²⁶ Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

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.

¹⁹ Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.

Salvation Is for Everyone

⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.^[a]

²⁰ Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.

¹⁴ If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 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!)

¹⁶ So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

¹² This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”^[a]

¹³ But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”^[b]