Works versus the Spirit

3 You irrational Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Jesus Christ was put on display as crucified before your eyes! ² I just want to know this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the Law or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so irrational? After you started with the Spirit, are you now finishing up with your own human effort? ⁴ Did you experience so much for nothing? I wonder if it really was for nothing. ⁵ So does the one providing you with the Spirit and working miracles among you do this by you doing the works of the Law or by you believing what you heard?

Abraham: an example of righteousness

⁶ Understand that in the same way that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness,^{[a] 7} those who believe are the children of Abraham. ⁸ But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you.^{[b] 9} Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed.

²³ Before faith came, we were guarded under the Law, locked up until faith that was coming would be revealed, ²⁴ so that the Law became our custodian until Christ so that we might be made righteous by faith.

God’s children are heirs in Christ

²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian.

²⁶ You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.