If you obey the Law, your circumcision is of value; but if you disobey the Law, you might as well never have been circumcised.

Then Moses said to the people, "Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "People of Israel, listen to all the laws that I am giving you today. Learn them and be sure that you obey them.

Listen to them, people of Israel, and obey them! Then all will go well with you, and you will become a mighty nation and live in that rich and fertile land, just as the LORD, the God of our ancestors, has promised.

It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, 'Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?'

No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it.

I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them.

The LORD said, "Mortal man, your people are talking about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say to one another, 'Let's go and hear what word has come from the LORD now.'

To them you are nothing more than an entertainer singing love songs or playing a harp. They listen to all your words and don't obey a single one of them.

"Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do.

Then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!"

Jesus said to them all, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.

They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like.

You know that Christ is righteous; you should know, then, that everyone who does what is right is God's child.

Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned.

everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.

Moses wrote this about being put right with God by obeying the Law: "Whoever obeys the commands of the Law will live."

A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to receive eternal life?"

The man answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' "

But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the scripture says, "Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, as the scripture says, "Whoever does everything the Law requires will live."

God is one, and he will put the Jews right with himself on the basis of their faith, and will put the Gentiles right through their faith.

If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about---but not in God's sight.

A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned.

Don't put me, your servant, on trial; no one is innocent in your sight.

I tell you," said Jesus, "the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great."

(SEE 13:38)

Yet we know that a person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. We, too, have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be put right with God through our faith in Christ, and not by doing what the Law requires. For no one is put right with God by doing what the Law requires.

Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God's grace.

How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.