Galatians 3:6–18

⁶So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^ce

⁷Understand, then, that those who have faith^f are children of Abraham.^{g 8}Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^{dh 9}So those who rely on faithⁱ are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.^j

¹⁰For all who rely on the works of the law^k are under a curse,^l as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”^{em 11}Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God,ⁿ because “the righteous will live by faith.”^{fo 12}The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{gp 13}Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law^q by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”^{hr 14}He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,^s so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.^t

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵Brothers and sisters,^u let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.^v Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”^iw meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years^x later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise;^y but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.