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Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
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who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
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But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
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As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
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Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
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Paul Called by God
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.
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For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
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But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
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I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
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And they praised God because of me.
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As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message.
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For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.
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“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
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I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
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So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
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So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
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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.”
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Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”
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What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
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For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
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A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.
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Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
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Children of God
Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
