Life in the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

1. There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
2. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh – to be a sin offering, God condemned sin in the flesh, and he achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh.
4. So that we might procure righteousness which the law aspired to do; and righteousness would be realized in us who resist the whims of the flesh, but instead seek the Spirit of life in Christ.
5. For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.
6. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
7. Because the carnal mind hates God it can not, and will not submit to God’s law.
8. So then they that are mindful of the flesh cannot please God.
9. You, however, are not attentive to the flesh but instead are mindful of the Spirit; and anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ living within him, does not belong to God.
10. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.
11. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit within you.
12. So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,
13. for if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now, as his children we cry out to him, “Father, dear Father.”
16. The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.
17. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.