The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."

And as Isaiah said: "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us children, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah."

And if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.