Bible Reading Plan – Day 313

₁What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the father of our race? What was his experience? ₂If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about — but not in God's sight. ₃The scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” ₄Those who work are paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned. ₅But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself. ₆This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

₉Does this happiness that David spoke of belong only to those who are circumcised? No indeed! It belongs also to those who are not circumcised. For we have quoted the scripture, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” ₁₀When did this take place? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? It was before, not after. ₁₁He was circumcised later, and his circumcision was a sign to show that because of his faith God had accepted him as righteous before he had been circumcised. And so Abraham is the spiritual father of all who believe in God and are accepted as righteous by him, even though they are not circumcised. ₁₂He is also the father of those who are circumcised, that is, of those who, in addition to being circumcised, also live the same life of faith that our father Abraham lived before he was circumcised.

₁₃When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God. ₁₄For if what God promises is to be given to those who obey the Law, then faith means nothing and God's promise is worthless. ₁₅The Law brings down God's anger; but where there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law.

₁₆And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God's free gift to all of Abraham's descendants — not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all; ₁₇as the scripture says, “I have made you father of many nations.” So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed — the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist. ₁₈Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became “the father of many nations.” Just as the scripture says, “Your descendants will be as many as the stars.” ₁₉He was then almost 100 years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children. ₂₀His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. ₂₁He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised. ₂₂That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God”. ₂₃The words “he was accepted as righteous” were not written for him alone. ₂₄They were written also for us who are to be accepted as righteous, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death. ₂₅Because of our sins he was handed over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.

₁Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ₂He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory! ₃We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, ₄endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope. ₅This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.

₆For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. ₇It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. ₈But God has shown us how much he loves us — it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! ₉By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! ₁₀We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! ₁₁But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.

₁₂Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned. ₁₃There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, no account is kept of sins. ₁₄But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses death ruled over the whole human race, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command.

Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. ₁₅But the two are not the same, because God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God's grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. ₁₆And there is a difference between God's gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin, came the judgement of “Guilty”; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of “Not guilty!” ₁₇It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God's abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.

₁₈So then, as the one sin condemned all people, in the same way the one righteous act sets all people free and gives them life. ₁₉And just as the mass of people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way the mass of people will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.

₂₀Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God's grace increased much more. ₂₁So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God's grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

₁What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? ₂Certainly not! We have died to sin — how then can we go on living in it? ₃For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. ₄By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

₅For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. ₆And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. ₇For when people die, they are set free from the power of sin. ₈Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ₉For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again — death will no longer rule over him. ₁₀And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. ₁₁In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

₁₂Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. ₁₃Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. ₁₄Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God's grace.

₁₅What, then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under God's grace? By no means! ₁₆Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey — either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God. ₁₇But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received. ₁₈You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness. ₁₉(I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.

₂₀When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ₂₁What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The result of those things is death! ₂₂But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life. ₂₃For sin pays its wage — death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

₁Certainly you will understand what I am about to say, my brothers and sisters, because all of you know about law. The law rules over people only as long as they live. ₂A married woman, for example, is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if he dies, then she is free from the law that bound her to him. ₃So then, if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is legally a free woman and does not commit adultery if she marries another man. ₄That is how it is with you, my sisters and brothers. As far as the Law is concerned, you also have died because you are part of the body of Christ; and now you belong to him who was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God. ₅For when we lived according to our human nature, the sinful desires stirred up by the Law were at work in our bodies, and all we did ended in death. ₆Now, however, we are free from the Law, because we died to that which once held us prisoners. No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.

₇Shall we say, then, that the Law itself is sinful? Of course not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, “Do not desire what belongs to someone else,” I would not have known such a desire. ₈But by means of that commandment sin found its chance to stir up all kinds of selfish desires in me. Apart from law, sin is a dead thing. ₉I myself was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, ₁₀and I died. And the commandment which was meant to bring life, in my case brought death. ₁₁Sin found its chance, and by means of the commandment it deceived me and killed me.

₁₂So then, the Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good. ₁₃But does this mean that what is good caused my death? By no means! It was sin that did it; by using what is good, sin brought death to me, in order that its true nature as sin might be revealed. And so, by means of the commandment sin is shown to be even more terribly sinful.

₁₄We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ₁₅I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. ₁₆Since what I do is what I don't want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right. ₁₇So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me. ₁₈I know that good does not live in me — that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. ₁₉I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do. ₂₀If I do what I don't want to do, this means that I am no longer the one who does it; instead, it is the sin that lives in me.

₂₁So I find that this law is at work: when I want to do what is good, what is evil is the only choice I have. ₂₂My inner being delights in the law of God. ₂₃But I see a different law at work in my body — a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body. ₂₄What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? ₂₅Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ!

This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God's law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin.