The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the ^ypromise to Abraham and his offspring ^zthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 ^aFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but ^bwhere there is no law ^cthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to ^dthe one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, ^e“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God ^fin whom he believed, who ^ggives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^h“So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith ⁱwhen he considered his own body, which was ^jas good as dead (since he was about ^ka hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness¹ of Sarah’s womb. 20 No ^lunbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was ^m“counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but ⁿfor ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in ^ohim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up ^pfor our trespasses and ^qraised for our ^rjustification.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the ^xadoption, the ^yglory, ^zthe ^acovenants, ^bthe ^cgiving of the law, the ^dworship, and the ^epromises.

The Law and the Promise

15 ^wTo give a human example, brothers:¹ even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now ^xthe promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^y“And to your offspring,” ^zwho is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: ^athe law, which came ^b430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the ^cinheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? ^dIt was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ^eput in place through angels ^fby an ^gintermediary. 20 Now an ^hintermediary implies more than one, but ⁱGod is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then ^jrighteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture ^kimprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by ^lfaith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive ^munder the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian ⁿuntil Christ came, in order that we might be ^ojustified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were ^pbaptized into Christ have ^qput on Christ. 28 There is ^rneither Jew nor Greek, there is ^sneither slave² nor free, there is ^tno male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And ^uif you are ^vChrist’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^fhe swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,¹ having patiently waited, ^gobtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to ^hlie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to ⁱhold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that ^jenters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 ^kwhere Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, ^lhaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.