Romans 4-6

Romans 4

¹What, then, may we say that Abraham, our father after the flesh, has got?

²For if Abraham got righteousness by works, he has reason for pride; but not before God.

³But what does it say in the holy Writings? And Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness.

⁴Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt.

⁵But to him who without working has faith in him who gives righteousness to the evil-doer, his faith is put to his account as righteousness.

⁶As David says that there is a blessing on the man to whose account God puts righteousness without works, saying,

⁷Happy are those who have forgiveness for their wrongdoing, and whose sins are covered.

⁸Happy is the man against whom no sin is recorded by the Lord.

⁹Is this blessing, then, for the circumcision only, or in the same way for those who have not circumcision? for we say that the faith of Abraham was put to his account as righteousness.

¹⁰How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

¹¹And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

¹²And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who keep to the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he underwent circumcision.

¹³For God's word, that the earth would be his heritage, was given to Abraham, not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴For if they who are of the law are the people who get the heritage, then faith is made of no use, and the word of God has no power;

¹⁵For the outcome of the law is wrath; but where there is no law it will not be broken.

¹⁶For this reason it is of faith, so that it may be through grace; and so that the word of God may be certain to all the seed; not only to that which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

¹⁷(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

¹⁸Who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping, so that he became the father of a number of nations, as it had been said, So will your seed be.

¹⁹And not being feeble in faith though his body seemed to him little better than dead (he being about a hundred years old) and Sarah was no longer able to have children:

²⁰Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,

²¹And being certain that God was able to keep his word.

²²For which reason it was put to his account as righteousness.

²³Now, it was not because of him only that this was said,

²⁴But for us in addition, to whose account it will be put, if we have faith in him who made Jesus our Lord come back again from the dead,

²⁵Who was put to death for our evil-doing, and came to life again so that we might have righteousness.

Romans 5

¹For which reason, because we have righteousness through faith, let us be at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;

²Through whom, in the same way, we have been able by faith to come to this grace in which we now are; and let us have joy in hope of the glory of God.

³And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;

⁴And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope:

⁵And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

⁶For when we were still without strength, at the right time Christ gave his life for evil-doers.

⁷Now it is hard for anyone to give his life even for an upright man, though it might be that for a good man someone would give his life.

⁸But God has made clear his love to us, in that, when we were still sinners, Christ gave his life for us.

⁹Much more, if we now have righteousness by his blood, will salvation from the wrath of God come to us through him.

¹⁰For if, when we were haters of God, the death of his Son made us at peace with him, much more, now that we are his friends, will we have salvation through his life;

¹¹And not only so, but we have joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we are now at peace with God.

¹²For this reason, as through one man sin came into the world, and death because of sin, and so death came to all men, because all have done evil:

¹³Because, till the law came, sin was in existence, but sin is not put to the account of anyone when there is no law to be broken.

¹⁴But still death had power from Adam till Moses, even over those who had not done wrong like Adam, who is a picture of him who was to come.

¹⁵But the free giving of God is not like the wrongdoing of man. For if, by the wrongdoing of one man death came to numbers of men, much more did the grace of God, and the free giving by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, come to men.

¹⁶And the free giving has not the same effect as the sin of one: for the effect of one man's sin was punishment by the decision of God, but the free giving had power to give righteousness to wrongdoers in great number.

¹⁷For, if by the wrongdoing of one, death was ruling through the one, much more will those to whom has come the wealth of grace and the giving of righteousness, be ruling in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.

¹⁸So then, as the effect of one act of wrongdoing was that punishment came on all men, even so the effect of one act of righteousness was righteousness of life for all men.

¹⁹Because, as numbers of men became sinners through the wrongdoing of one man, even so will great numbers get righteousness through the keeping of the word of God by one man.

²⁰And the law came in addition, to make wrongdoing worse; but where there was much sin, there was much more grace:

²¹That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6

¹What may we say, then? are we to go on in sin so that there may be more grace?

²In no way. How may we, who are dead to sin, be living in it any longer?

³Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?

⁴We have been placed with him among the dead through baptism into death: so that as Christ came again from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, in the same way, might be living in new life.

⁵For, if we have been made like him in his death, we will, in the same way, be like him in his coming to life again;

⁶Being conscious that our old man was put to death on the cross with him, so that the body of sin might be put away, and we might no longer be servants to sin.

⁷Because he who is dead is free from sin.

⁸But if we are dead with Christ, we have faith that we will be living with him;

⁹Having knowledge that because Christ has come back from the dead, he will never again go down to the dead; death has no more power over him.

¹⁰For his death was a death to sin, but his life now is a life which he is living to God.

¹¹Even so see yourselves as dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.

¹²For this cause do not let sin be ruling in your body which is under the power of death, so that you give way to its desires;

¹³And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.

¹⁴For sin may not have rule over you: because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁵What then? are we to go on in sin because we are not under law but under grace? Let it not be so.

¹⁶Are you not conscious that you are the servants of him to whom you give yourselves to do his desire? if to sin, the end being death, or if to do the desire of God, the end being righteousness.

¹⁷But praise be to God that though you were the servants of sin, you have now given yourselves freely to that form of teaching under which you were placed;

¹⁸And being made free from sin you have been made the servants of righteousness.

¹⁹I am using words in the way of men, because your flesh is feeble: as you gave your bodies as servants to what is unclean, and to evil to do evil, so now give them as servants to righteousness to do what is holy.

²⁰When you were servants of sin you were free from righteousness.

²¹What fruit had you at that time in the things which are now a shame to you? for the end of such things is death.

²²But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.

²³For the reward of sin is death; but what God freely gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.