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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Romans 8 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/romans/8.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/romans/8-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Romans 8</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../romans/7.htm" title="Romans 7">◄</a> Romans 8 <a href="../romans/9.htm" title="Romans 9">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Living by the Power of God's Spirit</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_1"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.1" class="v45_8_1">1</span>If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. </span><span class="v45_8_2"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.2" class="v45_8_2">2</span>The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> free from sin and death. </span><span class="v45_8_3"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.3" class="v45_8_3">3</span>The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. </span><span class="v45_8_4"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.4" class="v45_8_4">4</span>He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_5"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.5" class="v45_8_5">5</span>People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. </span><span class="v45_8_6"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.6" class="v45_8_6">6</span>If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. </span><span class="v45_8_7"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.7" class="v45_8_7">7</span>Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws. </span><span class="v45_8_8"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.8" class="v45_8_8">8</span>If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_9"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.9" class="v45_8_9">9</span>You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him. </span><span class="v45_8_10"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.10" class="v45_8_10">10</span>But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. </span><span class="v45_8_11"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.11" class="v45_8_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_12"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.12" class="v45_8_12">12</span>My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. </span><span class="v45_8_13"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.13" class="v45_8_13">13</span>If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say “No” to your desires. </span><span class="v45_8_14"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.14" class="v45_8_14">14</span>Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. </span><span class="v45_8_15"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.15" class="v45_8_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> <a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.15!x.2" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father.<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.15!f.3" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v45_8_16"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.16" class="v45_8_16">16</span>God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. </span><span class="v45_8_17"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.17" class="v45_8_17">17</span>His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.</span></p><h3 class="s1">A Wonderful Future for God's People</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_18"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.18" class="v45_8_18">18</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.18!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I am sure what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. </span><span class="v45_8_19"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.19" class="v45_8_19">19</span>In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. </span><span class="v45_8_20"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.20" class="v45_8_20">20</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.20!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope </span><span class="v45_8_21"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.21" class="v45_8_21">21</span>that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. </span><span class="v45_8_22"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.22" class="v45_8_22">22</span>We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_23"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.23" class="v45_8_23">23</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.23!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children.<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.23!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> This means that our bodies will also be set free. </span><span class="v45_8_24"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.24" class="v45_8_24">24</span>And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. </span><span class="v45_8_25"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.25" class="v45_8_25">25</span>However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_26"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.26" class="v45_8_26">26</span>In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. </span><span class="v45_8_27"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.27" class="v45_8_27">27</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.27!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people. </span><span class="v45_8_28"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.28" class="v45_8_28">28</span>We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.28!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, </span><span class="v45_8_29"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.29" class="v45_8_29">29</span>and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so his Son would be the first of many children. </span><span class="v45_8_30"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.30" class="v45_8_30">30</span>God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.</span></p><h3 class="s1">God's Love</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_8_31"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.31" class="v45_8_31">31</span>What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? </span><span class="v45_8_32"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.32" class="v45_8_32">32</span>God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else? </span><span class="v45_8_33"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.33" class="v45_8_33">33</span>If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? </span><span class="v45_8_34"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.34" class="v45_8_34">34</span>Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side,<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.34!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> speaking to him for us. </span><span class="v45_8_35"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.35" class="v45_8_35">35</span>Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? </span><span class="v45_8_36"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.36" class="v45_8_36">36</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.8.36!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> It is exactly as the Scriptures say,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v45_8_36">“For you we face death</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v45_8_36">all day long.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v45_8_36">We are like sheep</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v45_8_36">on their way</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v45_8_36">to be butchered.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="m"><span class="v45_8_37"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.37" class="v45_8_37">37</span>In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. </span><span class="v45_8_38"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.38" class="v45_8_38">38</span>I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, </span><span class="v45_8_39"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.8.39" class="v45_8_39">39</span>and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">8.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">you: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some manuscripts have “me.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">8.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">our Father: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Greek text uses the Aramaic word “Abba” (meaning “father”), which shows the close relation between the children and their father.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">8.23 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">to show that we are his children: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">These words are not in some manuscripts. The translation of the remainder of the verse would then read, “while we wait for God to set our bodies free.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">8.28 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “All things work for the good of everyone who loves God” or “God's Spirit always works for the good of everyone who loves God.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">8.34 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">right side: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The place of power and honor.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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