17The Sacred Teachings tell us, “I have made you the father of many nations.”17 And in the eyes of the Great Spirit he is our father, for he put his trust in the Great Spirit, the one who gives life to the dead and speaks into being things that are not yet as if they already were.
18When all hope seemed to be gone, he trusted in the promise that he would become the father of many nations. The Great Spirit had said to him, “Your descendants will be like the stars, too many to count.”18
19When Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was about one hundred winters old, he could see that his body was as good as dead and that the womb of Noble Woman (Sarah) was barren. Even so, his faith did not become weak, 20and he did not stumble from the path as he kept walking toward Creator’s promise. His trust grew even stronger as he gave honor to the Great Spirit. 21He knew deep down in his bones that whatever Creator had promised, he had the power to do. 22This is why he was counted as one in good standing with the Great Spirit.
23These words, “he was counted as one in good standing,” were not written down for him only, 24but also for us, whom the Great Spirit will count among those who are in good standing with him, the ones who trust in him who raised our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from the dead. 25We are the ones who through our wrongdoings betrayed and killed him, but his rising from the dead proves we have good standing with the Great Spirit.
PEACE WITH THE GREAT SPIRIT
1This good standing we have brings peace with the Great Spirit. This peace comes from trusting in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One and what he has done for us. 2Our trust in him opens the way into Creator’s great kindness and is now the solid ground on which we stand. Now our boasting is in him, as we look forward to being the kind of people the Great Spirit created us to be, a people filled with his beauty and shining-greatness.
3-4But we must also find joy in our sufferings on his behalf. For we know that when the trail gets rough, we must walk with firm steps to reach the end. As we walk firmly in his footprints, we gain the strength of spirit that we need to stay true to the path. 5This gives us the hope we need to reach the end of the trail with honor. All of this is because of Creator’s great love that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is his gift to us from above.
SET FREE FROM BROKEN WAYS
6When the time was right, while we were still weak human beings following our bad hearts and broken ways, the Chosen One died for us. 7It is not easy to find someone who is willing to die for a good person, even though we might find someone with the courage to die for a very good person. 8But here is the way the Maker of Life proves how deep his love is for us: even when we were still following our bad hearts and broken ways, the Chosen One gave his life for us. 9The lifeblood that he poured out puts our lives back into harmony and promises us good standing with the Great Spirit. What he has done sets us free from the storm of great anger caused by our bad hearts and broken ways.
10So, if the lifeblood poured out by the Chosen One has put us in good standing with the Great Spirit, then how much more will his life of beauty and harmony, which has defeated death, now set us free to walk in his ways!
11But taking this a step further, we can now boast with glad hearts about what the Great Spirit has done through our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One! He is the one who has restored us back into friendship with the Great Spirit!
FROM RED CLAY TO CREATOR SETS FREE
12Here is another way to see what I am saying. Red Clay (Adam) was the first human being to fail to live the life he was created for. His broken ways brought death to all who followed in his footsteps, for death comes from following bad hearts and broken ways. 13These broken ways were already at work in the world, even before our tribal law was given. But where there is no law, no one can be guilty of breaking it.
14Even so, death still came to all who lived from Red Clay (Adam) to Drawn from the Water (Moses), who gave us the law. Yes, death ruled over all who walked in broken ways, even over the ones who did not fail in the same way Red Clay (Adam) failed. But, as we will see, Red Clay (Adam) was in many ways like the one who would come later, the Chosen One.
15But not in all ways, for the false step of Red Clay (Adam) cannot be compared with the gift of Creator’s great kindness shown to us in the Chosen One. If one man’s failure brought death to human beings, then how much more will Creator’s great kindness, gifted to us through the goodwill of one man—Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One—overflow to all with new life!
16Here is another way to see it. Red Clay’s (Adam’s) one failure was repeated over and over again, bringing guilt and shame to all who followed in his footsteps. But the gift of Creator’s great kindness overcame those many failures and gave human beings a path to good standing with him once again.
17If death overcame all human beings because of the wrongdoing of one man, then how much greater will it be for the ones who receive this gift of good standing and overflowing kindness? I will tell you! Through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, they will guide others with the wisdom and honor of a chief as they walk this road of life!
18And if the false steps of one man led to guilt and shame for all human beings, then another man’s true and firm steps will bring life and good standing to all human beings. 19Again, if one man who followed his bad heart passed it on to many others, then one man who walks with a good and upright heart will pass on that good heart to many others.
THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME
20Our tribal law stepped in to show us how bad our broken ways had become, and this only made our broken ways grow worse. But the worse our broken ways grew, even stronger grew the gift of Creator’s great kindness. 21Our broken ways ruled over us leading to death. But the gift of Creator’s great kindness that gives us good standing with him now rules over us. This leads to the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. This is his gift to us because of what our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One has done.
PURIFICATION CEREMONY
1What can we say about this? Should we continue to walk in our broken ways so that Creator will show us even more kindness? 2This kind of thinking takes us nowhere! How can we who have died to our bad hearts and broken ways continue to walk that path? 3Or have you forgotten that we who have participated in the purification ceremony19 of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One have ceremonially died with him?
4This ceremony shows that we have been buried with him in death, so that in the same way the Chosen One was raised from the dead by the power of our Father the Great Spirit, we should walk this new road of life to bring honor to him. 5If we have joined with him in his death, then, like him, we will also rise again to a new life. 6For we know that our old self was nailed to the cross with him, killing the evil desires in our bodies, so that our broken ways will not rule over us. 7For dead people can no longer follow their bad hearts and broken ways.
DYING TO BROKEN WAYS
8I will say it another way. If we have died with the Chosen One, we believe we will also live with him. 9For we know that once the Chosen One was raised to life from the dead, he would never die again. Death no longer has the power to rule over him. 10He died, once for all, to bring an end to humanity’s broken ways. The life he now lives is a life that brings honor to the Great Spirit.
11So think about yourselves in the same way, dead to broken ways and alive to the Great Spirit in harmony with the Chosen One Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 12You must no longer give in to the desires of your weak human bodies, letting your broken ways turn you away from the good path.
13So then, you should no longer permit broken ways to use your bodies for wrongdoing. Instead, as people whom the Great Spirit has raised from death to life, offer your bodies to him for doing what is right. 14Your bad hearts and broken ways have no power to rule over you now, for you are not under the restrictions of our tribal law, but under the freedom that the gift of Creator’s great kindne
ss brings.
FOLLOWING THE RIGHT PATH
15What then does this mean? Should we continue to walk in broken ways since we are not under our tribal law, but under the gift of Creator’s great kindness? Let that kind of thinking fall to the ground! 16You must know that if you follow a path, you will end up where it takes you. Which path will you follow? Will you follow the path of broken ways that leads to death, or the path that leads to good standing in the eyes of the Great Spirit?
17I am giving thanks to the Great Spirit! For even though you once followed your bad hearts and broken ways, you turned from that path, and now from the heart you follow the sacred ways that you have been taught. 18You have now been set free from your broken ways to walk a path of doing what is right.
WALKING IN A SACRED MANNER
19I am using weak human words to speak to weak human beings! You used to walk in impure ways and became the slaves of doing wrong, leading to even worse things. So now, in the same way, begin to walk as slaves of doing what is good and right, living life in a sacred manner.
20When you followed your old ways, you did not even think about walking in a sacred manner. 21But what good came from the things you are now ashamed of? For those things are a sure path to death.
22But now you have been set free from broken ways to follow the ways of the Great Spirit. Good fruit grows along this path as you walk in a sacred manner on the road that leads to the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.
23Following the path of broken ways only earns us death, but Creator’s free gift to us is the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. This free gift is ours in the Chosen One, who is our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
GUIDANCE FOR TRIBAL MEMBERS
1Now I, Small Man (Paul), will speak to the members of the sacred family who understand our tribal law. You must know that our law applies only to someone who is alive. 2For example, under our law of marriage a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from that law.
3So if she gives herself to another man while her husband lives, she will be guilty of unfaithfulness to her husband. But if her husband is no longer alive, she would not be guilty of unfaithfulness. His death has released her from the law of marriage.
4So my sacred family members, when the Chosen One died in his human body, you died with him. This death released you from our tribal law, so you could join with the one who has been raised from the dead. So now our lives can bear much fruit for the Great Spirit.
5For when we walked in our broken human ways,20 the law stirred up our evil desires, so that we bore fruit for death. 6But now that we have died, we have been released from the law that kept us bound. We now walk in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of a law carved in stone and written with ink on paper.21
THE LAW IS HOLY, UPRIGHT, AND GOOD
7But if you think I am saying our tribal law is at fault or that it is the reason we walk in our broken ways, you are not thinking straight. What I am saying is that the law shows us how bad our broken ways have become. I would not have known that some desires are wrong if the law had not said, “Do not desire what belongs to another.”
8But my broken ways of thinking turned the law’s instruction into a temptation that created in me all kinds of wrong desires. For if there were no law, then the temptation to walk in broken ways would not be awakened. 9I once lived my life not knowing the law, but when I heard the law’s instructions, my broken ways came to life and I died.
10So the law’s instructions, which were supposed to give me life, instead brought death to me. 11But it was my broken ways of thinking that tricked me and turned the law’s instructions into a temptation that ended up bringing death to me.
12So then, our tribal law is sacred, and its instructions are holy, upright, and good. 13Does that mean this good law brought death to me? No! It was my broken ways that did it, by using the law to stir up temptation in me, so I could see how bad my broken ways truly were.
THE INNER STRUGGLE TO DO GOOD
14For we know that our tribal law is spiritual, but I am a weak human being. My broken ways rule over me as if I were their slave. 15I do not understand why I do the things I do. I want to walk in a good way, but I end up doing the things I hate.
16And if I hate doing wrong, then it is a good thing for me to agree with the law that these things are wrong. 17So the part of me that hates doing wrong is not to blame. It is the broken ways that have taken root in my heart that hold me to this wrong path.
18I can now see that there is nothing good in this weak part of me22 that gives in to wrong desires, for it keeps me from doing what I know to be right. 19-20But since I want to do what is right but keep doing what is wrong, then it is not I but the broken ways within me that keep me doing wrong.
A LAW OF BROKEN WAYS
21I can now see that no matter how much I want to do good, evil is right there with me—a law of broken ways—taking charge and ruling over me. 22In my inner being I dance for joy in Creator’s law, 23but there is another law, rooted in my humanity, that fights against Creator’s law in my thoughts and makes me a prisoner of the law of broken ways that has taken root in my weak and broken humanity.23
24Someone have pity on me, for I am a man trapped in sorrow! Who will set me free from my broken humanity? 25I give thanks to the Great Spirit, for he is the one who set me free through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One!
So then, when I set my mind on what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has done I serve Creator’s law, even though in my broken humanity I remain a slave to broken ways.
1So now, no one can use our tribal law to decide the guilt of the ones who have trusted in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One! 2For the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), has brought the new law of the Spirit’s life to release us from the death sentence of our tribal law, given because of our bad hearts and broken ways. 3That law did not have the power to set us free, because of our broken humanity.24 But Creator found a way by sending his Son, in the likeness of broken and weak human beings, to bear the weight of our broken ways in his own human body and set us free from our guilt and shame.
4Now our tribal law can never have the say over the ones who walk in the new ways of the Spirit, and not in the old ways of our broken humanity. 5The ones who walk in these broken ways are still thinking like weak human beings, but the ones who walk in step with the Spirit are thinking like true human beings.
6If we set our minds on the broken desires of our bodies, we will see only death. But if we look to the power of the Spirit, we will have life and walk the road of peace. 7For the thoughts of our weak human minds are against the ways of the Great Spirit. These thoughts will not and cannot surrender to Creator’s law. 8The ones who follow only their broken desires are not able to please the Great Spirit.
9But if Creator’s Spirit lives in you, then the desires of your broken human ways cannot overpower you. Remember, the ones who belong to the Chosen One have his Spirit. 10So then, if the Chosen One lives in you, even though your broken human desires doom your bodies to death, the Spirit gives you life because of Creator’s power to restore you back to his right ways. 11If the same Spirit that brought Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One back from the dead lives in you, then that same Spirit will also bring your death-doomed bodies back to life again.
12-13Can you not see, my relatives? We must no longer let our weak and broken human ways guide us, for that path led us only to death. But if we let the Spirit put to death these broken ways, we will share in his life, 14for it is the ones who follow the guidance of Creator’s Spirit who are truly his children. 15We must no longer surrender like slaves to the spirit of fear. The Great Spirit has taken us into Creator’s family now, and we lift our voices and cry out to him, “Abba! My Father!”
16His Spirit talks to our spirit and tells us we are his children. 17If we are his children, then we sh
are with the Chosen One in all his blessings. But to be honored with him in the world to come, we must also be willing to suffer with him in this world.
18For it is clear to me that the suffering we now share with him is a small price to pay compared to the beauty and honor that is coming to us. 19The creation all around us is waiting on tiptoe for Creator’s sons and daughters to be revealed in the full beauty of who he has created them to be.
20-21Creation itself became weak and powerless, unable to fulfill its destiny, not by its own choice but because of the one who had the power over it. But there is hope, for Creator has a plan to restore human beings. Then all of creation will share in the freedom of the life of beauty and harmony given to all of Creator’s children.
22It is plain to see that all creation is still groaning in pain like a mother giving birth. 23And even we who have first tasted of his Spirit are groaning on the inside, as we wait for Creator to finish the purpose for which he took us into his family, by giving us our new bodies that will never die. 24This is what Creator was planning when he set us free by his Spirit. It is the hope of all creation. We cannot fully see this hope yet, for who hopes for what has already happened? 25So we must be patient and wait for Creator to bring everything to completion.
26In the same way, his Spirit helps us in our weakness, for our prayers are often empty words, but Creator’s own Spirit groans deep within us, without words, making our weak prayers strong. 27The one who sees into our hearts knows the Spirit’s thoughts and prays with us in our weakness, so we can become who he created us to be.
First Nations Version Page 49