No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called^(A) you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel^(B)— ⁷ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion^(C) and are trying to pervert^(D) the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,^(E) let them be under God’s curse!^{(F) 9} As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,^(G) let them be under God’s curse!

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?^(H) If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹ I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^(I) that the gospel I preached^(J) is not of human origin. ¹² I did not receive it from any man,^(K) nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation^(L) from Jesus Christ.^(M)

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

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth^(E) and not sinful Gentiles^{(F) 16} know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,^(G) but by faith in Jesus Christ.^(H) 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.^(I)

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

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

Faith or Works of the Law

3 You foolish^(T) Galatians!^(U) Who has bewitched you?^(V) Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.^{(W) 2} I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit^(X) by the works of the law,^(Y) or by believing what you heard?^{(Z) 3} Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?^{[c] 4} Have you experienced^[d] so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles^(AA) among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?^{(AB) 6} So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^[e](AC)

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)

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit,^(A) and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.^{(B) 17} For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.^(C) They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a] you want.^{(D) 18} But if you are led by the Spirit,^(E) you are not under the law.^(F)

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,^(G) impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.^(H) I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.^(I)

²² But the fruit^(J) of the Spirit is love,^(K) joy, peace,^(L) forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.^(M) Against such things there is no law.^{(N) 24} Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh^(O) with its passions and desires.^{(P) 25} Since we live by the Spirit,^(Q) let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited,^(R) provoking and envying each other.