They had only heard it said about me, "This person, who had once persecuted us [Christians], is now preaching the faith he once made havoc of."

still we know that a person is not justified [i.e., made right with God] by [perfect obedience to] the law of Moses, but rather through faith in [the person and work of] Christ. [Knowing this] we have trusted in Christ Jesus [to save us], so that we might be made right with God by trusting in Him and not by [our compliance with] the requirements of the law of Moses. Because by such law-compliance no one can be made right with God.

The only thing I would like to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Holy Spirit [into your lives] by [meeting the requirements of] the law of Moses or by hearing [and obeying the message] of faith [in Christ]?

Did you suffer so many things [for the faith] all for nothing? [That is], if it really was for nothing?

Therefore, as God has provided you with the Holy Spirit and has produced miracles among you, [do you think He has done all this] as a result of your obeying the requirements of the law of Moses or as a result of hearing [and responding to the message of] the faith?

[An example of this is] Abraham, who believed God's [promise] and [because of such faith] he was considered right with God.

You should know, then, that people who have faith are [truly] God's children.

And, predicting that God would consider the Gentiles right with Him by [their] faith, the Scriptures previously recorded [this promise of] the Gospel to Abraham by saying [Gen. 12:3], "All nations will receive a blessing through your descendant [i.e., Jesus]."

So then, all those who have faith [in Jesus] receive a blessing along with Abraham, a man of faith.

Now it is evident that no person can be made right with God by [obeying all the requirements of] the law of Moses for [Hab. 2:4 says], "The righteous person will obtain life by [his] faith [in God]."

Now the law of Moses is not based on one's faith, for [Lev. 18:5 says], "The person who obeys the requirements of the law of Moses will obtain life by doing so."

[This happened] so that the blessing [promised] to Abraham might be received by the Gentiles through [the person and work of] Christ, so that we might receive the promised [gift of the] Holy Spirit through [our] faith [in Jesus].

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.

But before faith [in Christ] became available, we [Jews] were kept in bondage under [condemnation for not obeying perfectly] the law of Moses. [This condition existed] until the faith [i.e., the Gospel message] was made known [to people].

So, the law of Moses became like our "transportation to school," bringing us to [the school of] Christ where we [learn how to be] made right with God by faith [in Christ].

But now that faith [in Christ] has become available, we are no longer in need of this "transportation to school."

For all of you are children of God through your faith in Christ Jesus [as God's only Son].

For in [our relationship with] Christ neither the practice of circumcision nor refraining from its practice matters in any way; but [all that really matters is having a genuine] faith [in Christ] that causes us to work [for Him] out of a genuine love [for Him and others].

So then, we should do the right thing toward every person whenever we have the opportunity, and especially toward people who are part of God's family [i.e., those making up "the faith"].