1So there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

3What the law couldn't do because it was powerless due to our sinful nature, ³⁴God was able to do! By sending his own Son in human form, God dealt with the whole problem of sin ³⁵and destroyed sin's power in our sinful human nature.

4In this way we could fulfill the good requirements of the law by following the Spirit and not our sinful nature.

5Those who follow their sinful nature are preoccupied with sinful things, but those who follow the Spirit concentrate on spiritual things.

6The sinful human mind results in death, but having the mind led by the Spirit results in life and peace.

7The sinful human mind is hostile to God because it refuses to obey the law of God—in fact it never can,

8and those who follow their sinful nature can never please God.

9But you're not following your sinful nature, but the Spirit—if it's true that the Spirit of God is living in you. For those that don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him.

10However, if Christ is in you, even though your body is going to die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you're now right with God.

11The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your dead bodies through his Spirit that lives in you.

12So brothers and sisters, we don't have to follow ³⁶our sinful nature that operates according to our human desires.

13For if you live under the control of your sinful nature, you're going to die. But if you follow the way of the Spirit, putting to death the evil things you do, then you will live.

14All those who are led by the Spirit of God are God's children.

15You were not given a spirit to enslave and terrify you once more. No, what you received was the spirit that makes you children in God's family. Now we can shout out, “God is our Father!”

16The Spirit himself agrees with us ³⁷that we're God's children.

17If we're his children, then we're his heirs. We are heirs of God, and heirs together with Christ. But if we want to share in his glory we must share in his sufferings.

18Yet I'm convinced that what we suffer in the present is nothing compared to the future glory that will be revealed to us.

19All of creation is patiently waiting, longing for God to reveal his children.

20For God allowed the purpose of creation to be frustrated.

21But creation itself waits in hope for the time when it will be set free from the slavery of decay and share the glorious freedom of God's children.

22We know that all creation groans with longing, suffering birth-pains even up till now.

23Not only creation, but we too, who have a foretaste of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait for God to “adopt” us—the redemption of our bodies.

24For we were saved by hope. Yet hope that's already seen isn't hope at all. Who hopes for what they can already see?

25Since we're hoping for what we haven't yet seen, we wait for it patiently.

26Similarly the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know how to speak with God, but the Spirit himself intercedes with and through us by groans that can't be put into words.

27The one who examines the minds of everyone knows the Spirit's motives, ³⁸because the Spirit pleads God's cause on behalf of the believers.

28We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, those whom he has called to be part of his plan.

29For God, choosing them in advance, set them apart to be like his Son, so that the Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters.

30Those that he chose, he also called; and those that he called, he also made right; and those that he made right, he also glorified.

31So what's our response to all this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32God, who did not hold back his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, won't he also freely give us everything?

33Who can accuse God's special people of anything? It's God who sets us right,

34so who can condemn us? It's Christ Jesus who died—more importantly, who was raised from the dead—who stands at God's right-hand, presenting our case.

35Who can separate us from Christ's love? Can oppression, distress, or persecution? Or hunger, poverty, danger, or violence?

36Just as Scripture says, “For your sake we're in danger of being killed all the time. We're treated like sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁹

37No—in all that happens to us we're more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38I'm absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor devils, neither the present nor the future, nor powers,

39neither height nor depth, in fact nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.