But if [while] seeking to be justified by Christ, [we] ourselves also have been found [to be] sinners, then [is] Christ an agent of sin? May it never be!

I never can nullify the unmerited favor of God. For if right standing with God could come through law, then Christ died for nothing.

This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified.

For if the inheritance [of never ending life] can be obtained by [obeying the requirements of] the law of Moses, it would not come from the promise [of God]; but God provided [this inheritance] for Abraham according to [His] promise.

What then is [the benefit of] the law of Moses? It was introduced [as part of God's revelation] in order to define what sin was, until the seed [i.e., Jesus] would come, to whom the promise [of never ending life] was made. The law of Moses was ordained through [the medium of] angels and [delivered] through the hand of an intermediary [i.e., Moses].

Therefore [is] the law opposed to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, certainly righteousness would have been from the law.

But the Scriptures indicate that everything [i.e., everyone] is under the control of sin, so that the promise [of never ending life] could be available [only] to those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

I entreat you, Brothers, to become like me, as I became like you. You have never done me any wrong.

For it is in the Writings, You who have never given birth, be glad; give cries of joy, you who have had no birth-pains; for the children of her who has been given up by her husband are more than those of the woman who has a husband.

But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the bondwoman [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael],
For never shall the son of the bondwoman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”

That kind of persuasion never came from him who called you!

But I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never carry out the desire of the flesh.

envy, [murder], drinking bouts, revelry, and the like; I tell you beforehand as I have told you already, that people who indulge in such practices will never inherit the Realm of God.

If he engages in things to satisfy his own sinful desires, he will be [spiritually] destroyed for such conduct, but the one who engages in things to please the Holy Spirit will receive never ending life [as a result].

And we should not become tired of doing good things, for eventually we will receive [never ending life] if we do not give up.

But [as] for me, may it never be [that I] boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.