Psalm 103

Of David.

1 

Praise the Lord, my soul;

    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 

Praise the Lord, my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits—

3 

who forgives all your sins

    and heals all your diseases,

4 

who redeems your life from the pit

    and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 

who satisfies your desires with good things

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 

The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all the oppressed.

7 

He made known his ways to Moses,

    his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

    slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 

He will not always accuse,

    nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

    or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 

As a father has compassion on his children,

    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14 

for he knows how we are formed,

    he remembers that we are dust.

15 

The life of mortals is like grass,

    they flourish like a flower of the field;

16 

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

    and its place remembers it no more.

17 

But from everlasting to everlasting

    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

    and his righteousness with their children’s children—

18 

with those who keep his covenant

    and remember to obey his precepts.

19 

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

    you mighty ones who do his bidding,

    who obey his word.

21 

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

    you his servants who do his will.

22 

Praise the Lord, all his works

    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6 

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptizedinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old selfwas crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sinonce for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.