know that the Law is a spiritual thing; but I am unspiritual--the slave, bought and sold, 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;

Abandonment to earthly things is a state of enmity to God. Such a mind does not submit to God's Law, and indeed cannot do so.

And more than that, we ourselves, though we possess the Spirit as a foretaste and pledge of the glorious future, yet we ourselves inwardly sigh, as we wait and long for open recognition as sons through the deliverance of our bodies.

I am telling you the truth as a Christian man--it is no falsehood, for my conscience enlightened, as it is, by the Holy Spirit adds its testimony to mine--

This is a proof that wherever He chooses He shows mercy, and wherever he chooses He hardens the heart.

For I bear witness that they possess an enthusiasm for God, but it is an unenlightened enthusiasm.

For as a means of righteousness Christ is the termination of Law to every believer.

and if you were cut from that which by nature is a wild olive and contrary to nature were grafted into the good olive tree, how much more certainly will these natural branches be grafted on their own olive tree?

For there is a truth, brethren, not revealed hitherto, of which I do not wish to leave you in ignorance, for fear you should attribute superior wisdom to yourselves--the truth, I mean, that partial blindness has fallen upon Israel until the great mass of the Gentiles have come in;

I plead with you therefore, brethren, by the compassionsof God, to present all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him. This with you will be an act of reasonable worship.

Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

I now pass to another subject. Receive as a friend a man whose faith is weak, but not for the purpose of deciding mere matters of opinion.

Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

Do not for food's sake be throwing down God's work. All food is pure; but a man is in the wrong if his food is a snare to others.

Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,

that you may receive her as a fellow Christian in a manner worthy of God's people, and may assist her in any matter in which she may need help. For she has indeed been a kind friend to many, including myself.

Your fidelity to the truth is everywhere known. I rejoice over you, therefore, but I wish you to be wise as to what is good, and simple-minded as to what is evil.

What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says "I belong to Paul;" another "I belong to Apollos;" a third "I belong to Peter;" a fourth "I belong to Christ."

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;

For this reason I have sent Timothy to you. Spiritually he is my dearly-loved and faithful child. He will remind you of my habits as a Christian teacher--the manner in which I teach everywhere in every Church.

To the rest it is I who speak--not the Lord. If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away.

There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband.

A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian.

But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.

Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up.

If to other men I am not an Apostle, yet at any rate I am one to you; for your very existence as a Christian Church is the seal of my Apostleship.

What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.

Do I mean that a thing sacrificed to an idol is what it claims to be, or that an idol is a real thing?

If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair. But since it is a dishonor to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil.

Does not Nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonor to him,

for, in the first place, when you meet as a Church, there are divisions among you. This is what I am told, and I believe that there is some truth in it.

But to each of us a manifestation of the Spirit has been granted for the common good.

But, as a matter of fact, God has arranged the parts in the body--every one of them--as He has seen fit.

But, as a matter of fact, there are many parts and but one body.

This shows that the gift of tongues is intended as a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers, but prophecy is intended not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

But if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?

If there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then Christ Himself has not risen to life.

And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.

and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins.

an animal body is sown, a spiritual body is raised. As surely as there is an animal body, so there is also a spiritual body.

In the same way also it is written, "The first man Adam became a living animal"; the last Adam is a life-giving Spirit.

The first man is a man of earth, earthy; the second man is from Heaven.

It is a joy to me that Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus have now arrived, because what was wanting so far as you are concerned they have supplied.

while you on your part lend us your aid in entreaty for us, so that from many lips thanksgivings may rise on our behalf for the boon granted to us at the intercession of many.

just as some few of you have recognized us as your reason for boasting, even as you will be ours, on the day of Jesus our Lord.

But He who is making us as well as you stedfast through union with the Anointed One, and has anointed us, is God,

and He has also set His seal upon us, and has put His Spirit into our hearts as a pledge and foretaste of future blessing.

For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a preponderating, yes, a vastly preponderating, and eternal weight of glory;

And He who formed us with this very end in view is God, who has given us His Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of that bliss.

Therefore for the future we know no one simply as a man. Even if we have known Christ as a man, yet now we do so no longer.

So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence.

As for Titus, remember that he is a partner with me, and is my comrade in my labours for you. And as for our brethren, remember that they are delegates from the Churches, and are men in whom Christ is glorified.

I have thought it absolutely necessary therefore to request these brethren to visit you before I myself come, and to make sure beforehand that the gift of love which you have already promised may be ready as a gift of love, and may not seem to have been something which I have extorted from you.

Let each contribute what he has decided upon in his own mind, and not do it reluctantly or under compulsion. "It is a cheerful giver that God loves."

while we hold ourselves in readiness to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as ever you as a Church have fully shown your obedience.

We, however, will not exceed due limits in our boasting, but will keep within the limits of the sphere which God has assigned to us as a limit, which reaches even to you.

And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light.

What I am now saying, I do not say by the Lord's command, but as a fool in his folly might, in this reckless boasting.

Wise as you yourselves are, you find pleasure in tolerating fools.

In what respect, therefore, have you been worse dealt with than other Churches, except that I myself never hung as a dead weight upon you? Forgive the injustice I thus did you!

You are imagining, all this time, that we are making our defense at your bar. In reality it is as in God's presence and in communion with Christ that we speak; but, dear friends, it is all with a view to your progress in goodness.

and it is a joy to us when we are powerless, but you are strong. This we also pray for--the perfecting of your characters.

As soon as I saw that they were not walking uprightly in the spirit of the Good News, I said to Peter, before them all, "If you, though you are a Jew, live as a Gentile does, and not as a Jew, how can you make the Gentiles follow Jewish customs?

For if the inheritance comes through obedience to Law, it no longer comes because of a promise. But, as a matter of fact, God has granted it to Abraham in fulfilment of a promise.

Now I say that so long as an heir is a child, he in no respect differs from a slave, although he is the owner of everything,

Yet just as, at that time, the child born in the common course of nature persecuted the one whose birth was due to the power of the Spirit, so it is now.

even as, in His love, He chose us as His own in Christ before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and without blemish in His presence.

Now to Him who, in exercise of His power that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely beyond all our highest prayers or thoughts--

And live and act lovingly, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God, yielding a fragrant odor.

That is a great truth hitherto kept secret: I mean the truth concerning Christ and the Church.

Children, be obedient to your parents as a Christian duty, for it is a duty.

You well know that whatever right thing any one does, he will receive a requital for it from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man.

Nay, even if my life is to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I rejoice, and I congratulate you all.

In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.

Therefore put to death your earthward inclinations--fornication, impurity, sensual passion, unholy desire, and all greed, for that is a form of idolatry.

Let the teaching concerning Christ remain as a rich treasure in your hearts. In all wisdom teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and sing with grace in your hearts to God.

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men.

And pray at the same time for us also, that God may open for us a door for preaching, for us to tell the truth concerning Christ for the sake of which I am even a prisoner.

And tell Archippus to discharge carefully the duties devolving upon him as a servant of the Lord.

On the contrary, in our relations to you we showed ourselves as gentle as a mother is when she tenderly nurses her own children.

For you know that we acted towards every one of you as a father does towards his own children, encouraging and cheering you,

But now that Timothy has recently come back to us from you, and has brought us the happy tidings of your faith and love, and has told us how you still cherish a constant and affectionate recollection of us, and are longing to see us as we also long to see you--

and that in this matter there be no encroaching on the rights of a brother Christian and no overreaching him. For the Lord is an avenger in all such cases, as we have already taught you and solemnly warned you.

A plain token of God's righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you;

and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now--rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels.

And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but caution him as a brother.

But mercy was shown me in order that in me as the foremost of sinners Christ Jesus might display the fulness of His long-suffering patience as an example to encourage those who would afterwards be resting their faith on Him with a view to the Life of the Ages.

So teach and exhort. If any one is a teacher of any other kind of doctrine, and refuses assent to wholesome instructions--those of our Lord Jesus Christ--and the teaching that harmonizes with true godliness,