The Law and the Promise

^15 (A)To give a human example, brothers:^{[a] (B)}even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.

¹⁷ For ^(A)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

^19 (A)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(B)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(C)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, ^(A)I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ^(B)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict ^(A)wrath on us? (^(B)I speak in a human way.)