⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

²⁸ For ^(A)no one is a Jew ^(B)who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹ But a Jew is one ^(C)inwardly, and ^(D)circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. ^(E)His praise is not from man but from God.

¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, ^(A)peace and mercy be upon them, and upon ^(B)the Israel of God.

The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask, then, ^(A)has God rejected his people? By no means! For ^(B)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,^[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ^2 (C)God has not rejected his people whom he ^(D)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

^3 (A)What if some were unfaithful? ^(B)Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(A)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(B)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (C)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(D)the law brings wrath, but ^(E)where there is no law ^(F)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(G)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(H)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(I)who is the father of us all,

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(A)an Israelite indeed, ^(B)in whom there is no deceit!”

^35 (A)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(B)my words will not pass away.