The Law and God’s Promise

¹⁵ Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.

¹⁷ The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

¹⁹ Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

⁵ “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)

³² And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus^[a]—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”^[b]