Here’s what I mean: The law was introduced 430 years after the covenant God made with Abraham. It can’t cancel their agreement or get rid of the promise.
because if you ask, “Did God keep his promises?” the answer in every case is, “Yes, through Jesus.” And so through him we say “Amen,” to the glory of God.
Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. As a result, you’ve been separated from Christ and you’ve fallen away from God’s grace.
Christ didn’t send me to baptize; he sent me to preach the good news. But I wasn’t supposed to try to persuade you with fancy words, because that would take all the power away from the cross of Christ.
All of these people were still living by faith when they died. They didn’t receive the things God had promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a long way off. They admitted that they were outsiders and strangers on earth.
So let me tell you—and I’m speaking for the Lord as I warn you: You must not live the way the Gentiles do any longer. They’re not able to think things through correctly.
So is the law opposed to God’s promises? Certainly not! If a law had been given that could give life, then people could become right with God by obeying that law.
Here’s what I mean. One of you says, “I follow Paul.” Another says, “I follow Apollos.” Another says, “I follow Peter.” And still another says, “I follow Christ.”
God provided him as a sacrifice to purify us through the shedding of his blood, and we receive the benefits of his sacrifice by faith. God did all this to show that what he does is right. He was merciful and overlooked sins from before. But now, in our own time,
Remember that you used to be separated from Christ. You weren’t considered to be citizens of Israel, and so you didn’t have a share in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world.