it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

"Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die.

God said to me, "Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign LORD commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life."

I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the LORD. I have promised that I would do this---and I will. I, the LORD, have spoken."

And this is the message: 'Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.' "

Though I have scattered them among the nations, yet in far-off places they will remember me. They and their children will survive and return home together.

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

"I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life.

The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me.

Certainly not! We have died to sin---how then can we go on living in it?

In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self.

For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.

To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.

But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin.

We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.

If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;

he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.

so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.

The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.

for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you."

For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death.

You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God.

That is why the Good News was preached also to the dead, to those who had been judged in their physical existence as everyone is judged; it was preached to them so that in their spiritual existence they may live as God lives.

And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.

No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so.

So Naaman said, "If you won't accept my gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me, because from now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt offerings to any god except the LORD.

And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.

In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless

Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant.

Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy.

From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires.

And now the heathen are surprised when you do not join them in the same wild and reckless living, and so they insult you.

(SEE 1:73)

Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.

So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.

For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.

he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.

Just do as I do; I try to please everyone in all that I do, not thinking of my own good, but of the good of all, so that they might be saved.

So far as the Law is concerned, however, I am dead---killed by the Law itself---in order that I might live for God. I have been put to death with Christ on his cross,

My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more.

Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.

who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes.

He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

God has raised from death our Lord Jesus, who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep as the result of his blood, by which the eternal covenant is sealed. May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will, and may he, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him. And to Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

(SEE 13:20)

I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead.