The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For ^ethe promise to Abraham and his offspring ^fthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 ^gFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For ^hthe law brings wrath, but ⁱwhere there is no law ^jthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, ^kin order that the promise may rest on grace and ^lbe guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^mwho is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, ⁿ“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^owho gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^pthe things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^q“So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^ras good as dead (^ssince he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^tthe barrenness¹ of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that ^uGod was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But ^vthe words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^wwho believe in ^xhim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 ^ywho was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^zfor our justification.