Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free?^(A) Am I not an apostle?^(B) Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?^(C) Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?^{(D) 2} Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal^(E) of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink?^{(F) 5} Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife^(G) along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers^(H) and Cephas^[a]?^{(I) 6} Or is it only I and Barnabas^(J) who lack the right to not work for a living?

Freedom in Christ

5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.^(A) Stand firm,^(B) then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.^(C)

² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,^(D) Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.^{(E) 4} You who are trying to be justified by the law^(F) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.^{(G) 5} For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.^{(H) 6} For in Christ Jesus^(I) neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.^(J) The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.^(K)

⁷ You were running a good race.^(L) Who cut in on you^(M) to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.^{(N) 9} “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”^{(O) 10} I am confident^(P) in the Lord that you will take no other view.^(Q) The one who is throwing you into confusion,^(R) whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?^(S) In that case the offense^(T) of the cross has been abolished. ¹² As for those agitators,^(U) I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Life by the Spirit

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.^(V) But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a];^(W) rather, serve one another^(X) humbly in love.

¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^(A) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^(B) by the cross.^[a]

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(C) by what you eat or drink,^(D) or with regard to a religious festival,^(E) a New Moon celebration^(F) or a Sabbath day.^{(G) 17} These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(H) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(I) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(J) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹ They have lost connection with the head,^(K) from whom the whole body,^(L) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(M)

²⁰ Since you died with Christ^(N) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^(O) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^{(P) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^(Q) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^{(R) 23} Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility^(S) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.