And once when he ate with them, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," he said,

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to possess it, faith is nullified and the promise amounts to nothing!

Will not he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, with that gift give us everything?

for to all the promises of God he supplies the "Yes" that confirms them. That is why we utter the "Amen" through him, when we give glory to God.

in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit. To take an illustration, brothers, from daily life: even a human agreement, once ratified, no one annuls or alters. read more. Now the promises were made to Abraham and his line. It does not say, "and to your lines," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your line," that is, Christ. My point is this: An agreement already ratified by God cannot be annulled and its promise canceled by the Law, which arose four hundred and thirty years later. If our inheritance rests on the Law, it has nothing to do with the promise. Yet it was as a promise that God bestowed it upon Abraham. Then what about the Law? It was a later addition, designed to produce transgressions, until the descendant to which the promise was made should come, and it was enacted by means of angels, through an intermediary; though an intermediary implies more than one party, while God is but one. Is the Law then contrary to God's promises? By no means. For if a law had been given that could have brought life, uprightness would really have come through law. But the Scripture describes all mankind as the prisoners of sin, so that the promised blessing might on the ground of faith in Jesus Christ be given to those who have faith. But before this faith came, we were kept shut up under the Law, in order to obtain the faith that was to be revealed. So the Law has been our attendant on our way to Christ, so that we might be made upright through faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer in the charge of the attendant. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through your faith. For all of you who have been baptized into union with Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no room for "Jew" and "Greek"; there is no room for "slave" and "freeman"; there is no room for "male" and "female"; for in union with Christ Jesus you are all one. And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise.

Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,

and swore that he would give her anything she asked for.

They were delighted to hear it and promised to pay him for it. So he was watching for an opportunity to betray him to them.

And I will send down upon you what my Father has promised. Wait here in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

And once when he ate with them, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," he said,

So he has been exalted to God's right hand, and has received from his Father and poured over us the holy Spirit that had been promised, as you see and hear.

for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him."

for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him."

He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time.

As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise God had made to Abraham, the people became more and more numerous in Egypt,

and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed.

So we now bring you the good news

But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, and are only waiting to get your promise."

Even now it is for my hope in the promise that God made to our forefathers that I stand here on trial,

That is to say, it is not his physical descendants who are children of God, but his descendants born in fulfilment of the promise who are considered his true posterity.

for to all the promises of God he supplies the "Yes" that confirms them. That is why we utter the "Amen" through him, when we give glory to God.

So since we have promises like these, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves of everything that can defile body or spirit, and by reverence for God make our consecration complete.

in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise.

Now we, brothers, are like Isaac, children born in fulfilment of the promise.

You also have heard the message of the truth, the good news of your salvation, and believed in him, and through union with him you have been marked with the seal of the holy Spirit that was promised,

that through union with Christ Jesus the heathen are fellow-heirs with the Jews, belong to the same body and share the promise with them, through the good news

We ought therefore to fear that when the promise of admission to his Rest is still open, some one of you may be found to have failed to reach it.

so that you may never grow careless, but may learn to follow the example of those who through their faith and endurance are the possessors of God's promises.

And so after waiting patiently, he received what God had promised him.

Therefore, God in his desire to make it perfectly clear to those to whom he made his promise, that his purpose was unalterable, bound himself with an oath,

In the one case, mortal men collect tithes; but in the other, one who, it is intimated, lives on.

And this is why he is the negotiator of a new agreement, in order that as someone has died to deliver them from the offenses committed under the old agreement, those who have been offered it may receive the unending inheritance they have been promised.

Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him.

of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!"

Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,

Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he stands the test, he will be given the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Thus he has given us his precious and splendid promises so that through them you may escape the corrupting influences that exist in the world through passion, and come to share in the divine nature.

and saying, "Where is his promised coming? For ever since our forefathers fell asleep everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation!"

And what he himself has promised us is eternal life.

As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise God had made to Abraham, the people became more and more numerous in Egypt,

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to possess it, faith is nullified and the promise amounts to nothing!

in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

My point is this: An agreement already ratified by God cannot be annulled and its promise canceled by the Law, which arose four hundred and thirty years later. If our inheritance rests on the Law, it has nothing to do with the promise. Yet it was as a promise that God bestowed it upon Abraham.

Is the Law then contrary to God's promises? By no means. For if a law had been given that could have brought life, uprightness would really have come through law. But the Scripture describes all mankind as the prisoners of sin, so that the promised blessing might on the ground of faith in Jesus Christ be given to those who have faith.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise.

But, as it is, the priestly service to which Christ has been appointed is as much better than the old as the agreement established by him and the promises on which it is based are superior to the former ones.

Thus he has given us his precious and splendid promises so that through them you may escape the corrupting influences that exist in the world through passion, and come to share in the divine nature.