Romans 1:9

1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ¹  of his Son, is my witness that ²  I continually remember you

Romans 8:15

8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, ³  but you received the Spirit of adoption, ⁴  by whom ⁵  we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:26

8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, ⁶  but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

Galatians 4:6

4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls ⁷  “Abba! ⁸  Father!”

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ⁹  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ¹⁰  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Philippians 3:3

3:3 For we are the circumcision, ¹¹  the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, ¹²  exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials ¹³ 

Jude 1:20-21

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁴  1:21 maintain ¹⁵  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ¹⁶  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ¹⁷ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

[1:9]  ² tn Grk “as.”

[8:15]  ³ tn Grk “slavery again to fear.”

[8:15]  ⁴ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).”

[8:15]  ⁵ tn Or “in that.”

[8:26]  ⁶ tn Or “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.”

[4:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “calling.” The participle is neuter indicating that the Spirit is the one who calls.

[4:6]  ⁸ tn The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally meaning “my father” but taken over simply as “father,” used in prayer and in the family circle, and later taken over by the early Greek-speaking Christians (BDAG 1 s.v. ἀββα).

[6:18]  ⁹ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and toward it.”

[3:3]  ¹¹ tn There is a significant wordplay here in the Greek text. In v. 2 a rare, strong word is used to describe those who were pro-circumcision (κατατομή, katatomh, “mutilation”; see BDAG 528 s.v.), while in v. 3 the normal word for circumcision is used (περιτομή, peritomh; see BDAG 807 s.v.). Both have τομή (the feminine form of the adjective τομός [tomo"], meaning “cutting, sharp”) as their root; the direction of the action of the former is down or off (from κατά, kata), hence the implication of mutilation or emasculation, while the direction of the action of the latter is around (from περί, peri). The similarity in sound yet wide divergence of meaning between the two words highlights in no uncertain terms the differences between Paul and his opponents.

[3:3]  ¹² tc The verb λατρεύω (latreuw; here the participial form, λατρεύοντες [latreuonte"]) either takes a dative direct object or no object at all, bearing virtually a technical nuance of “worshiping God” (see BDAG 587 s.v.). In this text, πνεύματι (pneumati) takes an instrumental force (“by the Spirit”) rather than functioning as object of λατρεύοντες. However, the word after πνεύματι is in question, no doubt because of the collocation with λατρεύοντες. Most witnesses, including some of the earliest and best representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texts (א* A B C D² F G 0278^vid 33 1739 1881 Ï co Ambr), read θεοῦ (qeou; thus, “worship by the Spirit of God”). But several other important witnesses (א² D* P Ψ 075 365 1175 lat sy Chr) have the dative θεῷ (qew) here (“worship God by the Spirit”). Ì⁴⁶ is virtually alone in its omission of the divine name, probably due to an unintentional oversight. The dative θεῷ was most likely a scribal emendation intended to give the participle its proper object, and thus avoid confusion about the force of πνεύματι. Although the Church came to embrace the full deity of the Spirit, the NT does not seem to speak of worshiping the Spirit explicitly. The reading θεῷ thus appears to be a clarifying reading. On external and internal grounds, then, θεοῦ is the preferred reading.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “have no confidence in the flesh.”

[1:20]  ¹⁴ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ¹⁵ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”