Romans

Romans

Greeting from Paul

From Paul,

a servant of Jesus the Anointed One,

called to be a sent one,

set apart for the good news of God—

which He promised beforehand

through His prophets in the sacred writings—

concerning His Son,

descended from David according to the flesh,

and appointed Son of God in power,

according to the Breath of holiness,

by resurrection from the dead—

Jesus the Anointed One, our Master.

Through Him we have received grace

and the mission of bringing obedience of trust

to all the nations for the sake of His name.

You are among those called to belong to Jesus the Anointed One.

To all who are in Rome,

loved by God and called to be set apart ones:

Grace and peace to you

from God our Father

and the Master, Jesus the Anointed One.

Longing to Visit Rome

First, I thank my God through Jesus the Anointed One

for all of you,

because your trust is being spoken of around the world.

God—whom I serve with my breath

in announcing the good news of His Son—

is my witness how constantly I mention you

in my prayers at all times.

I pray that now at last, by God’s will,

I may succeed in coming to you.

For I long to see you

so that I may share with you some spiritual gift

to strengthen you—

that is, that we may be encouraged together

by each other’s trust—yours and mine.

I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,

that I often planned to come to you

(but was prevented until now),

in order that I might reap some harvest among you,

just as I have among the other nations.

I am obligated both to the Greeks and to the uncultured,

both to the wise and the unwise.

So I am eager to proclaim the good news to you

who are in Rome also.

The Power of the Good News

For I am not ashamed of the good news,

because it is the power of God

for rescue to everyone who trusts—

first to the Jew, then also to the Greek.

For in it the rightness of God is revealed—

from trust to trust—

just as it is written:

“The one who is made right will live by trust.”

The Human Condition Without God

For the wrath (restorative resistance) of God

is being revealed from the skies

against all the distortion and injustice

of those who suppress the truth in wrongdoing.

For what can be known about God

is plain to them—because God has shown it to them.

Since the creation of the world,

His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen,

being understood through what has been made.

So they are without excuse.

For although they knew God,

they did not honor Him as God

or give thanks.

Instead, their thinking became empty,

and their hearts—foolish and darkened—were clouded.

Claiming to be wise,

they became foolish

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God

for images resembling mortal humans,

birds, animals, and crawling creatures.

So God handed them over in the cravings of their hearts

to impurity—

to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,

and worshiped and served created things

rather than the Creator,

who is blessed forever—Amen.

When Desire Replaces Design

Because of this,

God let them go over to passions that dishonor themselves.

Even their women exchanged natural relations

for what is contrary to nature.

In the same way,

the men abandoned natural relations with women

and were inflamed with desire for one another.

Men committed shameful acts with men

and received in themselves the outcome their distortion deserved.

Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,

He handed them over to a depraved mind,

to do what should not be done.

They became filled with all kinds of injustice,

evil, greed, and depravity.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice.

They are gossips,

slanderers, God-haters,

insolent, arrogant, and boastful.

They invent new ways of doing evil.

They disobey their parents.

They are senseless, unfaithful, cold-hearted, and ruthless.

Though they know God’s righteous decree—

that those who do such things deserve death—

they not only do them,

but also approve of those who practice them.

———

No Excuse for the Self-Righteous

So then, you have no excuse,

you who pass judgment on others.

For in whatever way you judge another,

you are condemning yourself—

because you who judge

are doing the same things.

We know that God's judgment

rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Do you think, O person—

you who judge those who do such things

yet do the same yourself—

that you will escape the judgment of God?

Or do you show contempt

for the riches of His kindness, patience, and restraint—

not realizing that God’s kindness

is meant to lead you to a change of heart?

But because of your stubbornness

and unrepentant heart,

you are storing up wrath for yourself

on the day of wrath,

when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

According to Works

God “will repay each person

according to what they have done.”

To those who by persistence in doing good

seek glory, honor, and life that does not perish—

He will give life without end.

But for those who are self-seeking

and reject the truth and follow wrongdoing—

there will be pressure and distress.

There will be trouble and hardship

for every human soul who does evil—

first for the Jew, then also for the Greek.

But glory, honor, and peace

for everyone who does good—

first for the Jew, then also for the Greek.

For God does not show favoritism.

The Law Written on the Heart

All who have sinned apart from the law

will also perish apart from the law,

and all who have sinned under the law

will be judged by the law.

For it is not those who hear the law

who are right before God,

but those who do what the law says

who will be declared right.

Indeed, when outsiders who do not have the law

do by nature what the law requires,

they become a law for themselves,

even though they do not have the written law.

They show that the work of the law

is written on their hearts,

as their conscience also bears witness—

their thoughts sometimes accusing,

sometimes defending them.

This will happen on the day

when God judges people’s secrets

through Jesus the Anointed One,

as my good news declares.

A Warning to Religious Hypocrites

Now if you call yourself a Jew,

rely on the law,

boast in God,

know His will,

and approve of what is superior

because you are instructed by the law—

if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind,

a light for those in darkness,

an instructor of the ignorant,

a teacher of infants—

because you have in the law

the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

then you who teach others,

do you not teach yourself?

You who preach against stealing,

do you steal?

You who say that people should not commit adultery,

do you commit adultery?

You who detest idols,

do you rob temples?

You who boast in the law—

do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

As it is written:

“The name of God is blasphemed among the nations

because of you.”

Not In the Flesh, But Inwardly

Circumcision has value

if you obey the law,

but if you break the law,

your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

So if someone who is uncircumcised

keeps the law’s requirements,

will not that uncircumcision

be counted as circumcision?

The one who is not physically circumcised

but fulfills the law

will judge you

who, with the written law and circumcision,

break the law.

A person is not a Jew

who is one outwardly,

nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.

A true Jew is one inwardly,

and circumcision is of the heart—

by the Breath, not the letter.

Such a person’s praise

does not come from people,

but from God.

———

What About Abraham?

What then shall we say

about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?

If Abraham was made right by works,

he had something to boast about—

but not before God.

For what does the Scripture say?

“Abraham trusted God,

and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Now to the one who works,

wages are not counted as a gift but as an obligation.

But to the one who does not work,

but trusts the One who makes the ungodly right—

that person’s trust is counted as righteousness.

David Speaks of Forgiveness

David also speaks of the blessing

of the one to whom God counts righteousness

apart from works:

“Blessed are those

whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Before the Law, Before the Sign

Is this blessing only for the circumcised,

or also for the uncircumcised?

We say, “Trust was counted to Abraham as righteousness.”

How then was it counted?

While he was circumcised or uncircumcised?

It was not while he was circumcised,

but before—while uncircumcised.

He received the sign of circumcision

as a seal of the righteousness he had by trust

while still uncircumcised.

So then he is the father of all who trust

without being circumcised,

that righteousness might be counted to them also.

And he is also the father of the circumcised—

not only those who are circumcised,

but also those who walk in the footsteps

of the trust Abraham had before being circumcised.

Promise Comes Through Trust

For the promise to Abraham

and to his seed that he would inherit the world

did not come through the law,

but through the righteousness that comes by trust.

For if those who live by the law are heirs,

then trust is emptied, and the promise is nullified.

Because the law brings wrath—

and where there is no law,

there is no violation.

Therefore the promise comes by trust,

so that it may rest on grace

and be guaranteed to all his seed—

not only those who are of the law,

but also to those who share the trust of Abraham.

He is the father of us all.

As it is written:

“I have made you the father of many nations.”

He is our father in the sight of God,

in whom he trusted—

the God who gives life to the dead

and calls things into existence

that do not yet exist.

Against All Odds, Abraham Trusted

Against all hope, Abraham trusted in hope

and became the father of many nations,

just as it was said to him:

“So shall your seed be.”

He did not weaken in trust

when he considered his own body,

already as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—

and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,

but was strengthened in trust,

giving glory to God.

He was fully convinced

that God was able to do what He had promised.

This is why “it was counted to him as righteousness.”

But the words “it was counted to him”

were not written for him alone—

but also for us,

to whom it will be counted—

those who trust in the One

who raised Jesus our Master from the dead.

He was handed over because of our failures

and raised up to make us right.

———

Peace and Hope

Since we have been made right by trust,

we have peace with God

through our Master, Jesus the Anointed One.

Through Him, we have gained access by trust

into this grace in which we now stand.

And we boast in the hope

of the glory of God.

Not only that,

but we also boast in our troubles—

because we know that trouble produces endurance,

endurance produces character,

and character produces hope.

And hope does not disappoint,

because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts

through the Set-Apart Breath,

who has been given to us.

Love in the Midst of Our Powerlessness

For while we were still weak,

at the appointed time,

the Anointed One died for the ungodly.

Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—

though for a good person

someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners,

the Anointed One died for us.

Since we have now been made right by His blood,

how much more shall we be rescued through Him

from the coming judgment.

For if, while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God

through the death of His Son,

how much more,

having been reconciled,

shall we be saved through His life.

More than that,

we even boast in God through our Master, Jesus the Anointed One,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death Through Adam, Life Through the Anointed One

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,

and death through sin,

and in this way death spread to all people—because all sinned...

(Sin was in the world before the law was given,

but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Still, death reigned from Adam to Moses,

even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did—

who is a pattern of the One to come.)

But the gift is not like the trespass.

For if the many died by the trespass of one man,

how much more did God’s grace

and the gift that came by the grace of one man,

Jesus the Anointed One,

overflow to the many.

And the gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin:

Judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation,

but the gift followed many failures

and brought rightness.

For if, by the trespass of the one man,

death reigned through that one,

how much more will those who receive

the overflow of grace

and the gift of righteousness

reign in life through the One—Jesus the Anointed One.

Justification for All Who Trust

So then, just as one trespass

brought condemnation for all people,

so also one act of righteousness

brings justification and life for all people.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man

the many were made sinners,

so also through the obedience of the One

the many will be made righteous.

The law was brought in

so that the trespass might increase.

But where sin increased,

grace overflowed all the more—

so that, just as sin reigned in death,

so also grace might reign

through righteousness

to bring life of the age to come

through Jesus the Anointed One, our Master.

———

Freed from Sin, Not Free to Sin

What shall we say then?

Should we continue in sin

so that grace may increase?

Absolutely not!

How can we who died to sin

still live in it?

Or don’t you know

that all of us who were immersed

into the Anointed One, Jesus,

were immersed into His death?

We were therefore buried with Him

through immersion into death,

so that just as the Anointed One was raised from the dead

through the glory of the Father,

we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His,

we will certainly also be united with Him

in a resurrection like His.

We know that our old self was crucified with Him,

so that the body ruled by sin might be brought to nothing,

and we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For anyone who has died

has been set free from sin.

Alive with the Anointed One

Now if we died with the Anointed One,

we trust that we will also live with Him.

For we know that the Anointed One,

being raised from the dead,

will never die again—

death no longer has mastery over Him.

The death He died,

He died to sin once for all;

but the life He lives,

He lives to God.

In the same way,

count yourselves dead to sin

but alive to God

in the Anointed One, Jesus.

Offer Yourselves to God

Do not let sin reign in your mortal body

so that you obey its desires.

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin

as a tool for injustice,

but offer yourselves to God

as those who have been brought from death to life.

And offer every part of yourself to Him

as a tool for what is right.

For sin will not have mastery over you,

because you are not under law

but under grace.

Slaves to Whom You Obey

What then?

Shall we sin because we are not under law

but under grace?

Absolutely not!

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves

to someone as obedient servants,

you are slaves of the one you obey—

whether of sin, which leads to death,

or of obedience, which leads to rightness?

But thanks be to God

that though you were slaves to sin,

you wholeheartedly obeyed the pattern of teaching

that was entrusted to you.

You have been set free from sin

and have become servants of rightness.

I’m using human language

because of your natural limitations.

Just as you once offered your bodies

as slaves to impurity and lawlessness,

leading to deeper lawlessness,

so now offer your bodies as slaves to rightness,

leading to set-apartness.

The Wages of Sin vs. the Gift of God

When you were slaves to sin,

you were free from the control of rightness.

What benefit did you reap at that time

from the things you are now ashamed of?

Those things lead to death.

But now that you have been set free from sin

and have become servants of God,

the fruit you reap leads to set-apartness,

and the outcome is life of the age to come.

For the wages of sin is death,

but the gift of God is eternal life

in the Anointed One, Jesus our Master.

———

Bound to Law Until Death

Brothers and sisters, don’t you know—

I speak to those who know the law—

that the law has authority over someone

only as long as they live?

For example, a married woman

is bound by law to her husband while he is alive,

but if her husband dies,

she is released from the law that bound her to him.

So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive,

she is called an adulteress.

But if her husband dies,

she is free from that law

and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

In the same way, my brothers and sisters,

you also died to the law

through the body of the Anointed One,

so that you might belong to another—

to Him who was raised from the dead—

in order that we might bear fruit to God.

For when we were in the flesh,

the sinful passions aroused by the law

were at work in our bodies,

bearing fruit for death.

But now we have been released from the law,

having died to that which once held us captive,

so that we serve in the new way of the Breath,

and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law Is Not Sin

What shall we say then?

Is the law sin?

Absolutely not!

Indeed, I would not have known what sin was

except through the law.

For I would not have known what coveting really was

if the law had not said,

“You shall not covet.”

But sin, seizing the opportunity through the command,

produced in me all kinds of covetous desire.

For apart from the law, sin is dead.

Once I was alive apart from the law;

but when the command came,

sin sprang to life and I died.

I found that the very command

intended to bring life

actually brought death.

For sin, taking advantage of the command,

deceived me—

and through the command, killed me.

So then, the law is set apart,

and the command is set apart, right, and good.

The Inner Conflict

Did that which is good, then, become death to me?

Certainly not!

But in order that sin might be shown for what it truly is,

it produced death in me through what is good—

so that through the command,

sin might become utterly sinful.

We know that the law is spiritual,

but I am fleshly—sold under sin.

I don’t understand what I do.

For what I want to do—

I do not do.

But what I hate—

I end up doing.

And if I do what I don’t want to do,

I agree that the law is good.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,

but sin living in me.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me—

that is, in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is good,

but I cannot carry it out.

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.

Now if I do what I don’t want to do,

it is no longer I who do it,

but sin living in me that does it.

A Law at War

So I find this principle at work:

Although I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

In my inner being,

I delight in God’s law.

But I see another law at work in my body—

waging war against the law of my mind

and making me a prisoner

of the law of sin at work within me.

What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God—through Jesus the Anointed One, our Master!

So then, I myself in my mind serve the law of God,

but in my flesh I serve the law of sin.

———

No Condemnation for Those in the Anointed One

Therefore, there is now no condemnation

for those who are in the Anointed One, Jesus.

For the law of the Breath of Life in the Anointed One

has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was powerless to do—

because it was weakened by the flesh—

God did by sending His own Son

in the likeness of sinful flesh,

to deal with sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh,

so that the righteous requirement of the law

might be fulfilled in us,

who do not walk according to the flesh

but according to the Breath.

Mindset of the Flesh vs. Mindset of the Breath

For those who live according to the flesh

set their minds on the things of the flesh,

but those who live according to the Breath

set their minds on what the Breath desires.

The mindset of the flesh is death,

but the mindset of the Breath is life and peace.

The flesh’s mindset is hostile to God;

it does not submit to God’s law,

nor can it.

Those who are in the flesh

cannot please God.

The Breath Lives in You

But you are not in the flesh—

you are in the Breath,

if indeed the Breath of God lives in you.

And if anyone does not have the Breath of the Anointed One,

they do not belong to Him.

But if the Anointed One is in you,

even though your body is dead because of sin,

your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

And if the Breath of the One

who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you,

then the One who raised the Anointed One from the dead

will also give life to your mortal bodies

through His Breath who lives in you.

Led by the Breath, Not by Fear

So then, brothers and sisters,

we are not obligated to the flesh,

to live according to it.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Breath you put to death the deeds of the body,

you will live.

For all who are led by the Breath of God

are children of God.

You did not receive a spirit of slavery

leading you back into fear—

but you received the Breath of adoption,

by whom we cry:

“Abba! Father!”

The Breath Himself testifies with our spirit

that we are God’s children.

And if children, then heirs—

heirs of God and co-heirs with the Anointed One—

if indeed we share in His sufferings,

so that we may also share in His glory.

Present Suffering, Future Glory

I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory

that will be revealed in us.

For the creation waits with eager longing

for the revealing of the children of God.

Creation was subjected to futility—

not by its own will, but by the One who subjected it—

in hope that the creation itself

will be set free from its bondage to decay

and brought into the glorious freedom

of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation

has been groaning together

as in the pains of childbirth until now.

Not only that,

but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Breath,

groan inwardly

as we wait eagerly for adoption—

the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved.

But hope that is seen is not hope at all—

for who hopes for what they already see?

But if we hope for what we do not yet see,

we wait for it with perseverance.

The Breath Helps Our Weakness

In the same way,

the Breath helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Breath Himself intercedes for us

with groanings too deep for words.

And the One who searches hearts

knows the mind of the Breath,

because the Breath intercedes for the set-apart ones

in accordance with God's will.

Nothing Can Separate Us

And we know

that in all things God works for the good

of those who love Him—

those who are called according to His purpose.

For those He foreknew,

He also predestined to be conformed

to the image of His Son,

so that He would be the firstborn

among many brothers and sisters.

Those He predestined, He also called;

those He called, He also made right;

and those He made right, He also glorified.

What then shall we say in response to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son,

but gave Him up for us all—

how will He not also, with Him,

graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge

against those whom God has chosen?

It is God who makes right.

Who then is the one who condemns?

No one.

The Anointed One, Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised—

is at the right hand of God

and is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of the Anointed One?

Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution,

or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

As it is written:

“For Your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No—in all these things we are more than conquerors

through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced

that neither death nor life,

neither messengers nor rulers,

neither the present nor the future,

nor any powers,

neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God

that is in the Anointed One, Jesus our Master.

———

Paul’s Grief for His People

I speak the truth in the Anointed One—

I am not lying.

My conscience confirms it through the Breath of Holiness.

I have great sorrow

and unceasing anguish in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were cut off from the Anointed One

for the sake of my people,

my own flesh and blood—

the people of Israel.

To them belong the adoption,

the glory, the covenants,

the giving of the law, the temple service,

and the promises.

The patriarchs are theirs,

and from them, according to the flesh,

came the Anointed One—

who is over all,

God-blessed into the ages. Amen.

God’s Word Has Not Failed

But it is not as though the word of God has failed.

For not all who are descended from Israel

belong to Israel.

Nor are they all Abraham’s children

simply because they are his descendants.

Instead, “Through Isaac your seed will be named.”

This means it is not the children of the flesh

who are God’s children,

but the children of the promise

who are considered to be the seed.

For this was the word of promise:

“At the appointed time I will return,

and Sarah will have a son.”

Not only that,

but also Rebekah,

who had twins by our ancestor Isaac—

before the twins were born

or had done anything good or bad—

in order that God’s purpose in choosing might stand,

not by works but by the One who calls—

she was told:

“The older will serve the younger.”

As it is written:

“Jacob I loved,

but Esau I rejected.”

Is God Unjust?

What then shall we say?

Is God unjust?

Absolutely not!

For He says to Moses:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

So then, it does not depend on human desire or effort,

but on God’s mercy.

For the 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.”

So then, God has mercy on whom He chooses,

and He allows to become hardened

whom He chooses.

Who Can Resist His Will?

You will say to me then,

“Why does God still find fault?

For who can resist His will?”

But who are you, O human being,

to talk back to God?

Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it,

“Why did You make me like this?”

Does not the potter have power over the clay—

to make from the same lump

one vessel for honor

and another for common use?

What if God, choosing to show His wrath

and make His power known,

endured with great patience

the vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction—

and did so to make known the riches of His glory

to the vessels of mercy,

which He prepared in advance for glory—

even us, whom He also called,

not only from the Jews

but also from the nations?

Called from the Nations and from Israel

As He says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not My people,

‘My people,’

and her who was not beloved,

‘Beloved.’”

And,

“In the place where it was said to them,

‘You are not My people,’

there they will be called

‘children of the living God.’”

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel

be like the sand of the sea,

only the remnant will be saved.

For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth

with precision and finality.”

And just as Isaiah foretold:

“If the Lord of Hosts

had not left us a seed,

we would have become like Sodom,

and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

A Stumbling Stone

What shall we say then?

That the nations,

who did not pursue rightness,

have attained it—

a rightness that is by trust.

But Israel,

who pursued a law of rightness,

did not attain that law.

Why not?

Because they pursued it not by trust,

but as if it were by works.

They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

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 trusts in Him

will never be put to shame.”

———

Zeal Without Understanding

Brothers and sisters,

my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel

is that they may be rescued.

For I can testify about them

that they have a zeal for God—

but not according to true knowledge.

For being ignorant of God’s righteousness

and seeking to establish their own,

they did not submit to God’s way of making people right.

For the Anointed One

is the fulfillment of the law,

so that there may be rightness

for everyone who trusts.

The Word Is Near You

Moses writes this about the righteousness

that is by the law:

“The person who does these things

will live by them.”

But the righteousness that is by trust says:

“Do not say in your heart,

‘Who will go up int the skies?’”

—that is, to bring the Anointed One down—

“Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’”

—that is, to bring the Anointed One up from the dead.

But what does it say?

“The word is near you;

it is in your mouth and in your heart”

—that is, the message concerning trust that we proclaim:

If you declare with your mouth,

“Jesus is Master,”

and trust in your heart

that God raised Him from the dead,

you will be rescued.

For it is with the heart that one trusts and is made right,

and with the mouth that one speaks and is rescued.

As the Scripture says:

“Anyone who trusts in Him

will never be put to shame.”

There is no distinction between Jew and Greek—

the same Lord is Master of all

and richly blesses all who call on Him.

For:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be rescued.”

Sent to Proclaim

How then can they call on the One

they have not trusted in?

And how can they trust

in the One of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear

without someone proclaiming to them?

And how can anyone proclaim

unless they are sent?

As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet

of those who bring good news!”

But not all the people welcomed the good news.

For Isaiah says:

“Master, who has believed our message?”

So then, trust comes from hearing,

and hearing through the message

about the Anointed One.

Israel Has Heard

But I ask: Did they not hear?

Indeed they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.”

Again I ask: Did Israel not understand?

First Moses says:

“I will make you jealous

by those who are not a nation;

I will provoke you to anger

by a foolish people.”

And Isaiah boldly says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me;

I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.”

But concerning Israel he says:

“All day long I have stretched out My hands

to a disobedient and defiant people.”

———

Has God Rejected His People?

So I ask:

Has God rejected His people?

Absolutely not!

I myself am an Israelite,

a descendant of Abraham,

from the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected His people

whom He foreknew.

Don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah?

How he appealed to God against Israel:

“Master, they have killed Your prophets

and torn down Your altars;

I am the only one left,

and they are trying to take my life.”

And what was God’s reply to him?

“I have kept for Myself seven thousand

who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

So too, at the present time,

there is a remnant chosen by grace.

And if by grace,

then it is no longer by works;

otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Israel’s Stumbling is Not Final

What then?

What Israel was seeking so earnestly,

they did not obtain—

but the chosen did.

The rest were hardened.

As it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that could not see

and ears that could not hear,

to this very day.”

And David says:

“Let their table become a trap and a snare,

a stumbling block and a punishment for them.

Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and bend their backs forever.”

So I ask again:

Did they stumble in order to fall beyond recovery?

Absolutely not!

Rather, through their misstep,

salvation has come to the nations—

to provoke Israel to jealousy.

Now if their misstep means riches for the world,

and their loss means riches for the nations,

how much greater will their full inclusion be?

Grafted In

I speak to you who are of the nations:

Inasmuch as I am the sent one to the nations,

I magnify my ministry—

in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy

and save some of them.

For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world,

what will their acceptance be

but life from the dead?

If the first portion of dough is holy,

then the whole batch is holy.

If the root is holy,

so are the branches.

Now if some of the branches were broken off,

and you—though a wild olive shoot—

were grafted in among them

and now share in the nourishing sap of the olive root—

do not boast over the branches.

If you do, consider this:

You do not support the root,

but the root supports you.

You might say:

“Branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.”

True.

But they were broken off because of unbelief,

and you stand by trust.

So do not become arrogant—

but stand in awe.

For if God did not spare the natural branches,

He will not spare you either.

Kindness and Severity

Consider then the kindness and severity of God:

Severity to those who fell,

but kindness to you—if you continue in His kindness.

Otherwise you too will be cut off.

And if they do not persist in unbelief,

they will be grafted in—

for God is able to graft them in again.

After all, if you were cut out of a wild olive tree by nature,

and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree,

how much more will these natural branches

be grafted into their own olive tree?

The Mystery of Mercy

I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers and sisters,

so that you will not become proud:

A partial hardening has come upon Israel

until the fullness of the nations has come in.

And in this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come from Zion;

He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.

And this is My covenant with them

when I take away their sins.”

As regards the good news,

they are enemies for your sake;

but as regards God’s choice,

they are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs.

For the gifts and the calling of God

are irrevocable.

Just as you once were disobedient to God

but now have received mercy through their disobedience,

so they too have now become disobedient

in order that they too may now receive mercy

as a result of the mercy shown to you.

For God has bound all over to disobedience

so that He may have mercy on all.

A Hymn of Awe

Oh, the depth of the riches

of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable His judgments,

and His paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been His counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”

For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory into the ages.

Amen.

———

Offer Your Whole Life to God

So then, brothers and sisters,

in view of God’s great mercy,

I urge you to present your bodies

as a living offering—

set apart, pleasing to God—

this is your reasonable act of service.

Do not conform to the patterns of this age,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may test and approve

what God’s will is—

His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

One Body, Many Members

For by the grace given to me,

I say to every one of you:

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,

but think with sound judgment,

each according to the measure of trust God has assigned.

Just as each of us has one body with many members,

and these members do not all have the same function,

so in the Anointed One we, though many, form one body,

and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts,

according to the grace given to us:

If it is prophecy, let it be in agreement with the faith.

If service, then in serving.

If teaching, then teach.

If encouraging, then give encouragement.

If giving, do so generously.

If leading, do it diligently.

If showing mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love Without Hypocrisy

Let love be genuine.

Hate what is evil;

cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Never be lacking in zeal,

but keep your spiritual fire,

serving the Master.

Rejoice in hope,

be patient in trouble,

be constant in prayer.

Share with the set-apart ones in need.

Pursue hospitality.

Blessing Instead of Retaliation

Bless those who persecute you—

bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice;

weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud,

but be willing to associate with those of low position.

Do not be wise in your own eyes.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

Give thought to what is right in the sight of all people.

If possible, so far as it depends on you,

live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, beloved,

but leave room for God's justice.

For it is written:

“Vengeance is Mine;

I will repay,” says the Lord.

On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed them;

if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on their head.”

Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.

———

Honor Earthly Authorities

Let every person be subject

to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority

except what is permitted by God,

and those that exist

have been established by Him.

So the one who resists authority

is opposing what God has set in place,

and those who oppose

will bring judgment on themselves.

For rulers are not a terror t good conduct,

but to evil.

Do you want to live without fear of authority?

Then do what is right, and you will be commended.

For the authority is God’s servant for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid—

for they do not carry the sword for nothing.

They are God’s servant,

an agent of justice to bring judgment on the wrongdoer.

Therefore it is necessary to submit,

not only because of fear of punishment,

but also because of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes—

for the authorities are servants of God,

devoted to their responsibilities.

Give to everyone what you owe them:

If taxes, then taxes;

if revenue, then revenue;

if respect, then respect;

if honor, then honor.

The Debt of Love

Let no debt remain outstanding,

except the ongoing debt to love one another.

For whoever loves others

has fulfilled the law.

The commandments:

“You shall not commit adultery,”

“You shall not murder,”

“You shall not steal,”

“You shall not covet,”

and whatever other command there may be,

are summed up in this one:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no harm to a neighbor.

Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Time to Wake Up

And do this, understanding the present time:

The hour has already come for you to wake up from sleep,

because our rescue is nearer now than when we first believed.

The night is nearly over;

the day is almost here.

So let us cast off the works of darkness

and put on the armor of light.

Let us walk properly, as in the daytime—

not in wild parties and drunkenness,

not in sexual immorality and reckless behavior,

not in strife and jealousy.

Instead, clothe yourselves

with the Anointed One, Jesus,

and make no room

for the desires of the flesh.

———

Welcome Without Quarreling

Welcome the one who is weak in trust,

but not to argue over opinions.

One person believes they may eat anything,

while another, whose trust is weak, eats only plants.

The one who eats

must not look down on the one who doesn’t,

and the one who does not eat

must not judge the one who does—

for God has welcomed them.

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?

They stand or fall before their own master.

And they will stand—

for the Master is able to make them stand.

Let Each Be Convinced in Their Own Mind

One person regards one day as more sacred than another;

another considers every day alike.

Each one should be fully convinced in their own mind.

Whoever honors a special day does so to the Master.

Whoever eats does so to the Master,

for they give thanks to God.

And whoever abstains does so to the Master,

and also gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives for ourselves alone,

and none of us dies for ourselves alone.

If we live, we live for the Master.

If we die, we die for the Master.

So whether we live or die,

we belong to the Master.

For this reason the Anointed One died and returned to life—

so that He might be Master

of both the dead and the living.

We Will All Stand Before God

You, then—why do you judge your brother or sister?

Or why do you look down on them?

For we will all stand

before the judgment seat of God.

As it is written:

“As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“every knee will bow before Me;

every tongue will acknowledge God.”

So then, each of us

will give an account of ourselves to God.

Don’t Make a Brother Stumble

Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Instead, decide never to put a stumbling block

or obstacle in your brother or sister’s path.

I am convinced—being in the Master Jesus—

that nothing is unclean in itself.

But if anyone regards something as unclean,

then for them, it is unclean.

If your brother or sister is distressed

because of what you eat,

you are no longer walking in love.

Do not destroy someone

for whom the Anointed One died

because of your food.

Do not let what you know is good

be spoken of as evil.

For the reign of God

is not about eating and drinking,

but about rightness, peace, and joy

in the Set-Apart Breath.

Whoever serves the Anointed One in this way

is pleasing to God and approved by others.

Let us therefore make every effort

to do what leads to peace

and to mutual building up.

Keep Your Convictions Between You and God

Do not destroy the work of God

for the sake of food.

All things are indeed clean,

but it is wrong for anyone

to cause another to stumble by what they eat.

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine

or do anything else

that causes your brother or sister to fall.

So whatever you believe about these things,

keep between yourself and God.

Blessed is the one

who does not condemn themselves

by what they approve.

But whoever doubts is condemned if they eat,

because their eating is not from trust.

And everything that does not come from trust

is sin.

———

Bear with the Weak and Build Each Other Up

We who are strong

ought to bear with the weaknesses of those without strength,

and not to please ourselves.

Each of us should please our neighbor for their good,

to build them up.

For even the Anointed One did not please Himself.

As it is written:

“The insults of those who insult You

have fallen on Me.”

For everything that was written in the past

was written for our instruction,

so that through perseverance

and the encouragement of the Scriptures,

we might have hope.

May the God who gives perseverance and encouragement

grant you to live in unity with one another

according to the Anointed One, Jesus,

so that with one voice

you may glorify the God and Father

of our Master, Jesus the Anointed One.

Therefore, welcome one another,

just as the Anointed One welcomed you—

to the glory of God.

The Anointed One for All Nations

For I tell you that the Anointed One

became a servant to the circumcised

on behalf of God’s truth—

to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,

and so that the nations

might glorify God for His mercy.

As it is written:

“Therefor I will praise You among the nations;

I will sing the praises of Your name.”

Again it says:

“Rejoice, you nations, with His people.”

And again:

“Praise the Lord, all you nations;

let all the peoples extol Him.”

And again Isaiah says:

“The Root of Jesse will come,

even He who rises to rule the nations;

in Him the nations will hope.”

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,

so that you may overflow with hope

by the power of the Set-Apart Breath.

Paul’s Mission to the Nations

My brothers and sisters,

I myself am convinced that you are full of goodness,

filled with all knowledge,

and able also to instruct one another.

Yet I have written to you quite boldly on some points,

as a reminder,

because of the grace God gave me—

to be a servant of the Anointed One, Jesus, to the nations.

I serve like a priest in the sacred work

of proclaiming the good news of God,

so that the offering of the nations

might be acceptable—set apart by the Breath of Holiness.

So I boast in the Anointed One Jesus

about what God has done through me.

I will not speak of anything

except what the Anointed One has accomplished through me—

in leading the nations to obey God

by word and deed,

by the power of signs and wonders,

through the power of the Breath of God.

So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum,

I have fully proclaimed the good news of the Anointed One.

A Pioneer, Not Building on Others’ Work

My ambition has always been

to proclaim the good news

where the Anointed One was not yet named,

so that I would not build

on someone else’s foundation.

As it is written:

“Those who were not told about Him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

This is why I have often been prevented

from coming to you.

Plans to Visit Rome

But now, since I no longer have work in these regions,

and since I have longed for many years to visit you,

I plan to go to Spain,

and I hope to see you on my journey

and to be helped on my way there by you,

after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem

to serve the set-apart ones.

For Macedonia and Achaia

were pleased to make a contribution

for the poor among the set-apart ones in Jerusalem.

They were pleased to do so,

and indeed they owe it to them.

For if the nations have shared in their spiritual blessings,

they owe it to them to share materially.

So after I have completed this task

and delivered the gift to them,

I will go to Spain and visit you on the way.

I know that when I come to you,

I will come in the fullness

of the blessing of the Anointed One.

A Request for Prayer

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters,

through our Master Jesus the Anointed One

and by the love of the Breath,

to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf—

that I may be delivered from those in Judea

who are hostile to the faith,

and that my service in Jerusalem

may be acceptable to the set-apart ones there.

So that, by God’s will,

I may come to you with joy

and together with you be refreshed.

May the God of peace

be with you all.

Amen.

———

Commendation of Phoebe

I commend to you our sister Phoebe,

a servant of the gathering in Cenchreae.

Welcome her in the Master

in a way worthy of the set-apart ones

and give her any help she may need from you,

for she has been a support to many people—myself included.

Greetings to Fellow Workers

Greet Prisca and Aquila,

my fellow workers in the Anointed One, Jesus.

They risked their lives for me.

Not only I, but all the gatherings of the nations

are thankful to them.

Greet also the gathering that meets in their house.

Greet my dear friend Epaenetus,

who was the first convert to the Anointed One in Asia.

Greet Mary,

who worked very hard for you.

Greet Andronicus and Junia,

my fellow Jews who were in prison with me.

They are highly respected among the emissaries,

and they were in the Anointed One before I was.

Greet Ampliatus,

my dear friend in the Master.

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in the Anointed One,

and my dear friend Stachys.

Greet Apelles,

who is approved in the Anointed One.

Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.

Greet those in the household of Narcissus

who are in the Master.

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa,

women who work hard in the Master.

Greet my dear friend Persis,

another woman who has worked very hard in the Master.

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Master,

and his mother—who has also been like a mother to me.

Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas,

and the brothers and sisters with them.

Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas,

and all the set-apart ones with them.

Greet one another with a set-apart kiss.

All the gatherings of the Anointed One send you greetings.

A Final Warning and Encouragement

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters,

to watch out for those who cause divisions and obstacles

that go against the teaching you have learned.

Stay away from them.

Such people are not serving our Master, Jesus the Anointed One,

but their own desires.

By smooth talk and flattery,

they deceive the hearts of the naïve.

Everyone has heard about your obedience,

and I rejoice because of you.

But I want you to be wise about what is good

and innocent about what is evil.

The God of peace

will soon crush the Accuser under your feet.

The grace of our Master Jesus be with you.

Greetings from Paul's Co-Workers

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you,

as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter,

greet you in the Master.

Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole gathering enjoy,

sends you greetings.

Erastus, the city’s treasurer,

and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

[Some ancient manuscripts add: “The grace of our Master Jesus the Anointed One be with you all. Amen.”]

Glory to God

Now to Him who is able to strengthen you

according to my good news

and the proclamation of Jesus the Anointed One—

according to the revelation of the mystery

that was kept hidden for long ages past,

but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings

by the command of the eternal God,

so that all nations might come to trust and obey—

to the only wise God

be glory through Jesus the Anointed One

into the ages of ages.

Amen.