Romans 8

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

1So now God does not judge his people guilty. This is true for everyone who belongs to Christ Jesus. They do not follow the old selfish way. They follow God's Spirit.

NoteThe KJV word "flesh" here does not mean skin or muscle. It means the old selfish way people live when they leave God out.

2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

2God's Spirit gives life through Christ Jesus. That new power set me free. I am no longer held by sin and death.

3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

3God's rules could not fix us. Our weak, selfish selves got in the way. So God sent his own Son. His Son came as a real person, just like us. He came to deal with our sin. In that way God said no to sin, right where people live.

4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

4Now the good thing God's rules asked for happens inside us. We do not follow the old selfish way. We follow God's Spirit.

5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

5People who live the selfish way think about selfish things. People who live God's way think about the Spirit's things.

6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

6Thinking only about selfish things ends in death. Thinking about the Spirit brings life and peace.

7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

7A selfish mind fights against God. It will not obey God's rules. It cannot obey them.

8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

8So people who are ruled by the selfish way cannot please God.

9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

9But you are not ruled that way. God's Spirit rules you, if he lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.

10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

10If Christ is in you, your body will still die because of sin. But your spirit is alive, because God has made you right with him.

11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

11God raised Jesus from the dead. If God's Spirit lives in you, he will give life to your body too. Your body dies, but he will make it live. He will do this through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

12So, brothers and sisters, we do owe something. But we owe nothing to the old selfish way. We do not have to live like that.

13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

13If you live the selfish way, you will die. But you can say no to what your body wants wrongly. God's Spirit helps you do it. Then you will live.

14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

14Everyone who is led by God's Spirit is a child of God.

15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

15The Spirit you were given does not make you a scared slave again. He makes you God's own child. So we call out, "Abba, Father."

Note"Abba" is the everyday word for father in the language Jesus spoke. A child would use it at home.

16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

16God's Spirit tells our spirit that it is true. We really are God's children.

17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

17If we are his children, then all he has is ours too. We share it with Christ. This is true if we share his suffering now. Then we will also share his greatness.

18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

18I think our troubles right now are small. The greatness God will show in us is far bigger.

19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

19Everything God made is waiting and watching. It waits for the day God shows who his children are.

20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

20Everything God made was put under emptiness. It did not choose this. God chose it, and he gave it hope.

21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

21One day everything God made will be set free. It will not rot and die anymore. It will share the wonderful freedom of God's children.

22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

22We know that everything God made is groaning. It hurts, like a mother having a baby. It has been like this until now.

23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

23We groan inside too. We already have God's Spirit as the first gift. We wait for God to finish making us his children. We wait for our bodies to be set free.

24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

24We were saved with this hope. Hope means waiting for what you cannot see yet. Nobody hopes for what he already sees.

25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

25We hope for what we cannot see yet. So we wait for it and do not give up.

26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

26The Spirit also helps us when we are weak. We do not know how to pray as we should. So the Spirit himself asks God for us. He groans in a way words cannot say.

27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

27God looks inside our hearts. He knows what the Spirit means. The Spirit asks God for God's people. He asks for what God wants.

28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

28We know that God makes all things work together for good. He does this for people who love him. He called them, because that was his plan.

29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

29God knew these people long before. He decided they would grow to be like his Son. Then his Son would be the oldest of many brothers.

30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

30God decided this, so he called them. He called them, so he made them right with him. He made them right, so he gave them his greatness.

31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

31So what should we say about all this? If God is for us, who can stand against us?

32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

32God did not hold back his own Son. He gave him up for all of us. So he will surely give us everything else too.

33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

33Who can say that God's chosen people did wrong? God himself says they are right with him.

34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

34Who can say we are guilty? Christ died. Even better, he came back to life. He is now at God's right hand. And he speaks to God for us.

NoteSitting at a king's right hand meant sitting in the seat of highest honor, right beside him.

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

35Can anything pull us away from Christ's love? Not trouble. Not sadness. Not people hurting us. Not hunger. Not being without clothes. Not danger. Not even a sword.

36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

36The Bible says it this way: "Because of you, we are killed all day long. People treat us like sheep to be killed."

37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

37But no. In all these things we win completely. We win through Jesus, who loved us.

38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

38I am sure of this. Death cannot pull us away, and life cannot. Angels cannot. Rulers and powers cannot. Nothing now, and nothing later.

39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

39Nothing high above, and nothing deep below. Nothing God made can pull us away. Nothing can take us from God's love. That love comes to us through Christ Jesus our Lord.