³⁹ Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do.

¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”^[a]

⁴ For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.^[a] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.^[a] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁹ For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Life in the Spirit

8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

²¹ Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?^[a] Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. ²² But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

God’s Children through Faith

²³ Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

²⁴ Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. ²⁵ And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

¹⁵ For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

⁵ But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. ⁶ David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: