Category: Galatians

[4:21] Let me ask those of you who want to be subject to the Law: do you not hear what the Law says?

[4:22] It says that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, the other by a free woman.

[4:23] His son by the slave woman was born in the usual way, but his son by the free woman was born as a result of God's promise.

[4:24] These things can be understood as a figure: the two women represent two covenants. The one whose children are born in slavery is Hagar, and she represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai.

[4:25] Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people.

[4:26] But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother.

[4:27] For the scripture says, “Be happy, you childless woman! Shout and cry with joy, you who never felt the pains of childbirth! For the woman who was deserted will have more children than the woman whose husband never left her.”

[4:28] Now, you, my friends, are God's children as a result of his promise, just as Isaac was.

[4:29] At that time the son who was born in the usual way persecuted the one who was born because of God's Spirit; and it is the same now.

[4:30] But what does the scripture say? It says, “Send the slave woman and her son away; for the son of the slave woman will not have a part of the father's property along with the son of the free woman.”

[4:31] So then, my friends, we are not the children of a slave woman but of a free woman.

[5:1] Freedom is what we have—Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.

[5:2] Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no use to you at all.

[5:3] Once more I warn any man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the whole Law.

[5:4] 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.

[5:5] As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God's Spirit working through our faith.

[5:6] For when we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the lack of it makes any difference at all; what matters is faith that works through love.

[5:7] You were doing so well! Who made you stop obeying the truth? How did he persuade you?

[5:8] It was not done by God, who calls you.

[5:9] “It takes only a little yeast to make the whole batch of dough rise,” as they say.

[5:10] But I still feel confident about you. Our life in union with the Lord makes me confident that you will not take a different view and that whoever is upsetting you will be punished by God.

[5:11] But as for me, my friends, if I continue to preach that circumcision is necessary, why am I still being persecuted? If that were true, then my preaching about the cross of Christ would cause no trouble.

[5:12] I wish that the people who are upsetting you would go all the way; let them go on and castrate themselves!

[5:13] As for you, my friends, you were called to be free. But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. Instead, let love make you serve one another.

[5:14] For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

[5:15] But if you act like wild animals, hurting and harming each other, then watch out, or you will completely destroy one another.

[5:16] What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature.

[5:17] For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do.

[5:18] If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law.

[5:19] What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions;

[5:20] in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups;

[5:21] they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.

[5:22] But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

[5:23] humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.

[5:24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires.

[5:25] The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.

[5:26] We must not be proud or irritate one another or be jealous of one another.

[6:1] My friends, if someone is caught in any kind of wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should set him right; but you must do it in a gentle way. And keep an eye on yourselves, so that you will not be tempted, too.

[6:2] Help carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ.

[6:3] If you think you are something when you really are nothing, you are only deceiving yourself.

[6:4] You should each judge your own conduct. If it is good, then you can be proud of what you yourself have done, without having to compare it with what someone else has done.

[6:5] For each of you have to carry your own load.

[6:6] If you are being taught the Christian message, you should share all the good things you have with your teacher.

[6:7] Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap exactly what you plant.

[6:8] If you plant in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you plant in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life.

[6:9] So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.

[6:10] So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.

[6:11] See what big letters I make as I write to you now with my own hand!

[6:12] The people who are trying to force you to be circumcised are the ones who want to show off and boast about external matters. They do it, however, only so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

[6:13] Even those who practice circumcision do not obey the Law; they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast that you submitted to this physical ceremony.

[6:14] As for me, however, I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by means of his cross the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.

[6:15] It does not matter at all whether or not one is circumcised; what does matter is being a new creature.

[6:16] As for those who follow this rule in their lives, may peace and mercy be with them—with them and with all of God's people!

[6:17] To conclude: let no one give me any more trouble, because the scars I have on my body show that I am the slave of Jesus.

[6:18] May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, my friends. Amen.