18When there was nothing left to hope for, Abraham still hoped and believed. As a result, he became a father of many nations, as he had been told: "That is how many descendants you will have." 19Abraham didn't weaken. Through faith he regarded the facts: His body was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old, and Sarah was unable to have children. 20He didn't doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God [for the promise], he became strong because of faith 21and was absolutely confident that God would do what he promised. 22That is why his faith was regarded as God's approval of him. 23But the words "his faith was regarded as God's approval of him" were written not only for him 24but also for us. Our faith will be regarded as God's approval of us who believe in the one who brought Jesus, our Lord, back to life. 25Jesus, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God's approval.
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