Romans 8

Life in the Spirit

1 Listen, for those who are down with Christ Jesus, there is no more condemnation, no judgment hanging over your head.

2 The Spirit that gives life, the one connected to Christ, broke me free from the law of sin and death.

3 What the law could not do, because our flesh was too weak, God did. He sent His own Son in a body like ours, and by handling sin, He passed judgment on it in that body.

4 Now, we can actually live out the righteous standards of the law, because we are not living by the flesh anymore, but by the Spirit.

5 If you living by the flesh, you are always thinking about what the flesh wants. But if you are living by the Spirit, you focus on what the Spirit wants.

6 The mindset of the flesh leads to death, but the mindset of the Spirit leads to life and peace.

7 The flesh is hostile toward God. It does not want to follow His laws, and it straight-up cannot.

8 So, those living by the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you, nah, you are not in the flesh anymore, but in the Spirit, if God’s Spirit is living in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they are not really His.

10 But if Christ is in you, even though your body is dead because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

11 And if the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He is going to give life to your mortal bodies too.

12 So, fam, we got an obligation, but it is not to the flesh to keep living by its ways.

13 Because if you live by the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the mess the body wants to do, you will live.

14 All the people being led by God’s Spirit, Those are God’s children.

15 You did not receive a spirit that makes you slaves again to fear. Nah, you got the Spirit that makes you part of God’s fam, and now we can call Him “Abba, Father.”

16 The Spirit Himself lets our spirit know that we are God’s kids.

17 And if we God’s kids, then we heirs too. We get to share in what God has got, as long as we share in Christ’s sufferings so we can share in His glory too.

Future Glory

18 The struggles we go through right now, They do not even compare to the glory that is coming our way.

19 All of creation is out here waiting, hyped for the children of God to be revealed.

20 Creation got caught up in frustration, not by choice, but because God allowed it, in hope that.

21 Creation itself would get free from the mess and decay and share in the freedom and glory of God’s kids.

22 The whole world been groaning, like it is in labor, ever since way back.

23 And it is not just the world. We got the first taste of the Spirit, and we groaning too, waiting for the full adoption, which is the redemption of our bodies.

24 We were saved in this hope. But hope that is already seen is not really hope, because who hopes for what they already got,

25 But if we hoping for what we do not see yet, we wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We do not even know what to pray for sometimes, but the Spirit steps in with groans too deep for words.

27 And God, who knows what is up in our hearts, understands the Spirit’s intercession, because the Spirit always prays according to God’s will.

28 We know that God works everything out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

29 Those He knew ahead of time, He also chose to be shaped into the image of His Son, so that Jesus would be the big brother among many siblings.

30 The ones He chose, He also called; the ones He called, He justified; and the ones He justified, He glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 So, what is good with all this, If God is for us, who can be against us,

32 He did not even spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. How is He not going to hook us up with everything we need,

33 Who is out here trying to charge God’s people, God Himself made us right.

34 Who is going to condemn us, Christ Jesus died, came back to life, and is right there next to God, speaking up for us.

35 Who can break us apart from Christ’s love, Trouble, Stress, Persecution, Hunger, Poverty, Danger, Violence,

36 Just like it is written, “We out here facing death every day; we are like sheep lined up for the slaughter.”

37 But in all this, we more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

38 I am convinced that neither death, life, angels, demons, things happening now or things coming later, powers,

39 Height, depth, or anything in all creation can separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.