The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Now if we are children, we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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

that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God's children.

and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will.

And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.

What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Who will accuse God's elect? It is God who justifies!

Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my own people,

To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.

Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all Israelis truly belong to Israel,

That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God's children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants.

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

What can we say, then? God is not unrighteous, is he? Of course not!

Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy.

Therefore, God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.

You may ask me, "Then why does God still find fault with anybody? For who can resist his will?"

On the contrary, who are you mere man that you are to talk back to God? Can an object that was molded say to the one who molded it, "Why did you make me like this?"

Now if God wants to demonstrate his wrath and reveal his power, can't he be extremely patient with the objects of his wrath that are made for destruction?

In the very place where it was told them, "You are not my people,' they will be called children of the living God."

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God about the Jews is that they would be saved.

For I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God, but it is not in keeping with full knowledge.

For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God's means to attain righteousness.

If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are those who bring the good news!"

So I ask, "God has not rejected his people, has he?" Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel?

As it is written, "To this day God has put them into deep sleep. Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear."

Then you will say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in."

For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either.

Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you if you continue receiving his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.

If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.

After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!

For God's gifts and calling never change.

For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience,

For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

O how deep are God's riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways!

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.

Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I ask every one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should think, rather to think of yourself with sober judgment on the measure of faith that God has assigned each of you.

Your love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord."

Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

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,

so that whoever resists the authorities opposes what God has established, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

For the authorities are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you like to live without being afraid of the authorities? Then do what is right, and you will receive their approval.

For they are God's servants, working for your good.

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.

This is also why you pay taxes. For rulers are God's servants faithfully devoting themselves to their work.

The person who eats any kind of food must not ridicule the person who does not eat them, and the person who does not eat certain foods must not criticize the person who eats them, for God has accepted him.

The one who observes a special day, observes it to honor the Lord. The one who eats, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, refrains from eating to honor the Lord; yet he, too, gives thanks to God.

Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.

For it is written, "As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God."

Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do not allow what seems good to you to be spoken of as evil.

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

For the person who serves the Messiah in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

Do not destroy God's action for the sake of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make another person stumble because of what you eat.

As for the faith you do have, have it as your own conviction before God. How blessed is the person who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves!

Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building him up.

Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah Jesus,

so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah accepted you, for the glory of God.

For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God's truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,

so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name."

Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

However, on some points I have written to you rather boldly, both as a reminder to you and because of the grace given me by God

to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, in the Messiah Jesus I have the right to boast about my work for God.

by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me

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

Now may the God who grants peace be with all of you! Amen.

For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!

but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith

to the only wise God, through Jesus the Messiah, be glory forever! Amen.

From: Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

To: God's church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah their Lord and ours.

May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiah Jesus.

Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved.

Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn't he?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe through the nonsense of our preaching.

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah is God's power and God's wisdom.

For God's nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed.

And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something,

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

It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

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

so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God's power.

Instead, we speak about God's wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.

But as it is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him."

But God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

Is there anyone who can understand his own thoughts except his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God's Spirit.