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No Longer Bound to the Law

Now, dear brothers and sisters[a]—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature,[b] sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

God’s Law Reveals Our Sin

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”[c] But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

Struggling with Sin

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[d] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Life in the Spirit

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power[f] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[g] from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.[h] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[i] because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,[j] you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,[k] you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children[l] of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.[m] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”[n] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

The Future Glory

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[o] including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[p] for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[q] in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[r] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[s] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[t]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[u] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s Selection of Israel

With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.[v] I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.[w] God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.[x]

Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”[y] though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”[z]

10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.[aa] 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”[ab] 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”[ac]

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
    and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”[ad]

16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”[ae] 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,

“Those who were not my people,
    I will now call my people.
And I will love those
    whom I did not love before.”[af]

26 And,

“Then, at the place where they were told,
    ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
    ‘children of the living God.’”[ag]

27 And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,

“Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore,
    only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth
    quickly and with finality.”[ah]

29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:

“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
    destroyed like Gomorrah.”[ai]

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law[aj] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem[ak] that makes people stumble,
    a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
    will never be disgraced.”[al]

Footnotes

  1. 7:1 Greek brothers; also in 7:4.
  2. 7:5 Greek When we were in the flesh.
  3. 7:7 Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21.
  4. 7:18 Greek my flesh; also in 7:25.
  5. 7:23 Greek law; also in 7:23b.
  6. 8:2a Greek the law; also in 8:2b.
  7. 8:2b Some manuscripts read me.
  8. 8:3 Greek our flesh; similarly in 8:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12.
  9. 8:10 Or your spirit is alive.
  10. 8:12 Greek brothers; also in 8:29.
  11. 8:13 Greek deeds of the body.
  12. 8:14 Greek sons; also in 8:19.
  13. 8:15a Greek you received a spirit of sonship.
  14. 8:15b Abba is an Aramaic term for “father.”
  15. 8:23 Greek wait anxiously for sonship.
  16. 8:24 Some manuscripts read wait.
  17. 8:27 Greek for God’s holy people.
  18. 8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together.
  19. 8:29 Or would be supreme.
  20. 8:36 Ps 44:22.
  21. 8:38 Greek nor rulers.
  22. 9:3 Greek my brothers.
  23. 9:4 Greek chosen for sonship.
  24. 9:5 Or May God, the one who rules over everything, be praised forever. Amen.
  25. 9:7 Gen 21:12.
  26. 9:9 Gen 18:10, 14.
  27. 9:10 Greek she conceived children through this one man.
  28. 9:12 Gen 25:23.
  29. 9:13 Mal 1:2-3.
  30. 9:15 Exod 33:19.
  31. 9:17 Exod 9:16 (Greek version).
  32. 9:25 Hos 2:23.
  33. 9:26 Greek sons of the living God. Hos 1:10.
  34. 9:27-28 Isa 10:22-23 (Greek version).
  35. 9:29 Isa 1:9 (Greek version).
  36. 9:32 Greek by works.
  37. 9:33a Greek in Zion.
  38. 9:33b Isa 8:14; 28:16 (Greek version).

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)

The Law and Sin

What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)

21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)

Life Through the Spirit

Therefore, there is now no condemnation(AQ) for those who are in Christ Jesus,(AR) because through Christ Jesus(AS) the law of the Spirit who gives life(AT) has set you[e] free(AU) from the law of sin(AV) and death. For what the law was powerless(AW) to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[f](AX) God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh(AY) to be a sin offering.[g](AZ) And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement(BA) of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.(BB)

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;(BC) but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.(BD) The mind governed by the flesh is death,(BE) but the mind governed by the Spirit is life(BF) and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;(BG) it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh(BH) cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh(BI) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.(BJ) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,(BK) they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you,(BL) then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[h] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead(BM) is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies(BN) because of[i] his Spirit who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.(BO) 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;(BP) but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,(BQ) you will live.(BR)

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God(BS) are the children of God.(BT) 15 The Spirit(BU) you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again;(BV) rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[j] And by him we cry, “Abba,[k] Father.”(BW) 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit(BX) that we are God’s children.(BY) 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs(BZ)—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings(CA) in order that we may also share in his glory.(CB)

Present Suffering and Future Glory

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.(CC) 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God(CD) to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,(CE) in hope 21 that[l] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay(CF) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.(CG)

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning(CH) as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,(CI) groan(CJ) inwardly as we wait eagerly(CK) for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.(CL) 24 For in this hope we were saved.(CM) But hope that is seen is no hope at all.(CN) Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.(CO)

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit(CP) himself intercedes for us(CQ) through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts(CR) knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes(CS) for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good(CT) of those who love him, who[m] have been called(CU) according to his purpose.(CV) 29 For those God foreknew(CW) he also predestined(CX) to be conformed to the image of his Son,(CY) that he might be the firstborn(CZ) among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined,(DA) he also called;(DB) those he called, he also justified;(DC) those he justified, he also glorified.(DD)

More Than Conquerors

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things?(DE) If God is for us,(DF) who can be against us?(DG) 32 He who did not spare his own Son,(DH) but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge(DI) against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns?(DJ) No one. Christ Jesus who died(DK)—more than that, who was raised to life(DL)—is at the right hand of God(DM) and is also interceding for us.(DN) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?(DO) Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?(DP) 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[n](DQ)

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors(DR) through him who loved us.(DS) 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[o] neither the present nor the future,(DT) nor any powers,(DU) 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God(DV) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(DW)

Paul’s Anguish Over Israel

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,(DX) my conscience confirms(DY) it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself(DZ) were cursed(EA) and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,(EB) those of my own race,(EC) the people of Israel.(ED) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;(EE) theirs the divine glory,(EF) the covenants,(EG) the receiving of the law,(EH) the temple worship(EI) and the promises.(EJ) Theirs are the patriarchs,(EK) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,(EL) who is God over all,(EM) forever praised![p](EN) Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

It is not as though God’s word(EO) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(EP) Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[q](EQ) In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,(ER) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.(ES) For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[r](ET)

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.(EU) 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad(EV)—in order that God’s purpose(EW) in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[s](EX) 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[t](EY)

14 What then shall we say?(EZ) Is God unjust? Not at all!(FA) 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[u](FB)

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.(FC) 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[v](FD) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(FE)

19 One of you will say to me:(FF) “Then why does God still blame us?(FG) For who is able to resist his will?”(FH) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(FI) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(FJ) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[w](FK) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?(FL)

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(FM) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(FN) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(FO) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(FP) 24 even us, whom he also called,(FQ) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(FR) 25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[x](FS)

26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[y](FT)

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(FU)
    only the remnant will be saved.(FV)
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[z](FW)

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty(FX)
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”[aa](FY)

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say?(FZ) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(GA) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(GB) have not attained their goal.(GC) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(GD) 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[ab](GE)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
  2. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
  3. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
  4. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
  5. Romans 8:2 The Greek is singular; some manuscripts me
  6. Romans 8:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 4-13.
  7. Romans 8:3 Or flesh, for sin
  8. Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
  9. Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through
  10. Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
  11. Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father
  12. Romans 8:21 Or subjected it in hope. 21 For
  13. Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
  14. Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
  15. Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
  16. Romans 9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!
  17. Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
  18. Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14
  19. Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
  20. Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3
  21. Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
  22. Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
  23. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
  24. Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
  25. Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
  26. Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
  27. Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
  28. Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16