⁹ and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.^(A)

⁸ Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.^(A)

²⁷ As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.^{(A) 28} There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.^{(B) 29} And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,^[a] heirs according to the promise.^(C)

⁷ and not all of Abraham’s children are his descendants, but “it is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”^{(A) 8} This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.

²⁶ “Brothers and sisters,^[a] you descendants of Abraham’s family and others who fear God, to us^[b] the message of this salvation has been sent.

³³ They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”^(A)

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.^{(A) 23} One, the child of the enslaved woman, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise.^{(B) 24} Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia^[a] and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.^{(C) 27} For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[b] my brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac. ²⁹ But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.^{(E) 30} But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the enslaved woman and her child, for the child of the enslaved woman will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.”^{(F) 31} So then, brothers and sisters, we are children, not of an enslaved woman but of the free woman.

The Example of Abraham

4 What then are we to say was gained by^[a] Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?

⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”^(A)