Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God’s Covenant with Abram^(A)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(B)in a vision, saying, ^(C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(D)shield, ^[a]your exceedingly ^(E)great reward.”

^2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(G)seeing I ^[b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(H)one^[c] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(J)count the ^(K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(L)“So shall your ^(M)descendants be.”

⁶ And he ^(N)believed in the Lord, and He ^(O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(A)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(B)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(C)they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve ^(D)I will judge; afterward ^(E)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, ^(F)you shall ^[a]go ^(G)to your fathers in peace; ^(H)you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But ^(I)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^(J)of the Amorites ^(K)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^(L)passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ On the same day the Lord ^(M)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(N)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

God’s Righteousness Through Faith

²¹ But now ^(A)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, ^(B)being witnessed by the Law ^(C)and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all ^[a]and on all who believe. For ^(D)there is no difference; ²³ for ^(E)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified ^[b]freely ^(F)by His grace ^(G)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth ^(H)as a ^[c]propitiation ^(I)by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over ^(J)the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Boasting Excluded

^27 (K)Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ Therefore we conclude ^(L)that a man is ^[d]justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. ²⁹ Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, ³⁰ since ^(M)there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.