Romans 14:17Plain English VersionWe belong to God. He doesn’t give us rules about the things that we can’t eat or drink, but he wants us to have his spirit in us so that we will do the things that are right, and we will always feel good and quiet inside ourselves, and we will always be happy. If we live like that as we work for Jesus Christ, then we make God happy. And other people are happy with us too. See the chapter |
Then, at last, everything settled down and was quiet for the Christians in the churches in Judea country, and in Galilee country, and in Samaria country, and they got stronger for Jesus. The Holy Spirit helped them to be strong, and they respected Jesus properly. And more people joined them and believed in Jesus.
But as for you, God joined you to Jesus Christ. You and us together, Jesus helps us to be wise, like God. And Jesus makes us to be God’s friends, so that he will tell us we are all right. And Jesus makes us God’s own special people too. Jesus died to pay for us and set us free from everything that is wrong.
Listen. You know what will happen to bad people, right? They will not be in God’s family. They will never get the good things that God will give to his people. Don’t let anyone trick you about this. I’ll tell you now about the sort of people that will not be in God’s family. People that sleep with somebody that’s not their wife or husband, as if they are married. Those people will not be in God’s family. Or 2 men that sleep together as if one of them is a woman, they will not be in God’s family. And people that respect other spirits more than they respect God,
But if God’s spirit controls people, he gets them to do good things. You know that a good fruit tree always gets good fruit on it. Well, like that, a person with God’s spirit does good things. If you let God’s spirit lead you, he will get you to love God and to love other people. And you will be happy. And you will feel good and quiet inside yourself so that you will not fight with other people. God’s spirit inside you will help you be good to people and not get angry, even if they give you trouble. And he will get you to be friendly to other people, and he will get you to do good things. He will make you the sort of person that other people can trust.
Listen. You know that you belong to Jesus Christ, and he helps you to be strong and brave. You know that he loves you, so you are happy. You know that God’s spirit is in you, and you share your lives with him. You know how to feel sorry for each other, and how to help each other. You know all that, right?
I am Peter, and this letter is from me. My other name is Simon. I work for Jesus Christ. I am one of his special workers. You people believe in Jesus Christ, just like I do, so I’m writing this letter to you. Jesus helps us trust him, and that is really special for us. Jesus Christ is God, and he saves us. He is always right, and he is always fair.