God will not in any way condemn those who are united to Christ Jesus, because God’s Spirit has freed us from the inevitability of sinning and from spiritual death.

1Because God has erased the record of our sins because we trust in what Christ has done for us, now God will not condemn and punish those/us who have a relationship with (OR, are united to) Christ Jesus.

2God’s Spirit causes us to live in a new way [PRS] as a result of what Christ Jesus did for us. And he has set up a way by which he frees each of us from continually being forced to sin (OR, to obey our self-directed natures) and from being separated from God.

3What we could not do by trying to obey the laws of God [PRS], because our self-directed nature was too weak to obey them, God did. He sent his own Son into the world in order that his Son might atone for our sin. His Son came having a body (OR, human nature) that was like the body (OR, the human nature) of us people who sin. By sending his Son in this way, he condemned and punished his Son, who never sinned, instead of punishing us, who sinned [MTY]. He did that by making his Son’s body a sacrifice (OR, by causing his Son’s body to suffer/die) for all our sin.

4So we can now fulfill all that God required in his laws. We do this, not by our acting the way our sinful human nature desires, but instead by living as God’s Spirit desires us to live.

5People who live according to what their self-directed nature desires think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires. But people who live according to what God’s Spirit desires think about and are concerned about what God’s Spirit desires.

6Those people who [PRS] think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires will not live eternally (OR, will be separated from God). But those people who think about and are concerned about what God’s Spirit desires will live eternally and have inner peace.

7Let me explain this. To the extent that people [PRS] think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires, they are acting contrary to God. They do not obey the laws of God. In fact, they are not even able to obey his laws.

8The people who let their self-directed nature control them cannot do what pleases God.

9But we do not have to let our self-directed nature control us. Instead, we can let God’s Spirit control us, because he lives within us. If people do not have living in them the Spirit who comes from Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

10But since Christ is living in you/us by his Spirit, although your/our bodies are certain to die because you/we sin, your/our spirits are alive because God has erased the record of your/our sins.

11God caused Jesus to live again after he died. And because his Spirit lives in you/us, God will also make your/our bodies, which now are sure to die, live again after you/we die. God, who caused Christ to live again after he died, will make you/us live again by causing his Spirit, who lives within you/us, to do it.

We are compelled to live as the Spirit directs, not as our self-directed nature directs, because if we do the latter we will be eternally separated from God, but if we cease doing the latter we will live eternally.

12Therefore, my fellow believers, we must live as the Spirit directs us. What we do not have to do is to live as our self-directed nature guides us.

13If you live the way your self-directed nature directs, you will surely not live eternally (OR, will surely be eternally separated from God). But if by the power of God’s Spirit you quit doing the sinful things that your bodies desire [MET], you will live eternally.

Because we who allow the Spirit of God to guide us are God’s children, we will also inherit eternal blessings from God.

14We who are guided by the Spirit of God {allow the Spirit of God to guide us} are God’s children.

15You have showed that this is true, because you received from God a Spirit that is not one that makes you fear God again. You are not like slaves who fear their masters [MET]. On the contrary, we have received a Spirit by whose work in our hearts God has adopted us. The Spirit now enables us to cry out to God, “You(sg) are my Father [DOU]!”

16The Spirit himself confirms what our spirits say, that we are God’s children.

17Because we are God’s children, we also will some day receive/inherit eternal blessings/privileges. We will receive/inherit them from God, and we will also receive/inherit them just like Christ has inherited them. But we must suffer for doing good as Christ did, in order to receive splendor as he did.

Since everything that God has created is eagerly awaiting the time when he will reveal who are his true children, I consider that what we suffer now is not worth paying attention to.

18I consider that what we suffer during the present time is not worth paying attention to, because the future splendor/glory that will be revealed {that God will reveal} to us is so great.

19The things that God has created are very eagerly waiting for the time [PRS, DOU] when God will reveal who his true children are.

20God caused the things that he created to be unable to achieve what he had purposed. That was not because they wanted to be unable to do that. On the contrary, God made them that way because he wanted them to keep confidently expecting

21that the things that he created will be freed {that he will free the things that he created} from their sure decay [MET]. He will free them in order that he can give them the same glory that belongs to his children.

22We know that until now it is as though all things that God created have been groaning together, and they long for that glory, just like a mother having the pains before bearing a child groans and longs for her baby’s birth [MET].

23Not only do those things groan, but we ourselves also groan inwardly. We who have God’s Spirit, who is like a partial gift [MET] we have received as we wait for the future glory, groan inwardly. We groan while we wait eagerly for the time when we will receive our full rights as God’s adopted children. That will include his freeing our bodies from the things that hinder us on earth. He will do this by giving us new bodies.

24Ever since we were saved {since God saved us}, we have continued to confidently expect that future glory. If we had what we waited for, we would not need to wait for it any longer, because those who have something, certainly do not continue to wait for it! [RHQ]

25But because we keep waiting expectantly to receive what we do not yet have, we wait for it eagerly and patiently/perseveringly.

God’s Spirit helps us when our spirits feel weak; he prays for us and God understands what his Spirit intends.

26Similarly, in addition to our continuing to wait for what God will give us, God’s Spirit helps us when our spirits feel weak. We do not know what is proper/necessary for us to pray. But God’s Spirit knows, and he prays for us when we groan (OR, he groans) in a way that cannot be expressed in words (OR, prays with us, groaning in a way that cannot be expressed in words).

27God, who examines our inner feelings, understands what his Spirit desires. What God understands is that his Spirit prays for us who belong to God exactly as God wants him to pray.

God works out all things in a way that produces good spiritual benefits for us who love him. He does this because, having known that we would be saved and thus we would have the character of his Son, he chose us and declared us righteous, and he will surely give us future splendor.

28And we know that to those/us who love God, he works out all things that happen to them/us in a way that produces good spiritual benefits for us. He does these things for those/us whom he has chosen, because that was (OR, was according to) what he planned to do.

29God knew previously that we would believe in him (OR, would be saved). We are those who God also decided previously would develop a character like his Son’s character. The result of that is that Christ is like a firstborn/highest-ranking son, and those/we who are God’s children [MET] are like [MET] many younger brothers of Jesus.

30And us who God decided previously that we would become like his Son, he also summoned. And for us whom he summoned, he also erased the record of our sins. And for us whose record of sins he has erased, he also will surely give future splendor.

We must conclude from these things that no one can defeat us, and absolutely no one and nothing can separate us from Christ’s loving us and God’s loving us.

31So ◄I will tell you what we must conclude from all these things that God does for us./what shall we conclude from all these things that God does for us?► [RHQ] Because God is acting on our behalf, ◄no one can win against us!/can anyone defeat us? (OR, it does not matter if anyone opposes us)!► [RHQ]

32God did not spare even his very own Son. Instead, he turned him over to others to cruelly kill him in order that all we who believe in him may benefit from his dying for us. Therefore, because God did that, ◄he will also certainly give us freely everything that we need to live for him, in addition to giving us Christ./will he not also certainly give us freely everything that we need to live for him, in addition to giving us Christ?► [RHQ]

33It is God himself who erases the record of our sins. So ◄no one who accuses us before God will win against us (OR, it does not matter if anyone tries to accuse us) whom God has chosen./is it possible that anyone who accuses us before God will win against us (OR, does it matter if anyone tries to accuse us) whom God has chosen?► [RHQ]

34It is Christ Jesus himself who pleads with God for us, so ◄no one can condemn us (OR, say that we are still guilty for our sin)./can anyone condemn us (OR, say that we are still guilty for our sin)?► [RHQ] Christ died for us, but he was also brought back to life {God also raised him from the dead}, and he is now at the place of honor ruling with God [MTY].

35Absolutely no one and nothing can cause Christ to stop loving us! [RHQ] That could not [RHQ] happen because someone caused us to have trouble [DOU], or because someone did things to harm us, or because we did not have anything to eat, or because we did not have enough clothes, or because we lived in a dangerous situation, or because someone killed us with a sword [MTY] (OR, murdered us).

36Such things may happen to us, just like it is written {as David wrote} that David said to God, “Because we are your (sg) people, other people repeatedly attempt to kill us. They consider that we are only people to be killed, like a butcher considers that sheep are only animals to be slaughtered [MET].”

37But even though all these bad things may happen to us, we win a great victory/triumph over these things because Christ, who loves us, helps us.

38I am absolutely certain that neither being dead (OR, being killed), nor what happens to us while we live, nor angels, nor demons, nor present events, nor future events, nor powerful beings/forces,

39nor powerful beings above the horizon or below the horizon [MTY], nor anything else that God has created can cause God to stop loving us. God showed us that he loves us by sending Jesus Christ our Lord to die for us.