Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God's Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ^(A)“Fear not, Abram, I am ^(B)your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^[a] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ^(C)a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; ^(D)your very own son^[b] shall be your heir.” ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look towards heaven, and ^(E)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ^(F)“So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And ^(G)he believed the Lord, and ^(H)he counted it to him as righteousness.

¹² As the sun was going down, a ^(A)deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ^(B)that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and ^(C)they will be afflicted for ^(D)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But ^(E)I will bring judgement on the nation that they serve, and afterwards ^(F)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ^(G)you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ^(H)the iniquity of the Amorites ^(I)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ^(J)“To your offspring I give^[a] this land, from ^(K)the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

²¹ But now ^(A)the righteousness of God ^(B)has been manifested apart from the law, although ^(C)the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God ^(D)through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^(E)For there is no distinction: ²³ for ^(F)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24 (G)and are justified ^(H)by his grace as a gift, ^(I)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God ^(J)put forward as ^(K)a propitiation ^(L)by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in ^(M)his divine forbearance he had passed over ^(N)former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

^27 (O)Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith ^(P)apart from works of the law. ²⁹ Or ^(Q)is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since ^(R)God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and ^(S)the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.