Book of Common Prayer

²³ Before one came for us to believe in, the law held us in prison like slaves. We were kept there until the one to believe in should come.

²⁴ The law watched over us, as if we were children, until Christ came. Then God would put us right with himself through faith in Christ.

²⁵ But now that one has come for us to believe in, the law does not watch over us any longer.

²⁶ You are all God's children because you have believed in Christ Jesus.

²⁷ All of you who have been baptised into Christ have taken Christ as your own.

²⁸ There is no longer any difference between a Jew and one who is not a Jew; between a slave and a free man; between a man and a woman. When you are in the body of Christ Jesus, you are all alike.

²⁹ If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's children. And if you are Abraham's children, you will receive the blessing that God has promised.

4 Here is what I mean. When a man dies, his son is to receive his property. As long as the son is not grown up, he cannot have it. He has no more right than a servant, even though he really owns all the property.

² He still has people who take care of him and he must obey them until the time set by his father.

³ So it is with us. Before we were grown up, we were like servants. We were just beginning to learn about the things of this world.

⁴ But when the right time came, God sent his Son to make us free. He was born by a woman during the time when men had to obey the law.

⁵ God sent him to set the people free who were under the law. God sent him so that we would receive our rights as sons of God.

⁶ Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit calls out, `Father!'

⁷ So then, because of what God has done, you are no longer a slave but you are a son. And because you are a son, you will receive what he promised.

¹² Then Jesus talked to the people in the temple. He said, `I am the Light of the world. The one who comes with me will never walk in the dark, but he will have light that gives life.'

¹³ The Pharisees said, `You are talking about yourself. What you say is not true.'

¹⁴ Jesus said to them, `Even if I do talk about myself, what I say is true. I know where I come from and I know where I am going. But you do not know where I came from, or where I am going.

¹⁵ You judge in the way people judge matters. I do not judge any person.

¹⁶ But even if I do judge, I judge right. I am not alone. My Father who sent me is with me.

¹⁷ Even in your law it says that when two people say the same thing, it is true.

¹⁸ I talk about myself, and my Father who sent me talks about me.'

¹⁹ They asked him, `Where is your Father?' He said, `You do not know me and you do not know my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.'

²⁰ When Jesus said these words he was teaching in the temple. He was in the place where the money is kept. No one caught him because it was not yet his time.