 The second letter to the Corinthians. Introduction in chapters 1 through 5 from the 20th century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The 20th century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The second letter to the Corinthians. Introduction in chapters 1 through 5. Introduction St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Written probably during his stay in Macedonia in the course of his third missionary journey, about 55 A.D. In the brief period that seems to have intervened between the writing of St. Paul's two existing letters to the Corinthians, the apostle appears to have paid a second visit to Corinth, of which no account has come down to us. Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 14 and chapter 13 verse 1. Apparently that visit failed of its object, and the reception given to the apostle was not such as he had the right to expect. It seems that St. Paul, returning to Ephesus, wrote a strongly worded letter to his disloyal Corinthian converts, and that this letter effected, as he afterward learned, the purpose which the visit had failed to effect. That letter is generally thought to have been lost, but it has been suggested with some probability that part of it forms the last four chapters of this so-called second letter to the Corinthians. A few months later a riot instigated by Demetrius the silversmith drove the apostle from Ephesus. Acts chapter 19 verse 20 and 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 8. Traveling northwards the apostle went to the Troad in the hope of meeting Titus, who had been sent possibly with the lost letter to Corinth, and of receiving from him some reassuring news as to the position of matters in the Corinthian church. But Titus had not yet arrived, and after waiting for him for some time in vain, St. Paul, keenly disappointed, second Corinthians chapter 2 verse 13, went on into Macedonia. There he met Titus at Philippi, and to the apostle's great joy Titus was able to report that the letter had been well received and promptly acted upon by the majority of the Corinthian Christians, and that they cherished a hearty affection for St. Paul himself. On the other hand, the apostle was greatly distressed to learn that there were members of the church who still stubbornly refused to submit to his authority, and who attacked him with cruel and persistent slander. This news brought by Titus may have been the occasion of the present letter. It is an outburst of passionate feeling in which the apostle expresses his gratitude for the kindness and obedience manifested toward him by the majority of the church, and defends his own personal character and apostolic authority against the unscrupulous attacks of the minority. CHAPTER 1 To the Church of God in Corinth and to all Christ's people throughout Greece, from Paul and apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Timothy a brother. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace. Blessed is the God and Father of Jesus Christ our Lord, the all-merciful Father, the God ever ready to console, who consoles us in all our troubles, so that we may be able to console those who are in any trouble with the consolation that we ourselves receive from him. It is true that we have our full share of the sufferings of the Christ, but through the Christ we have also our full share of consolation. If we meet with trouble, it is for the sake of your consolation and salvation, and if we find consolation it is for the sake of the consolation that you will experience when you are called to endure the very sufferings that we ourselves are enduring. At our hope for you remains unshaken. We know that as you are sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolation. We want you brothers to know that in the troubles which befell us in Roman Asia, we were burdened altogether beyond our strength, so much so that we even disparate of life. Indeed we had the presentiment that we must die, so that we might rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. And from so imminent a death God delivered us, and will deliver us again, for in him we have placed our hopes of future deliverance, while you also help us by your prayers. And then many lips will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to many prayers. Indeed our main ground for satisfaction is this. Our conscience tells us that our conduct in the world, and still more in our relations with you, was marked by a purity of motive and a sincerity that were inspired by God, and was based not on worldly policy, but on the help of God. We never write anything to you other than what you read in public and acknowledge, and my hope is that you will acknowledge to the very end, and indeed you have already partly acknowledged it about us, that you have a right to be proud of us as we shall be proud of you on the day of our Lord Jesus. With this conviction in my mind I plan to come to see you first so that your pleasure might be doubled, to visit you both on my way to Macedonia, and to come to you again on my return from Macedonia, and then to get you to send me on my way into Judea. As this was my plan, where, pray, did I show any fickleness of purpose? Or do you think that my plans are formed on mere impulse, so that in the same breath I say yes and no? As God is true, the message that we brought you does not waver between yes and no. The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we, Silas, Timothy, and I, proclaimed among you never wavered between yes and no. With him it has always been yes, for many as were the promises of God, in Christ is the yes that fulfills them. Therefore, through Christ again, let the Amen rise through us to the glory of God. God who brings us with you into close union with Christ, and who consecrated us, also set his seal upon us, and gave us his spirit in our hearts as a pledge of future blessings. But as my life shall answer for it I call God to witness that it was to spare you that I deferred my visit to Corinth. I do not mean that we are to dictate to you with regard to your faith. On the contrary, we work with you for your true happiness. Indeed, it is through your faith that you are standing firm. Chapter 2 For my own sake as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit. If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the very person whom I am painting? So I wrote as I did, for fear that if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad. For I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also. I wrote to you in sore trouble, and in distress of heart, and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you. Now whoever has caused you the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent, not to be too severe, pained every one of you. The man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you, so that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain, so I entreat you to assure him of your love. I had this further object also in what I wrote, to ascertain whether you might be relied upon to be obedient in everything. When you forgive a man anything, I forgive him too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven, if I have had to forgive anything, I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ, so as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. When I went to the District Round Troas to tell the good news of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master, I could get no peace of mind, because I failed to find Titus, my brother, so I took leave of the people there, and went on to Macedonia. All thanks to God, who through our union with the Christ leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet odor of the knowledge of him in every place, for we are the fragrance of Christ ascending to God, both among those who are in their path of salvation, and among those who are in the path of ruin. To the latter we are an odor which arises from death and tells of death. To the former an odor which arises from life and tells of life. But who is equal to such a task? Unlike many people we are not in the habit of making profit out of God's message, but in all sincerity and bearing God's commission we speak before him in union with Christ. Chapter 3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or are we like some who need letters of commendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter, a letter written on our hearts, and one which everybody can read and understand. All can see that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, a letter written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. This, then, is the confidence in regard to God that we have gained through the Christ. I do not mean that we are fit to form any judgment by ourselves, as if on our own authority. Our fitness comes from God, who himself made us fit to be ministers of a new covenant, of which the substance is not a written law, but a spirit, for the written law means death, but the spirit gives life. If the system of religion which involved death embodied in a written law and engraved on stones began amid such glory that the Israelites were unable to gaze at the face of Moses on account of its glory, though it was but a passing glory, will not the religion that confers the spirit have still greater glory? For if there was a glory in the religion that involved condemnation, far greater is the glory of the religion that confers righteousness. Indeed, that which then had glory has lost its glory because of the glory which surpasses it, and if that which was to pass away was attended with glory, far more will that which is to endure be surrounded with glory. With such a hope as this, we speak with all plainness, unlike Moses, who covered his face with a veil to prevent the Israelites from gazing at the disappearance of what was passing away, but their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted. Only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away. But even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. Yet whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. And the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us with faces from which the veil is lifted, seeing as if reflected in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into his likeness from glory to glory as it is given by the Lord, the Spirit. Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. No, we have renounced the secrecy prompted by shame, refusing to adopt crafty ways or to tamper with God's message, and commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God by our exhibition of the truth. And even if the good news that we bring is veiled, it is veiled only in the case of those who are on the path to ruin, men whose minds have been blinded by the God of this age, unbelievers as they are, so that the light from the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the very incarnation of God, should not shine on them. For it is not ourselves that we proclaim, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake. Indeed, the same God who said, out of darkness light shall shine, has shone in upon our hearts, so that we should bring out into the light the knowledge of the glory of God seen in the face of Christ. This treasure we have in these earthen vessels, that its all-prevailing power may be seen to come from God and not to be our own. Though hard-pressed on every side, we are never hemmed in. Though perplexed, never driven to despair. Though pursued, never abandoned. Though struck down, never killed. We always bear on our bodies the marks of the death that Jesus died, so that the life also of Jesus may be exhibited in our bodies. Indeed, we who still live are continually being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life also of Jesus may be exhibited in our mortal nature. And so, while death is at work within us, life is at work within you. But in the same spirit of faith as that expressed in the words, I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak, for we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with him and will bring us with you into his presence. For all this is for your sakes that the loving kindness of God, spreading from heart to heart, may cause yet more hearts to overflow with thanksgiving to his glory. Therefore, as I said, we do not lose heart. No, even though outwardly we are wasting away. Yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. The light burden of our momentary trouble is preparing us and measure transcending thought the weight of imperishable glory. We all the while gazing not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is transient, but what is unseen is imperishable. Chapter 5 For we know that if our tent, that earthly body which is now our home, is taken down, we have a house of God's building, a home not made by hands, imperishable in heaven. Even while in our present body we sigh, longing to put over it our heavenly dwelling, sure that when we have put it on, we shall never be found discarnate. For we who are in this tent, sigh under our burden, unwilling to take it off, yet wishing to put our heavenly body over it, so that all that is mortal may be absorbed in life. And he who has prepared us for this change is God, who has also given us his spirit as a pledge. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while our home is in the body, we are absent from our home with the Lord. For we guide our lives by faith and not by what we see, and in this confidence we would gladly leave our home in the body and make our home with the Lord. Therefore whether in our home or absent from our home, our one ambition is to please him. For at the bar of Christ we must all appear in our true characters, that each may reap the results of the life which he has lived in the body in accordance with his actions, whether good or worthless. Therefore because we know the fear inspired by the Lord, it is true that we are trying to win men, but our motives are plain to God. And I hope that in your inmost hearts they are plain to you also. We are not commending ourselves again to you, but rather are giving you cause for pride in us, so that you may have an answer ready for those who pride themselves on appearances and not on character. For if we were beside ourselves, it was in God's service, and if we are now in our senses it is in yours. It is the love of the Christ which compels us when we reflect that, as one died for all, therefore all died, and that he died for all so that the living should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose for them. For ourselves then, from this time forward, we refuse to regard anyone from the world's standpoint, even if we once thought of Christ from the standpoint of the world, yet now we do so no longer. Therefore if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being. His old life has passed away, a new life has begun. But all this is the work of God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, to proclaim that God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning men's offenses against them, and that he had entrusted us with the message of this reconciliation. It is then on Christ's behalf that we are acting as ambassadors, God as it were appealing to you through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Him who never knew sin, God made to be sin on our behalf, so that we through union with him might become the righteousness of God. Chapter 6 Therefore, as God's fellow workers, we also appeal to you not to receive his loving kindness in vain, for he says, at the time of acceptance I listen to thee, and on the day of deliverance I help thee. Now is the time for acceptance, now is the day of deliverance. Never do we put an obstacle in anyone's way that no fault may be found with our ministry. Now we are trying to commend ourselves under all circumstances as God's ministers should, in many an hour of endurance, in troubles, in hardships, in difficulties, in floggings, in imprisonments, in riots, in toils, in sleepless nights, in fastings, by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindliness, by holiness of spirit, by unfeigned love, by the message of truth and by the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, amid honor and disrepute, amid slander and praise, regarded as deceivers yet proved to be true, as unknown yet well known, as at death's door yet see we are living, as chastised yet not killed, as saddened yet always rejoicing, as poor yet enriching many, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. We have been speaking freely to you, Men of Corinth. We have opened our heart. There is room there for you, yet there is no room in your love for us. Can you not, in return, I appeal to you as I should to children, open your hearts to us? Do not enter into inconsistent relationships with those who reject the faith. For what partnership can there be between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what has light to do with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial? Or what can those who accept the faith have in common with those who reject it? What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols? And we are a temple of the living God. That is what God meant when he said, I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore come out from among the nations and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing impure, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord, the ruler of all. Chapter 7 With these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that pollutes either body or spirit, and in deepest reverence for God, aim at perfect holiness. Make room for us in your hearts. In no instance have we ever wronged or harmed or taken advantage of anyone. I am not saying this to condemn you. Indeed, I have already said that you are in our very heart to live and die together. I have the utmost confidence in you. I am always boasting about you. I am full of encouragement and, in spite of all our troubles, my heart is overflowing with happiness. Ever since I reached Macedonia, we have had no rest in body or mind. On every side there have been troubles, conflicts without, anxieties within. But God, who encourages the downcast, has encouraged us by the arrival of Titus, and it is not only by his arrival that we are encouraged, but also by the encouragement which he received from you, for he tells us of your strong affection, your penitence, and your zeal on my behalf, so that I am happier still. For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, even if I were inclined to regret it, for I see that my letter did cause you sorrow, though only for a time. I am glad now, not because of the sorrow it caused you, but because your sorrow brought you to repentance. For it was God's will that you should feel sorrow, in order that you should not suffer loss in any way at our hands. For when sorrow is in accordance with God's will, it results in a repentance leading to salvation, and which will never be regretted. The sure result of the sorrow that the world knows is death. For see what results that other sorrow, sorrow in accordance with God's will, has had in your case. What earnestness it produced, what explanations, what strong feeling, what alarm, what longing, what eagerness, what readiness to punish. You have proved yourselves altogether free from guilt in that matter. So then, even though I did ride you, it was not for the sake of the wrongdoer or of the man who was wronged, but to make you conscious in the sight of God of your own earnest care for us, and it is this that has encouraged us. In addition to the encouragement that this gave us, we were made far happier still by the happiness of Titus, for his heart has been cheered by you all. Although I have been boasting a little to him about you, you did not put me to shame. But just as everything we had said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus about you has also proved to be the truth, and his affection for you is all the greater as he remembers the deference that you all showed him and recalls how you received him with anxious care. I am glad that I can feel perfect confidence in you. We would remind you, brothers, of the love that God has shown to the churches in Macedonia, how, tried though they were by many a trouble, their overflowing happiness and even their deep poverty resulted in a flood of generosity. I can bear witness that to the full extent of their power and even beyond their power, spontaneously, and with many an appeal to us for permission, they showed their love and contributed their share toward the fun for their fellow Christians, and that not only in the way we had expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord, and to us also in accordance with God's will. And this led us to urge upon Titus that as he had started the work for you, he should also see to the completion of this expression of your love. And remembering how you excel in everything, in faith, in teaching, in knowledge, in unfailing earnestness, and in the affection that we have awakened in you, I ask you to excel also in this expression of your love. I am not laying a command upon you, but I am making use of the earnestness shown by others to test the genuineness of your affection. For you do not forget the loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that for your sakes, although he was rich, he became poor, so that you also might become rich through his poverty. I am only making suggestions on this matter, for this is the best course for you, since you were a year before others, not only in taking action, but also in showing your readiness to do so. And now I want you to complete the work, so that its completion may correspond with your willing readiness, in proportion, of course, to your means. For where there is willingness, a man's gift is valued by its comparison with what he has, and not with what he has not. For our object is not to give relief to others and bring distress on you, but by equalizing matters, to secure that on the present occasion what you can spare may supply their need, so that at another time what they can spare may supply your need, and thus matters may be equalized. As Scripture says, the man who had much had nothing over, and the man who had little did not lack. I thank God for inspiring Titus with the same keen interest in your welfare that I have. For Titus has responded to my appeals, and in his great earnestness is starting to go to you of his own accord. We are sending with him the brother whose fame in the service of the good news has spread through all the churches. And not only that, but he has been elected by the churches to accompany us on our journey in connection with this expression of your love, which we are personally administering to the honor of the Lord, and to show our deep interest. What we are especially guarding against is that any fault should be found with us in regard to our administration of this charitable fund, for we are trying to make arrangements which shall be right not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men. We are also sending with them another of our brothers whose earnestness we have many a time proved in many ways, and whom we now find even more earnest by his great confidence in you. If I must say anything about Titus, he is my intimate companion, and he shares my work for you. If it is our brothers, they are delegates of the churches, and honor to Christ. Show them, therefore, so that the churches may see it, the proof of your affection, and the ground for our boasting to them about you. With reference indeed to the fund for your fellow Christians, it is quite superfluous for me to say anything to you. I know, of course, your willingness to help, and I am always boasting of it to the Macedonians. I tell them that you in Greece have been ready for a year past, and it was really your zeal that stimulated most of them. So my reason for sending our brothers is to prevent what we said about you from proving in this particular matter an empty boast, and to enable you to be as well prepared as I have been saying that you are. Otherwise, if any Macedonians were to come with me and find you unprepared, we, to say nothing of you, should feel ashamed of our present confidence. Therefore, I think it necessary to urge the brothers to go to you in advance, and to complete the arrangements for the gift which you have already promised, so that it may be ready as a gift before I come, and not look as if it were being given under pressure. Remember the saying, scanty sowing, scanty harvest, plentiful sowing, plentiful harvest. Let everyone give as he has determined beforehand, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. God has power to shower all kinds of blessings upon you, so that having under all circumstances, and on all occasions, all that you can need, you may be able to shower all kinds of benefits upon others. As Scripture says, he scattered broadcast, he gave to the poor, his righteousness continues forever. And he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for eating, will supply you with seed and cause it to increase, and will multiply the fruits of your righteousness. Rich in all things yourselves you will be able to show liberality to all which, with our help, will cause thanksgiving to be offered to God. For the rendering of a public service such as this not only relieves the needs of your fellow Christians, but also results in the offering to God of many a thanksgiving. Through the evidence afforded by the service thus rendered, you cause men to praise God for your fidelity to your profession of faith in the good news of the Christ, as well as for the liberality of your contributions for them and for all others. And they also in their prayers for you express their longing to see you because of the surpassing love of God displayed toward you. All thanks to God for his inestimable gift. End of chapter 6 through 9 The second letter to the Corinthians, chapters 10 through 13 from the 20th century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The 20th century New Testament, by a company of about twenty scholars. The second letter to the Corinthians, chapters 10 through 13. CHAPTER 10 Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ. I, who in your presence am humble in my bearing toward you, but when absent and bold in my language to you, I implore you not to drive me to show my boldness when I do come by the confident tone which I expect to have to adopt toward some of you who are expecting to find us influenced in our conduct by earthly motives. For though we live an earthly life, we do not wage an earthly war. The weapons of our warfare are not earthly, but under God are powerful enough to pull down strongholds. We are engaged in confuting arguments and pulling down every barrier raised against the knowledge of God. We are taking captive every hostile thought to bring it into submission to the Christ and are fully prepared to punish every act of rebellion when once your submission is complete. You look at the outward appearance of things, that anyone who is confident that he belongs to Christ reflect for himself again upon the fact that we belong to Christ no less than he does. Even if I boast extravagantly about our authority, which the Lord gave us for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it, still I have no reason to be ashamed. I say this that it may not seem as if I were trying to overaw you by my letters. For people say his letters are impressive and vigorous, but his personal appearance is insignificant and is speaking contemptible. Let such a man be assured of this, that our words and our letters show us to be when absent, just what our deeds will show us to be when present. We have not indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some of those who indulge in self-commendation, but when such persons measure themselves, buy themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they show a want of wisdom. We, however, will not give way to unlimited boasting, but will confine ourselves to the limits of the spirit to which God limited us when he permitted us to come as far as Corinth. For it is not the case, as it would be if we were not in the habit of coming to you, that we are exceeding our bounds, why we were the very first to reach you with the good news of the Christ. Our boasting, therefore, is not unlimited, nor does it extend to the labors of others, but our hope is that, as your faith grows, our influence among you may be very greatly increased, though still confined to our sphere, so that we shall be able to tell the good news in the districts beyond you without trespassing on the sphere assigned to others or boasting of what has already been done. Let him who boasts make his boast of the Lord, for it is not the man who commends himself that stands the test, but the man who is commended by the Lord. I could wish that you would tolerate a little folly in me, but indeed you do tolerate me. I am jealous over you, with the jealousy of God, for I betrothed you to one husband that I might present you to Christ, a pure bride. Yet I fear that it may turn out that just as the serpent by his craftiness deceived Eve, so your minds may have lost the loyalty and purity due from you to the Christ. For if some newcomer is proclaiming a Jesus other than him whom we proclaimed, or if you are receiving a spirit different from the spirit which you received, or a good news different from that which you welcomed, then you are marvelously tolerant. I do not regard myself as in any way inferior to the most imminent apostles, though I am no trained order, yet I am not without knowledge. Indeed we made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Perhaps you say that I did wrong in humbling myself that you might be exalted. I mean because I told you God's good news without payment. I robbed other churches by taking pay from them so that I might serve you, and when I was with you and in need I did not become a burden to any of you, for our brothers on coming from Macedonia supplied my needs. I kept myself and will keep myself from being an expense to you in any way. As surely as I know anything of the truth of Christ, this boast as far as I am concerned shall not be stopped in any part of Greece. Why? Because I do not love you, God knows that I do. What I am doing now I shall continue to do, that I may cut away the ground from under those who are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that as regards the things of which they boast they may appear in their true characters just as we do. Men of this stamp are false apostles, treacherous workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It is not surprising therefore if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. But their end will be in accordance with their actions. I say again, let no one thank me a fool, yet if you do, at least welcome me as you would a fool, that I too may indulge in a little boasting. When I speak thus I am not speaking as the master would, but as a fool might in boasting so confidently. As so many are boasting of earthly things, I too will boast. For all your cleverness you tolerate fools willingly enough. You tolerate a man even when he enslaves you, when he plunders you, when he gets you into his power, when he puts on heirs of superiority, when he strikes you in the face. I admit to my shame that we have been weak, but whatever the subject on which others are not afraid to boast, though it is foolish to say so, I am not afraid either. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? Though it is madness to talk like this, I am more so than they. I have had more of toil, more of imprisonment. I have been flogged times without number. I have been often at death's door. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes all but one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a whole day and a night in the deep. My journeys have been many. I have been through dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in towns, dangers in the country, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers. I have been through toil and hardship. I have passed many a sleepless night. I have endured hunger and thirst. I have often been without food. I have known cold and nakedness. And not to speak of other things. There is my daily burden of anxiety about all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who has led astray without my burning with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast of things which show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is forever blessed, knows that I am speaking the truth. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Oritas had the gates of that city guarded so as to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and so escaped his hands. Chapter 12 I must boast. It is unprofitable, but I will pass to visions and revelations given by the Lord. I know a man, in union with Christ, who fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, was caught up, this man of whom I am speaking, to the Third Heaven. And I know that this man, whether in the body or separated from the body I do not know, God knows, was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable things of which no human being may tell. About such a man I will boast, but about myself I will not boast, except as regards my weaknesses. Yet if I choose to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking no more than the truth. But I refrain lest any one should credit me with more than he can see in me or hear from me and because of the marvelous character of the revelations. It was for this reason and to prevent my thinking too highly of myself that a thorn was sent to pierce my flesh, an instrument of Satan to discipline me, so that I should not think too highly of myself. About this I three times entreated the Lord, praying that it might leave me, but his reply has been, My help is enough for you, for my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness. Most gladly then will I boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may overshadow me. That is why I delight in weakness, ill treatment, hardships, persecution, and difficulties when born for Christ. For when I am weak, then it is that I am strong. I have been playing the fool. It is you who drove me to it, for it is you who ought to have been commending me. Although I am nobody, in no respect did I prove inferior to the most imminent apostles. The marks of the true apostle were exhibited among you in constant endurance, as well as by signs, by marvels, and by miracles. In what respect I ask were you treated worse than the other churches, unless it was that for my part I refused to become a burden to you. Forgive me the wrong I thus did you. Remember, this is the third time that I have made every preparation to come to see you, and I shall refuse to be a burden to you. I want not your money, but you. It is not the duty of children to put by for their parents, but of parents to put by for their children. For my part I will most gladly spend and be spent for your welfare. Can it be that the more intensely I love you, the less I am to be loved? You will admit that I was not a burden to you, but you say that I was crafty and caught you by a trick. Do you assert that I took advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you? I urged Titus to go, and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Did not we live in the same spirit and tread in the same footsteps? Have you all this time been fancying that it is to you that we are making our defense? No, it is in the sight of God and in union with Christ that we are speaking, and all this, dear friends, is to build up your characters. For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find that you are not what I want you to be, and on the other hand that you may find that I am what you do not want me to be. I am afraid that I may find quarreling, jealousy, ill-feeling, rivalry, slandering, backbiting, self-assertion, and disorder. I am afraid lest, on my next visit, my God may humble me in regard to you, and that I may have to mourn over many who have long been sinning, and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality in which they have indulged. Chapter 13 For the third time I am coming to see you. By the word of two or three witnesses each statement shall be established. I have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent. I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others, that if I come again I shall spare no one. And that will be the proof which you are looking for, that the Christ speaks through me. There is no weakness in his dealings with you. No, he shows his power among you. For though his crucifixion was due to weakness, his life is due to the power of God. And we also are weak in his weakness. But with him we shall live for you through the power of God. Put yourselves to the proof, to see whether you are holding to the faith. Test yourselves. Surely you recognize this fact about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you cannot stand the test. But I hope that you will recognize that we can stand the test. We pray God that you may do nothing wrong, not that we may be seen to stand the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may seem not to stand the test. We have no power at all against the truth, but we have power in the service of the truth. We are glad when we are weak if you are strong. And what we pray for is that you may become perfect. This is my reason for writing, as I am now doing, while I am away from you, so that when I am with you, I may not act harshly in the exercise of the authority which the Lord gave me, and gave me for building up, and not for pulling down. And now, brothers, goodbye. Aim at perfection, take courage, agree together, live in peace. And in God the source of all love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a sacred kiss. All Christ people here send you their greetings. May the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion with the Holy Spirit be with you all. End of chapters 10 through 13. End of the second letter to the Corinthians. The Letter to the Romans. Introduction in chapters 1 through 5 from the 20th century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The 20th century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The Letter to the Romans. Introduction and chapters 1 through 5. Introduction. St. Paul's Letter to the Christians in Rome, written probably during his stay at Corinth in the course of his third missionary journey about 56 A.D. St. Paul had often wished to visit Rome, but up to the time of writing this letter he had been prevented by various causes from doing so. Romans chapter 1 verses 11 and 13 and Acts chapter 19 verse 21. At last there seemed to be a prospect of the realization of his long cherished desire. In the course of his third missionary journey he was in Corinth and was about to go to Jerusalem to carry to the poorer Christians there the charitable contributions of several other churches. It was his intention upon leaving Jerusalem to visit Spain, and he hoped on his way to spend a short time in Rome. Romans chapter 15 verse 24. He wrote the present letter in anticipation of this journey to the West, and for the purpose of putting in writing beforehand a full statement of certain important truths. Philosophy the Apostle teaches had failed as a means of salvation for the Gentile. The law had failed as a means of salvation for the Jew. In this letter he establishes the doctrine that faith in Christ is the only ground of acceptance with God for all mankind. The extent to which he develops his subject gives the letter largely the aspect of a treatise. To all in Rome who are dear to God and have been called to become Christ's people. From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ who has been called to become an Apostle and has been set apart to tell God's good news. This good news God promised long ago through his prophets and the sacred scriptures concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who as to his human nature was descended from David, but as to the spirit of holiness within him was miraculously designated Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. Through him we receive the gift of the Apostolic office to win submission to the faith among all nations for the glory of his name. And among these nations are you, you who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace. First I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, because the report of your faith is spreading throughout the world. God, to whom I offer the worship of my soul as I tell the good news of his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you when I pray, asking that if he be willing I may some day at last find the way open to visit you. For I long to see you in order to impart to you some spiritual gift and so give you fresh strength, or rather that both you and I may find encouragement in each other's faith. I want you to know, brothers, that I have many times intended coming to see you, but until now I have been prevented, that I might find among you some fruit of my labors as I have already among the other nations. I have a duty to both the Greek and the barbarian, to both the cultured and the ignorant, and so for my part I am ready to tell the good news to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the good news. It is the power of God which brings salvation to everyone who believes in Christ, to the Jew first, but also to the Greek. For in it there is a revelation of the divine righteousness resulting from faith and leading on to faith. As Scripture says, through faith the righteous man shall find life. So too there is a revelation from heaven of the divine wrath against every form of ungodliness and wickedness on the part of those men who by their wicked lives are stifling the truth. This is so because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God Himself has made it plain. For ever since the creation of the universe, God's invisible attributes, His everlasting power and divinity, are to be seen and studied in His works so that men have no excuse. Because although they learnt to know God, yet they did not offer Him as God either praise or thanksgiving. Their speculations about Him prove futile, and their undisserting minds were darkened. Professing to be wise they showed themselves fools, and they transformed the glory of the immortal God into the likeness of mortal man and of birds and beasts and reptiles. Therefore God abandoned them to impurity, letting them follow the cravings of their hearts till they dishonored their own bodies, for they had substituted a lie for the truth about God and had reverenced and worshiped created things more than the Creator, who is to be praised for ever. Amen. That, I say, is why God abandoned them to degrading passions. Even the women among them perverted the natural use of their bodies to the unnatural, while the men, disregarding that for which women were intended by nature, were consumed with passion for one another. Men indulged in bio-practices with men, and occurred in their own persons the inevitable penalty of their perverseness. Then as they would not keep God before their minds, God abandoned them to deprave thoughts so that they did all kinds of shameful things. They reveled in every form of wickedness, evil, greed, vice. Their lives were full of envy, murder, quarreling, treachery, malice. They became backbiteers, slanderers, impious, insolent, boastful. They devised new sins. They disobeyed their parents. They were undiscerning, untrustworthy, without natural affection or pity. Well aware of God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, not only are they guilty of them themselves, but they even applaud those who do them. Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defence whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things. And we know that God's judgment falls unerringly upon those who do them. You who judge those who do such things and yet are yourself guilty of them, do you suppose that you of all men will escape God's judgment? Or do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realising that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Hard-hearted and impenitent as you are, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath, when God's justice as a judge will be revealed. For he will give to every man what his actions deserve. To those who by perseverance in doing good, aim at glory, honour, and all that is imperishable he will give immortal life. While as to those who are factious and disobedient to truth but obedient to evil, wrath and anger, distress and despair will fall upon every human being who persists in wrongdoing, upon the Jew first but also upon the Greek. But there will be glory, honour, and peace for everyone who does right, for the Jew first but also for the Greek, because God shows no partiality. All who when they sin are without law will also perish without law, while all those when they sin who are under law will be judged as being under law. It is not those who hear the words of a law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous. When Gentiles who have no law do instinctively what the law requires, they though they have no law, are a law to themselves, for they show the demands of the law written upon their hearts, their consciousness corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or it may be in self-defense, on the day when God passes judgment on men's inmost lives as the good news that I tell the clairs that he will do through Christ Jesus. But perhaps you bear the name of Jew and are relying upon law and boast of belonging to God and understanding his will and having been carefully instructed from the law have learnt to appreciate the finer moral distinctions. Perhaps you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent and a teacher of the childish because in the law you possess the outline of all knowledge and truth. Why then, you teacher of others, do you not teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing and yet steal? Do you forbid adultery and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols and yet plunder temples? Boasting as you do of your law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For as Scripture says, the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles because of you. Circumcision has its value if you are obeying the law. But if you are a breaker of the law your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision. If then an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the law will not he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were. Indeed the man who owing to his birth remains uncircumcised and yet scrupulously obeys the law will condemn you who for all your written law and your circumcision are yet a breaker of the law. For a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the man who is a Jew in soul and the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a man wins praise from God, though not from men. CHAPTER III What is the advantage, then, of being a Jew or what is the good of circumcision? Great in every way, first of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God's utterances. What follows, then? Some no doubt show to want of faith, but will their want of faith make God break faith? Heaven forbid, God must prove true though every man prove a liar. As Scripture says of God, that thou mayest be pronounced righteous in what thou sayest and gain thy cause when men would judge thee. But what if our wrong doing makes God's righteousness all the clearer? Will God be wrong in inflicting punishment? I can but speak as a man. Heaven forbid, otherwise how can God judge the world? But if my falsehood redounds to the glory of God by making his truthfulness more apparent, why am I, like others, still condemned as a sinner? Why should we not say, as some people slanderously assert that we do say, let us do evil that good may come? The condemnation of such men is indeed just. What follows, then? Are we Jews in any way superior to others? Not at all. Our indictment against both Jews and Greeks was that all alike were in subjection to sin. As Scripture says, there is not even one who is righteous, not one who understands, not one who is searching for God. They have all gone astray. They have one and all become depraved. There is no one who is doing good. No, not one. Their throats are like open graves. They deceive with their tongues. The venom of serpents lies behind their lips, and their mouths are full of bitter curses. Swift are their feet to shed blood, distress and trouble dog their steps, and the path of peace they do not know. The fear of God is not before their eyes. Now we know that everything said in the law is addressed to those who are under its authority, in order that every mouth may be closed and the whole world become liable to the judgment of God, for no human being will be pronounced righteous before God as the result of obedience to law, for it is law that shows what sin is. But now, quite apart from law, the divine righteousness stands revealed, and to it the law and the prophets bear witness, the divine righteousness which is bestowed through faith in Jesus Christ upon all without distinction who believe in him. For all have sinned and all fall short of God's glorious ideal, but in his loving kindness are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus. For God set him before the world to be by the shedding of his blood a means of reconciliation through faith, and this God did to prove his righteousness, and because in his forbearance he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed. As a proof, I repeat at the present time of his own righteousness that he might be righteous in our eyes and might pronounce righteous the man who takes his stand on faith in Jesus. What then becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of law? A law requiring obedience? No, a law requiring faith. For we conclude that a man is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith quite apart from obedience to law. Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Is not he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is only one God, and he will pronounce those who are circumcised righteous as the result of faith, and also those who are uncircumcised on their showing the same faith. Do we then use this faith to abolish law? Heaven forbid. No, we establish law. What then, it may be asked, are we to say about Abraham, the ancestor of our nation? If he was pronounced righteous as the result of obedience, then he has something to boast of. Yes, but not before God. For what are the words of Scripture? Abraham had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness. Now wages are regarded as due to the man who works, not as a favor, but as a debt. While as for the man who does not rely upon his obedience, but has faith in him who can pronounce the Godless righteous, his faith is regarded by God as righteousness. In precisely the same way, David speaks of the blessing pronounced upon the man who is regarded by God as righteous apart from actions. Blessed are those whose wrongdoings have been forgiven and over whose sins avail has been drawn. Blessed the man whom the Lord will never regard as sinful. Is this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised as well? We say that Abraham's faith was regarded by God as righteousness. Under what circumstances then did this take place? After his circumcision or before it? Not after, but before. And it was as a sign of this that he received the right of circumcision to attest the righteousness due to the faith of an uncircumcised man in order that he might be the father of all who have faith in God, even when uncircumcised, that they also may be regarded by God as righteous, as well as father of the circumcised, to those who are not only circumcised but who also follow our father Abraham in that faith which he had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he should inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness due to faith. If those who take their stand on law are to inherit the world, then faith is robbed of its meaning and the promise comes to nothing. Law entails punishment, but where no law exists, no breach of it is possible. That is why all is made to depend upon faith, that all may be God's gift and in order that the fulfilment of the promise may be made certain for all Abraham's descendants, not only for those who take their stand on the law, but also for those who take their stand on the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all, as scripture says. I made thee the father of many nations. And this they do in the sight of that God in whom Abraham had faith and who gives life to the dead and speaks of what does not exist as if it did. With no ground for hope, Abraham sustained by hope put faith in God. In order that in fulfilment of the words, so many shall thy descendants be, he might become the father of many nations. Though he was nearly a hundred years old, yet his faith did not fail him even when he thought of his own body, then utterly worn out and remembered that Sarah was past bearing children. He was not led by want of faith to doubt God's promise. On the contrary, his faith gave him strength and he praised God in the firm conviction that what God has promised he is also able to carry out, and therefore his faith was regarded as righteousness. Now these words, it was regarded as righteousness. We're not written with reference to Abraham only, but also with reference to us. Our faith too will be regarded by God in the same light if we have faith in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. For Jesus was given up to death to atone for our offenses, and was raised to life that we might be pronounced righteous. Chapter 5 Therefore, having been pronounced righteous as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is through him that by reason of our faith we have obtained admission to that place in God's favor in which we now stand. So let us exalt in our hope of attaining God's glorious ideal. And not only that, but let us also exalt in our troubles. For we know that trouble develops endurance, and endurance, strength of character, and strength of character, hope. And that hope never disappoints, for the love of God has filled our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given to us, seeing that while we were still powerless, Christ in God's good time died on behalf of the godless. Even for an upright man, scarcely anyone will die. For a really good man, perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God puts his love for us beyond all doubt by the fact that Christ died on our behalf while we were still sinners. Much more then, now that we have been pronounced righteous by virtue of the shedding of his blood, shall we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, much more now that we have become reconciled shall we be saved by virtue of Christ's life. And not only that, but we exalt in God through Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have now obtained this reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and through sin came death, so also death spread to all mankind because all men had sinned. Even before the time of the law there was sin in the world, but sin cannot be charged against a man where no law exists. Yet from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those whose sin was not a breach of a law as Adams was. And Adam foreshadows the one to come. But there is a contrast between Adam's offence and God's gracious gift. For if by reason of the offence of the one man the whole race died, far more were the loving kindness of God and the gift given in the loving kindness of the one man Jesus Christ lavished upon the whole race. There is a contrast too between the gift and the results of the one man's sin. The judgment which followed upon the one man's sin resulted in condemnation, but God's gracious gift which followed upon many offenses resulted in a decree of righteousness. For if by reason of the offence of the one man death reigned through that one man, far more will those upon whom God's loving kindness and his gift of righteousness are lavished find life and reign through the one man Jesus Christ. Briefly then, just as a single offence resulted for all mankind in condemnation, so too a single decree of righteousness resulted for all mankind in that declaration of righteousness which brings life. For as through the disobedience of the one man the whole race was rendered sinful, so too through the obedience of the one the whole race will be rendered righteous. Law was introduced in order that offenses might be multiplied. But where sins were multiplied the loving kindness of God was lavished the more in order that just as sin had reigned in the realm of death, so too might loving kindness reign through righteousness and result in immortal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. End of introduction and chapters one through five. The Letter to the Romans chapter six through 11 from the 20th century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter. The 20th century New Testament by a company of about 20 scholars. The Letter to the Romans chapter six through 11. Chapter six. What are we to say then? Are we to continue to sin in order that God's loving kindness may be multiplied? Heaven forbid, we became dead to sin. And how can we go on living in it? Or can it be that you do not know that all of us who were baptized into union with Christ Jesus in our baptism shared his death? Consequently, through sharing his death and our baptism, we were buried with him that just as Christ was raised from the dead by a manifestation of the Father's power. So we also may live a new life. If we have become united with him by the act symbolic of his death, surely we shall also become united with him by the act symbolic of his resurrection. We recognize the truth that our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body, the stronghold of sin, might be rendered powerless so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For the man who has so died has been pronounced righteous and released from sin. And our belief is that as we have shared Christ's death, we shall also share his life. We know indeed that Christ, having once risen from the dead, will not die again. Death has power over him no longer. For the death that he died was a death to sin once and for all. But the life that he now lives, he lives for God. So let it be with you. Regard yourselves as dead to sin, but as living for God through union with Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies and compel you to obey its cravings. Do not offer any part of your bodies to sin and the cause of unrighteousness. But once for all, offer yourselves to God, as those who, though once dead, now have life, and devote every part of your bodies to the cause of righteousness. For sin shall not lord it over you. You are living under the reign not of law, but of love. What follows then? Are we to sin because we are living under the reign of love and not of law? Heaven forbid. Surely you know that when you offer yourselves as servants to obey anyone, you are the servants of the person whom you obey, whether the service be that of sin which leads to death, or that of duty which leads to righteousness. God be thanked that though you were once servants of sin, yet you learned to give hearty obedience to that form of doctrine under which you were placed. Set free from the control of sin you became servants to righteousness. I can but speak as men do because of the weakness of your earthly nature. Once you offered every part of your bodies to the service of impurity and of wickedness which leads to further wickedness. Now in the same way offer them to the service of righteousness which leads to holiness. While you were still servants of sin, you were free as regards righteousness. But what were the fruits that you reap from those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of such things is death. But now that you have been set free from the control of sin and have become servants to God, the fruit that you reap is an ever increasing holiness and the end immortal life. The wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is immortal life through union with Christ Jesus our Lord. CHAPTER 7 Surely brothers you know, for I am speaking to men who know what law means, that law has power over a man only as long as he lives. For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband while he is living. But if her husband dies she is set free from the law that bound her to him. If then during her husband's lifetime she unites herself to another man she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies the law has no further hold on her, nor if she unites herself to another man is she an adulteress. And so with you, my brothers, as far as the law was concerned you underwent death in the crucified body of the Christ so that you might be united to another, to him who was raised from the dead in order that our lives might bear fruit for God. When we were living merely earthly lives our sinful passions aroused by the law were active in every part of our bodies with the result that our lives bore fruit for death. But now we are set free from the law because we are dead to that which once kept us under restraint and so we serve under new spiritual conditions and not under old written regulations. What are we to say then that law and sin are the same thing? On the contrary, I should not have learnt what sin is had not it been for the law. If the law did not say thou shalt not covet I should not know what it is to covet. But sin took advantage of the commandment to arouse in me every form of covetousness for where there is no consciousness of law sin shows no sign of life. There was a time when I myself unconscious of law was alive but when the commandment was brought home to me sin sprang into life while I died. The very commandment that should have meant life I found to result in death. Sin took advantage of the commandment to deceive me and used it to bring about my death and so the law is holy and each commandment is also holy and just and good. Did then a thing which in itself was good involve death in my case? Heaven forbid! It was sin that involved death so that by its use of what I regarded as good to bring about my death its true nature might appear and in this way the commandment showed how intensely sinful sin is. We know that the law is spiritual but I am earthly sold into slavery to sin. I do not understand my own actions for I am so far from habitually doing what I want to do that I find myself doing the very thing that I hate. But when I do what I want not to do I am admitting that the law is right. This being so the action is no longer my own but that of sin which is within me. I know that there is nothing good in me I mean in my earthly nature for although it is easy for me to want to do right to act rightly is not easy. I fail to do the good thing that I want to do but the bad thing that I want not to do that I habitually do. But when I do the very thing that I want not to do the action is no longer my own but that of sin which is within me. This then is the law that I find. When I want to do right wrong presents itself. At heart I delight in the law of God but throughout my body I see a different law one which is in conflict with the law accepted by my reason and which endeavors to make me a prisoner to that law of sin which exists throughout my body. Miserable man that I am who will deliver me from the body that is bringing me to this death. Thank God there is deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord. Well then for myself with my reason I serve the law of God but with my earthly nature the law of sin chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus for through your union with Christ Jesus the law of the life giving spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death. What law could not do insofar as our earthly nature weakened its action God did by sending his own son with a nature resembling our sinful nature to atone for sin. He condemned sin in that earthly nature so that the requirements of the law might be satisfied in us who live now in obedience not to our earthly nature but to the spirit. They who follow the earthly nature are earthly minded while they who follow the spirit are spiritually minded. To be earthly minded means death. To be spiritually minded means life and peace because to be earthly minded is to be an enemy to God for such a mind does not submit to the law of God nor indeed can it do so. They who are earthly cannot please God. You however are not earthly but spiritual since the spirit of God lives within you. Unless a man has the spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ but if Christ is within you then though the body is dead as a consequence of sin the spirit is life as a consequence of righteousness and if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life even to your mortal bodies through his spirit living within you. So then brothers we owe nothing to our earthly nature that we should live in obedience to it. If you live in obedience to your earthly nature you will inevitably die but if by the power of the spirit you put an end to the evil habits of the body you will live. All who are guided by the spirit of God are sons of God for you did not receive the spirit of a slave to fill you once more with fear but the spirit of a son who leads us to cry Abba our father the spirit himself unites with our spirits in bearing witness to our being God's children and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ since we share Christ's sufferings in order that we may also share his glory. I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy to mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us all nature awaits with eager expectation the appearing of the sons of God for nature was made subject to imperfection not by its own choice but owing to him who made it so yet not without the hope that someday nature also will be set free from the enslavement to decay and will attain to the freedom which will mark the glory of the children of God. We know indeed that all nature alike has been groaning in the pains of labor to this very hour and not nature only but we ourselves also though we have already a first gift of the spirit we ourselves are inwardly groaning while we eagerly await our full adoption as sons the redemption of our bodies by our hope we were saved but the thing hoped for is no longer an object of hope when it is before our eyes for who hopes for what is before his eyes but when we hope for what is not before our eyes then we wait for it with patience so also the spirit supports us in our weakness we do not even know how to pray as we should but the spirit himself pleads for us in size that can find no utterance yet he who searches all our hearts knows what the spirit's meaning is because the pleadings of the spirit for Christ's people are in accordance with his will but we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him those who have received the call in accordance with his purpose for those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into the likeness of his son so that his son might be the eldest among many brothers and those whom God destined for this he also called and those whom he called he also pronounced righteous and those whom he pronounced righteous he also brought to glory what are we to say then in the light of all this if God is on our side who can there be against us God did not withhold his own son but gave him up on behalf of us all will he not then with him freely give us all things who will bring a charge against any of God's people he who pronounces them righteous is God who is there to condemn them he who died for us is Christ Jesus or rather it was he who was raised from the dead and who is now at God's right hand is even pleading on our behalf who is there to separate us from the love of the Christ will trouble or difficulty or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or the sword scripture says for thy sake we are being killed all the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered yet amidst all these things we more than conquer through him who loved us for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor archangels nor the present nor the future nor any powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord chapter nine I'm speaking the truth as one in union with Christ it is no lie and my conscience enlightened by the Holy Spirit bears me out when I say that there is a great weight of sorrow upon me and that my heart is never free from pain I could wish that I were myself accursed and severed from the Christ for the sake of my brothers my own countrymen for they are Israelites and theirs are the adoption as sons the visible presence the covenants the revealed law the temple worship and the promises they are descended from the patriarchs and as far as his human nature was concerned from them came the Christ who is supreme over all things God for ever blessed amen not that God's word has failed for it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites nor because they are Abraham's descendants are they all his children but it is Isaac's children who will be called by descendants this means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God's children but it is the children born in fulfillment of the promise or to be regarded as Abraham's descendants for these words are the words of a promise about this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son nor is that all there is also the case of Rebecca when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac for in order that the purpose of God working through selection might not fail a selection depending not on obedience but on his call Rebecca was told before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong that the elder should be a servant to the younger the words of scripture are I love Jacob but I hated Esau what are we to say then is God guilty of injustice heaven forbid for his words to Moses are I will take pity on whom I take pity and be merciful to whom I am merciful so then all depends not on human wishes or human efforts but on God's mercy in scripture again it is said to Pharaoh it was for this very purpose that I raise thee to the throne to show my power by my dealings with thee and to make my name known throughout the world so then where God wills he takes pity and where he wills he hardens the heart perhaps you will say to me how can anyone still be blamed for who withstands his purpose I might rather ask who are you who are arguing with God does a thing which a man has molded say to him who has molded it why did you make me like this has not the Potter absolute power over his clay so that out of the same lump he makes one thing for better and another for common use and what if God intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure though they were fit only to be destroyed so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy whom he prepared beforehand for glory and whom he called even us not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also this indeed is what he says in the book of Hosea I will call those people who are not my people and her my beloved who was not beloved and in the very place where it was said to them ye are not my people they shall be called sons of the living God and Isaiah cries aloud over Israel though the sons of Israel are like the sands of the sea and number only a remnant of them shall escape for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the world fully and without delay it is as Isaiah foretold had not the Lord of hosts spared some few of our race to us we should have become like Sodom and been made to resemble Gomorrah what are we to say then why the Gentiles who were not in search of righteousness secured it a righteousness which was the result of faith while Israel which was in search of a law which would ensure righteousness failed to discover one and why because they look to obedience and not to faith to secure it they stumbled over the stumbling block as scripture says see I place a stumbling block in Zion a rock which shall prove a hindrance and he who believes in him shall have no cause for shame chapter 10 brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for my people is for their salvation I can testify that they are zealous for the honor of God but they are not guided by true insight for in their ignorance of the divine righteousness and in their eagerness to set up a righteousness of their own they refused to accept with submission the divine righteousness for Christ has brought law to an end so that righteousness may be obtained by everyone who believes in him for Moses writes that as for the righteousness which results from law those who practice it will find life through it but the righteousness which results from faith finds expression in these words do not say to yourself who will go up into heaven which means to bring Christ down or who will go down into the depths below which means to bring Christ up from the dead no but what does it say the message is near the it is on thy lips and in thy heart which means the message of faith which we proclaim for if with your lips you acknowledge the truth of the message that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved for with their hearts men believe and so attain to righteousness while with their lips they make their profession of faith and so find salvation as the passage of scripture says no one who believes in him shall have any cause for shame for no distinction is made between the Jew and the Greek for all had the same Lord and he is bountiful to all who invoke him for everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved but how it may be asked are they to invoke one in whom they have not learned to believe and how are they to believe in one whose words they have not heard and how are they to hear his words unless someone proclaims him and how are meant to proclaim him unless they are sent as his messengers as scripture says how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news still it may be said everyone did not give heed to the good news no for Isaiah asks Lord who has believed our teaching and so we gather faith is a result of teaching and the teaching comes in the message of Christ but I ask is it possible that men have never heard no indeed their voices spread through all the earth and their message to the very ends of the world but again I ask did not the people of Israel understand first there is Moses who says I the Lord will stir you to rivalry with a nation which is no nation against an undiscerning nation I will arouse your anger and Isaiah says boldly I was found by those who were not seeking me I made myself known to those who were not inquiring of me but of the people of Israel he says all day long I have stretched out my hands to a people who disobey and contradict chapter 11 I ask then has God rejected his people heaven forbid for I myself am in Israelite a descendant of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin God has not rejected his people whom he chose from the first have you forgotten the words of scripture in the story of Elijah how he appeals to God against Israel Lord they have killed thy prophets they have pulled down thy altars and I only am left and now they are eager to take my life but what was the divine response I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have never bowed the knee to bail and so in our own time too there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love but if in love then no longer as a result of obedience otherwise love would cease to be love what follows from this why that Israel as a nation failed to secure what it was seeking while those whom God selected did secure it the rest grew callous as scripture says God has given them a deadness of mind eyes that are not to see and ears that are not to hear and it is so to this very day David too says may their feasts prove a snare and a trap to them a hindrance and a retribution may their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and do thou always make their backs to bend I ask then was there stumbling to result in their fall heaven forbid on the contrary through their falling away salvation has reached the Gentiles to stir the rivalry of Israel and if they're falling away has enriched the world and their failure has enriched the Gentiles how much more will result from their full restoration but I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles being myself an apostle to the Gentiles I exult my office in the hope that I may stir my countrymen to rivalry and so save some of them for if they're being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world what will their reception mean but life from the dead if the first handful of dough is holy so is the whole mass and if the root is holy so are the branches some however of the branches were broken off and you who were only a wild olive were grafted in among them and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive yet do not exalt over the other branches but if you do exalt over them remember that you do not support the root but that the root supports you but branches you will say were broken off so that I might be grafted in true it was because of their want of faith that they were broken off and it is because of your faith that you are standing do not think too highly of yourself but beware for if God did not spare the natural branches neither will he spare you see then both the goodness and the severity of God his severity toward those who fell and his goodness toward you provided that you continue to confide in that goodness otherwise you also will be cut off and they too if they do not continue in their unbelief will be grafted in for God has it in his power to graft them in again if you were cut off from your natural stock a wild olive and were grafted contrary to the course of nature upon a good olive much more will they the natural branches be grafted back into their parent tree brothers for fear that you should think too highly of yourselves I want you to recognize the truth hitherto hidden that the callousness which has come over Israel is only partial and will continue only till the whole Gentile world has been gathered in and then all Israel shall be saved as scripture says from Zion will come the deliverer you will banish ungodliness from Jacob and they shall see the fulfillment of my covenant when I have taken away their sins from the standpoint of the good news the Jews are God's enemies on your account but from the standpoint of God's selection they are dear to him on account of the patriarchs for God never regrets his gifts or his call just as you at one time were disobedient to him but have now found mercy in the day of their disobedience so too they have now become disobedient in your day of mercy in order that they also in their turn may now find mercy for God has given all alike over to disobedience that to all alike he may show mercy oh the unfathomable wisdom and the knowledge of God how inscrutable are his judgments how untraceable his ways yes who has ever comprehended the mind of the Lord who has ever become his counselor or who has first given to him so that he may claim a recompense for all things are from him through him and for him and to him be all glory for ever and ever amen. by a company of about twenty scholars the letter to the Romans chapters 12 through 16 chapter 12 I entreat you then brothers by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God for this is your rational worship do not conform to the fashion of this world but be transformed by the complete change that has come over your minds so that you may discern what God's will is all that is good acceptable and perfect in fulfillment of the charge with which I have been entrusted I bid every one of you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think but to think till he learns to think soberly in accordance with the measure of faith that God has allotted to each for just as in the human body there is a union of many parts and each part has its own function so we by our union in Christ many though we are form but one body and individually we are related one to another as its parts since our gifts differ in accordance with the particular charge entrusted to us if our gift is to preach let our preaching correspond to our faith if it is to minister to others let us devote ourselves to our ministry the teacher to his teaching the speaker to his exhortation let the man who gives in charity do so with a generous heart let him who is in authority exercise due diligence let him who shows kindness do so in a cheerful spirit let your love be sincere hate the wrong cling to the right in brotherly love be affectionate to one another in showing respect set an example of deference to one another never flagging in zeal fervent in spirit serving the master rejoicing in your hope steadfast under persecution persevering in prayer relieving the wants of Christ's people devoted to hospitality bless your persecutors bless and never curse rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping let the same spirit of sympathy animate you all not a spirit of pride be glad to associate with the lowly do not think too highly of yourselves never return injury for injury aim at doing what all men will recognize as honorable if it is possible as far as rest with you live peaceably with everyone never avenge yourselves dear friends but make way for the wrath of god for scripture declares it is for me to avenge i will requite says the lord rather if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him to drink by doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head never be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good chapter 13 let everyone obey the supreme authorities for no authority exists except by the will of god and the existing authorities have been appointed by god therefore he who sets himself against the authorities is resisting god's appointment and those who resist will bring a judgment upon themselves a good action has nothing to fear from rulers a bad action has do you want to have no reason to fear the authorities then do what is good and you will win their praise for they are god's servants appointed for your good but if you do what is wrong you may well be afraid for the sword they carry is not without meaning they are god's servants to inflict his punishments on those who do wrong you are bound therefore to obey not only through fear of god's punishments but also as a matter of conscience this too is the reason for your paying taxes for the officials are god's officers devoting themselves to this special work in all cases pay what is due from you tribute where tribute is due taxes where taxes are due respect where respect is due and honor where honor is due oh nothing to anyone except brotherly love for he who loves his fellow men has satisfied the law the commandments thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal thou shalt not covet and whatever other commandment there is are all summed up in the words thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost thyself love never wrongs a neighbor therefore love fully satisfies the law this I say because you know the crisis that we have reached for the time has already come for you to rouse yourselves from sleep your salvation is nearer now than when we accepted the faith the night is almost gone the day is near therefore let us have done with the deeds of darkness and arm ourselves with the weapons of light being in the light of day let us live becomingly not in revelry and drunkenness not in lust and licentiousness not in quarreling and jealousy no arm yourselves with the spirit of the lord jesus christ and spend no thought on your earthly nature to satisfy its cravings chapter 14 as for those whose faith is weak always receive them as friends but not for the purpose of passing judgment on their scruples one man's faith permits of his eating food of all kinds while another whose faith is weak eats only vegetable food the man who eats meat must not despise the man who abstains from it nor must the man who abstains from eating meat pass judgment on the one who eats it for god himself has received him who are you that you should pass judgment on the servant of another his standing or falling concerns his own master and stand he will for his master can enable him to stand again one man considers some days to be more sacred than others while another considers all days to be alike everyone ought to be fully convinced in his own mind he observes a day observes it to his master's honor he again who eats meat eats it to the master's honor for he gives thanks to god while he who abstains from it abstains from it to the master's honor and also gives thanks to god there is not one of us whose life concerns himself alone and not one of us whose death concerns himself alone for if we live our life is for the master and if we die our death is for the master whether then we live or die we belong to the master the very purpose for which christ died and came back to life was this that he might be lord over both the dead and the living i would ask the one man why do you judge your brother and i would ask the other why do you despise your brother for we shall all stand before the bar of god for scripture says as surely as i live says the lord every knee shall bend before me and every tongue shall make acknowledgement to god so then each one of us will have to render account of himself to god let us then cease to judge one another rather let this be your resolve never to place a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother's way through my union with the lord jesus i know and am persuaded that nothing is defiling in itself a thing is defiling only to him who holds it to be so if for the sake of what you eat you wound your brother's feelings your life has ceased to be ruled by love do not by what you eat ruin a man for whom christ died do not let what is right for you become a matter of reproach for the kingdom of god does not consist of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and gladness through the presence of the holy spirit he who serves the christ in this way pleases god and wins the approval of his fellow men therefore our effort should be directed toward all that makes for peace and the mutual building up of character do not undo god's work for the sake of what you eat though everything is clean yet if a man eats so as to put a stumbling block in the way of others he does wrong the right course is to abstain from meat or wine or indeed anything that is a stumbling block to your brother as for yourself keep this faith of yours to yourself as in the presence of god happy as he who never has to condemn himself in regard to the very thing which he thinks right he however who has misgivings stands condemned if he still eats because his doing is not the result of faith and anything not done as the result of faith is a sin chapter 15 we the strong ought to take on our shoulders the weaknesses of those who are not strong and not merely to please ourselves let each of us please his neighbor for his neighbor's good to help in the building up of his character even the christ did not please himself on the contrary as scripture says of him the reproaches of those who were reproaching thee fell upon me whatever was written in the scriptures and days gone by was written for our instruction so that through patient endurance and through the encouragement drawn from the scriptures we might hold fast to our hope and may god the giver of this patience and this encouragement grant you to be united in sympathy in christ so that with one heart and one voice you may praise the god and father of jesus christ our lord therefore always receive one another as friends just as the christ himself received us to the glory of god for i tell you that christ in vindication of god's truthfulness has become a minister of the covenant of circumcision so that he may fulfill the promises made to our ancestors and that the gentiles also may praise god for his mercy as scripture says therefore will i make acknowledgement to the among the gentiles and sing in honor of thy name and again it says rejoice ye gentiles with god's people and yet again praise the lord all ye gentiles and let all peoples sing his praises and again isaia says there shall be a saiyan of the house of jessie one who is to arise to rule the gentiles and on him shall the gentiles rest their hopes may god who inspires our hope grant you perfect happiness and peace in your faith till you are filled with this hope by the power of the holy spirit i am persuaded my brothers yes i paul with regard to you that you are yourselves full of kindness furnished with all christian learning and well able to give advice to one another but in parts of this letter i have expressed myself somewhat boldly by way of refreshing your memories because of the charge with which god has entrusted me that i should be a minister of christ jesus to go to the gentiles that i should act as a priest of god's good news so that the offering up of the gentiles may be an acceptable sacrifice consecrated by the holy spirit it is then through my union with christ jesus that i have a proud confidence in my work for god for i will not dare to speak of anything but what christ has done through me to win the obedience of the gentiles by my words and actions through the power displayed in signs and marvels and through the power of the holy spirit and so starting from jerusalem and its neighborhood and going as far as elaira i have told in full the good news of the christ yet always with the ambition to tell the good news where christ's name had not previously been heard so as to avoid building upon another man's foundations but as scripture says they to whom he had never been proclaimed shall see and they who have never heard shall understand that is why i have so often been prevented from coming to you but now there are no further openings for me in these parts and i have for several years been longing to come to you whenever i may be going to spain for my hope is to visit you on my journey and then to be sent on my way by you after i have first partly satisfied myself by seeing something of you just now however i'm on my way to jerusalem to take help to christ people there for macedonia and greece have been glad to make a collection for the poor among christ people at jerusalem yes they were glad to do so and indeed it is a duty which they owe to them for the gentile converts who have shared their spiritual blessings are in duty bound to minister to them and the things of this world when i have settled this matter and have secured to the poor at jerusalem the enjoyment of these benefits i shall go by way of you to spain and i know that when i come to you it will be with a full measure of blessing from christ i beg you then brothers by jesus christ our lord and by the love inspired by the spirit to join me in earnest prayer to god on my behalf pray that i may be rescued from those in judia who reject the faith and that the help which i am taking to jerusalem may prove acceptable to christ people so that god willing i may be able to come to you with a joyful heart and enjoy some rest among you may god the giver of peace be with you all amen chapter 16 i commend to your care our sister phoebe who helps in the work of the church at sincray and i ask you to give her a christian welcome one worthy of christ people and to aid her in any matter in which she may need your assistance she has proved herself a staunch friend to me and to many others give my greeting to prisca and aquila my fellow workers in the cause of christ jesus who risked their own lives to save mine it is not i alone who thank them but all the churches among the gentiles thank them also give my greeting also to the church that meets at their house as well as to my dear friend eponetus one of the first in roman asia to believe in christ to mary who worked hard for you to andronicus and junius my countrymen and once my fellow prisoners who are men of note among the apostles and who became christians before i did to my dear christian friend ampillatus to urban our fellow worker in the cause of christ and to my dear friend stackies to that proved christian appellies to the household of iris tabulus to my countrymen herodian to the christians in the household of narcissus to trifina and trifosa who have worked hard for the master to my dear friend persis for she has done much hard work for the master to that imminent christian rufus and to his mother who has been a mother to me also to eson cretus flegan hermes petrobus hermos and the brothers with them also to philologists and julia niris and his sister and olympus and to all christ people who are with them greet one another with a sacred kiss all the churches of the christ's and your greetings i urge you brothers to be on your guard against people who by disregarding the teachings which you received cause divisions and create difficulties disassociate yourselves from them for such persons are not serving christ our master but our slaves of their own appetites by their smooth words and flattery they deceive simple-minded people everyone has heard of your ready obedience it is true that i am very happy about you but i want you to be well versed in all that is good and innocent of all that is bad and god the giver of peace will be for long crush satan under your feet may the blessing of jesus our lord be with you timothy my fellow worker sends you his greetings and lucius jason susypeter my countrymen send theirs i tertius who am writing this letter send you my christian greeting my host gayas who extends his hospitality to the whole church sends you his greeting and harassed us the city treasurer and quartus our brother add theirs now to him who is able to strengthen you as promised in the good news entrusted to me and in the proclamation of jesus christ in accordance with the revelation of that hidden purpose which in past ages was kept secret but now has been revealed and in obedience to the command of the immortal god made known through the writings of the prophets to all nations to secure submission to the faith to him i say the wise and only god be ascribed through jesus christ all glory for ever and ever amen end of chapters 12 through 16 end of the letter to the romans