⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith^(A) are children of Abraham.^(B)

⁹ So those who rely on faith^(A) are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.^(B)

²⁹ If you belong to Christ,^(A) then you are Abraham’s seed,^(B) and heirs^(C) according to the promise.^(D)

²⁹ No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,^(A) by the Spirit,^(B) not by the written code.^(C) Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.^(D)

¹² And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(A) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{(B) 7} Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](C) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(D) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^(E)

³ For it is we who are the circumcision,^(A) we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus,^(B) and who put no confidence in the flesh—