Going to Jesus

Galatians

Galatians 1

¶1. Paul, an apostle, not of men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and by God the Father, who raised him from the dead,

2.and all the brothers who are with me. To the Assemblies of Galatia:

3. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

4.he who gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

5.to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!

¶6. I marvel that you are turning away so quickly from Him who called you by the grace of Christ to another gospel,

7.which is not another, but there are certain men who trouble you, determined to alter the gospel of Christ.

8. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, bring you a gospel contrary to the gospel we preached to you, let him be cursed!

9. As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone brings you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be cursed!

10. Am I trusting now in men or God? Or am I seeking to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¶11. I would have you to know, brothers, regarding the gospel preached by me, that it is not according to man.

12. For I neither received it from a man, nor was I taught it, but I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13. You have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, that I ruthlessly and relentlessly persecuted the Assembly of God and was trying to destroy it,

14.and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many my own age in my nation, being much more zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

16.to reveal His Son to me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,

17.nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went away into Arabia, and then returned again to Damascus.

¶18. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter, and I stayed with him fifteen days,

19.but I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

20. Now, the things I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying!

21. Afterwards, I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22. But I was unknown by face to the Assemblies in Judea that are in Christ,

23.only they kept hearing that “the man who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

24. And they glorified God because of me.

Galatians 2

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¶1. Then, fourteen years later, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

2. I went up because of a revelation, and I laid out to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those of reputation, lest I was running, or had run, in vain.

3. But even Titus, who was with me, though he was Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised,

4.in spite of false brothers stealthily brought in, who slipped in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us,

5.to whom we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might continue for you.

6. But as for those esteemed to be something – whoever they were, it makes no difference to me (God accepts no man’s person) – those esteemed men added nothing to me.

7. On the contrary, once they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, as the gospel of the circumcision was to Peter

8.(for He who worked in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles),

9.and acknowledging the grace that was given to me, James, Cephas, and John, who were esteemed as pillars, gave right hands of fellowship to me and to Barnabas, that we should go to the Gentiles, but they, to the circumcision;

10.only they asked that we remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.

¶11. And then, when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was blameworthy.

12. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he ate with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision.

13. And the rest of the Jews played the hypocrite with him as well, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

14. But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, why are you putting pressure on the Gentiles to become Jews?

15.We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

16.knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have trusted in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Therefore, by works of the law will no flesh be justified.

17.But if while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found to be sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Absolutely not!

18.For if I build again the things I tore down, I make myself a transgressor.

19.Through the law, I died to the law, that I might live to God.

20.I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ is living in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

21.I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is by the law, then Christ died for no reason.”

Galatians 3

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¶1. O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly proclaimed among you as crucified?

2. This only would I learn of you. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the preaching of faith?

3. Are you so foolish? Having begun in spirit, are you now perfected by flesh?

4. Did you suffer so much for nothing? (If it yet be for nothing.)

5. So then, he who ministers to you the Spirit and works miracles among you, does he do it by works of the law or by the preaching of faith?

6. Even as “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”^[1]

7. Know, then, that they who are of faith are the sons of Abraham.

8. And the Scripture, foreseeing God justifying the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you, all the nations shall be blessed.”^[2]

9. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

10. For as many as are of works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law, to do them.”^[3]

11. That no one is justified with God by law is obvious, for “The righteous shall live by faith,”^[4]

12.but the law is not “by faith”; instead, “The man who has kept these things shall live by them.”^[5]

13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”^[6]),

14.so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, namely, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¶15. Humanly speaking, brothers, though a contract be but man’s, once it has been ratified, no one annuls or amends it.

16. Now, the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his “seed”.^[7] He did not say, “and to seeds”, as to many, but as to one, “and to your seed”, which is Christ.

17. And this I say: a covenant concerning Christ having already been ratified by God, the law, coming four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate, so as to negate the promise.

18. If the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise; but God, by a promise, freely gave it to Abraham.

19. Why, then, the law? It was added because of transgressions, until “the seed” to whom the promise was made should come, it being ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.

20. (Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.)

21. Does this mean that the law is contrary to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if there was a law given that was able to impart life, righteousness would certainly have been by the law.

22. But Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise, by faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

¶23. Before the faith came, we were held in custody under law, locked up together until the faith that was to be revealed came.

24. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25. But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26. So then, you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

27.for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs because of the promise.

Galatians 4

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¶1. But I say, as long as the heir is a minor, he differs in no respect from a slave, though he be owner of everything;

2.indeed, he is under guardians and stewards until the time predetermined by the father.

3. So also we, when we were not yet of age, were enslaved under the elements of the world,

4.but when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

5.that He might redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

6. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba!” (that is, “Father!”)

7. So then, you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God—through Christ.

¶8. Yes, formerly, when you did not know God, you lived as slaves to things which by nature are not divine,

9.but now, having come to know God—or rather, having been known by God—how is it that you want to return again to live—again!—as slaves to weak and worthless elements‽

10. You observe days and months and seasons and years.

11. I am afraid for you, that I may have labored among you in vain.

¶12. I beg you, brothers, be as I am, for I also became as you are. You did not hurt me at all.

13. You know that through weakness of the flesh, I preached the gospel to you at the beginning,

14.and my trial which was in my flesh, you did not despise nor reject; no, you embraced me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

15. So, who was the source of your blessedness? For I bear you witness that if possible, you would have dug out your eyes and given them to me.

16. Have I now become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

17. They make much of you, but not for good; they want to exclude you so that you will make much of them.

18. Now, it is always a good thing to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you.

19. My little children, for whom I am suffering labor pains again until Christ be formed within you,

20.I desire to be with you now and to change my tone, for I am unsettled about you.

¶21. Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law?

22. For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-girl and another by the free woman.

23. However, the one by the servant-girl was begotten after the flesh, while the one by the free woman was begotten through promise,

24.which things are meant as allegories: these women are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai who bears children into slavery, which is Hagar.

25. This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and she corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

26. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all,

27.for it is written, “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear! Break out and shout, you who suffer no labor pains! For the children of the desolate are many more than the children of her who has a husband.”^[8]

28. Now we, brothers, are children of promise, as was Isaac.

29. However, just as then, the one who was born after the flesh persecuted the one born after the Spirit, so it is now as well.

30. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out this slave-girl with her son! For the son of this slave-girl shall not inherit” with the son of the free-woman.^[9]

31. Wherefore, brothers, we are not sons of the slave-girl, but of the free-woman.

Galatians 5

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1. Therefore, stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not submit again to a yoke of bondage!

¶2. Behold, I, Paul, am telling you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will become worthless to you!

3. I testify again to every man who is circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.

4. You are estranged from Christ, you who are justified by the law; you have fallen from grace.

5. For we await the hope of righteousness by faith in the Spirit.

6. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is worth anything, but faith expressed through love.

¶7. You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

8. This persuasion is not from Him who calls you.

9. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

10. I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will think no other way; but, the one who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he may be.

11. As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, then the offense of the cross is done away with.

12. I would that those who are troubling you were cut off!

¶13. You were called to liberty, brothers, only do not use that liberty as a pretext for the flesh; instead, through love, live as slaves to one another.

14. For the entire law is summed up in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^[10]

15. But if you bite and gnaw at each other, beware that you be not consumed by one another.

¶16. Now, I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

17. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. These are opposed to one another, so that things you may desire, you do not do.

18. But if you are led by the Spirit,^[11] you are not under a law.

19. Now, the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness,

20.idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, emulation, angry outbursts, rivalries, disputes, divisions,

21.envy, murder, bouts of drunkenness, revelings, and things like these, concerning which things I forewarn you, as I also warned you previously, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faith,

23.meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

24. And they who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, along with its passions and its desires.

25. If we live by the Spirit, then let us agree with the Spirit.

26. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 6

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¶1. Brothers, if a man be overtaken in some transgression, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

2. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

3. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself.

4. Let each one examine his own work, and then he will have something to boast of in himself alone, and not in someone else,

5.for each one will bear his own load.

¶6. He who is taught the Word is to contribute a portion of all his goods to him who teaches.

7. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap,

8.for he who sows to his flesh shall from the flesh reap destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9. Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time, we shall reap if we do not faint.

10. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good toward all men, but especially toward those of the household of faith.

¶11. You see with what large letters I have written to you by my own hand.

12. As many as desire to put on a good show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised, but only so they might not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

13. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they might boast in your flesh.

14. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

15. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is worth anything, but being a new creature is.

16. And as many as will conform to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.

¶17. Finally, let no one bring troubles on me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

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Footnotes

^[1] Gen. 15:6.

^[2] Gen. 12:3.

^[3] Dt. 27:26

^[4] Hab. 2:4.

^[5] Lev. 18:5.

^[6] Dt. 21:23.

^[7] Gen. 12:7.

^[8] Isa. 54:1.

^[9] Gen. 21:10.

^[10] Lev. 19:18.

^[11] Or, “if you are led in spirit”.