All Israel Will Be Saved

25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

28Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.29For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.30Just as you who formerly disobeyed God have now received mercy through their disobedience,31so they too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you.32For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.

Living Sacrifices

1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function,5so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.6We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;7if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love, Zeal, Hope, Hospitality

9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.11Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.13Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Forgiveness

14Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.18If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Submission to Authorities

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.2Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.4For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.6This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.7Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love Fulfills the Law

8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Day Is Near

11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

The Law of Liberty

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.2For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.3The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.6He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.7For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.9For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

The Law of Love

13Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.14I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.16Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.18For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.