Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

⁶ For ^(A)in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but ^(B)faith working through love.

⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

⁸ Beware lest anyone ^[a]cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to ^(A)the tradition of men, according to the ^(B)basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

³ And on the ^(A)eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Christian Liberty

5 ^(A)Stand^[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a ^(B)yoke of bondage. ² Indeed I, Paul, say to you that ^(C)if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. ³ And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised ^(D)that he is ^[b]a debtor to keep the whole law. ^4 (E)You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; ^(F)you have fallen from grace.

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?

¹⁸ Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? ^(A)Let him not be circumcised. ^19 (B)Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but ^(C)keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

Abraham Justified Before Circumcision

⁹ Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. ¹¹ And ^(A)he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that ^(B)he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father ^(C)Abraham had while still uncircumcised.