Galatians 2:17-3:3

New International Version

¹⁷“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^(A) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^(B) ¹⁸If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹“For through the law I died to the law^(C) so that I might live for God.^(D) ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ^(E) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(F) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^(G) who loved me^(H) and gave himself for me.^(I) ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^(J) Christ died for nothing!”^[a]

Faith or Works of the Law

3 You foolish^(K) Galatians!^(L) Who has bewitched you?^(M) Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.^(N) ²I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit^(O) by the works of the law,^(P) or by believing what you heard?^(Q) ³Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?^[b]

Footnotes

Galatians 2:21 Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.
Galatians 3:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.