No Return to the Law

11 (A)Now when [a]Peter had come to Antioch, I [b]withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, (B)he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing [c]those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about (C)the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter (D)before them all, (E)“If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, [d]why do you compel Gentiles to live as [e]Jews? 15 (F)We who are Jews by nature, and not (G)sinners of the Gentiles, 16 (H)knowing that a man is not [f]justified by the works of the law but (I)by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not (J)by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found (K)sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I (L)through the law (M)died to the law that I might (N)live to God. 20 I have been (O)crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh (P)I live by faith in the Son of God, (Q)who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for (R)if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died [g]in vain.”

Justification by Faith(S)

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you [h]that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed [i]among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, (T)or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? (U)Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by (V)the flesh? (W)Have you suffered so [j]many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham (X)“believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only (Y)those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And (Z)the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, (AA)“In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 2:11 NU Cephas
  2. Galatians 2:11 opposed
  3. Galatians 2:12 Jewish Christians
  4. Galatians 2:14 NU how can you
  5. Galatians 2:14 Some interpreters stop the quotation here.
  6. Galatians 2:16 declared righteous
  7. Galatians 2:21 for nothing
  8. Galatians 3:1 NU omits that you should not obey the truth
  9. Galatians 3:1 NU omits among you
  10. Galatians 3:4 Or great

Paul Opposes Cephas

11 When Cephas(A) came to Antioch,(B) I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James,(C) he used to eat with the Gentiles.(D) But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.(E) 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas(F) was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,(G) I said to Cephas(H) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.(I) How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?(J)

15 “We who are Jews by birth(K) and not sinful Gentiles(L) 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,(M) but by faith in Jesus Christ.(N) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.(O)

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

19 “For through the law I died to the law(R) so that I might live for God.(S) 20 I have been crucified with Christ(T) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.(U) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,(V) who loved me(W) and gave himself for me.(X) 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,(Y) Christ died for nothing!”[b]

Faith or Works of the Law

You foolish(Z) Galatians!(AA) Who has bewitched you?(AB) Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.(AC) I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit(AD) by the works of the law,(AE) or by believing what you heard?(AF) Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?[c] Have you experienced[d] so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles(AG) among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?(AH) So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[e](AI)

Understand, then, that those who have faith(AJ) are children of Abraham.(AK) Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”[f](AL) So those who rely on faith(AM) are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.(AN)

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 2:16 Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of
  2. Galatians 2:21 Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.
  3. 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.
  4. Galatians 3:4 Or suffered
  5. Galatians 3:6 Gen. 15:6
  6. Galatians 3:8 Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18