Right With God

5 ¹We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God's grace (kindness) that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. ³And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. ⁴And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. ⁵And this hope will never disappoint us--[it will never fail]. Why? Because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit.* That Holy Spirit was a gift to us from God. ⁶Christ died for us while we were still weak people. We were living against God, but at the right time, Christ died for us. ⁷Very few people will die to save the life of another person, even if that other person is a good person. If the person is a very good person, then someone might be willing to die for that person. ⁸But Christ died for us while we were still sinners. In that way God showed us that he loves us very much. ⁹We have been made right with God by Christ's blood (death). So through Christ we will surely be saved from God's anger. ¹⁰I mean that while we were God's enemies, God made friends with us through the death of his Son. So surely, now that we are God's friends, God will save us through his Son's life. ¹¹And not only will we be saved, but we are also very happy now. We are happy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we are now God's friends.

Adam and Christ

¹²Sin came into the world because of what one man (Adam) did. And with sin came death. So this is why all people must die--because all people sinned. ¹³Sin was in the world before the law [of Moses]. But God does not make people guilty for sin if there is no law. ¹⁴But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, all people had to die. Adam died because he sinned by not obeying God's command. But even those people that did not sin the way Adam sinned had to die. Adam was like the One (Christ) who was coming in the future. ¹⁵But God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man (Adam). But the grace (kindness) that people received from God was much greater. Many people received God's gift [of life] by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶After Adam sinned once, he was judged guilty. But the gift of God is different. God's free gift came after many sins. And the gift makes people right with God. ¹⁷One man sinned, and so death ruled all people because of that one man. But now some people accept God's full grace (kindness) and his great gift of being made right. Surely those people will have true life and rule through the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸So one sin [of Adam] brought the punishment [of death] to all people. But in the same way, one good thing [that Christ did] makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for those people. ¹⁹One man (Adam) disobeyed God and many people became sinners. But in the same way, one man (Christ) obeyed God and many people will be made right. ²⁰The law came to make people have more sin. But when people had more sin, God gave them more of his grace (kindness). ²¹Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people right with him. This brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Spirit, Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world.