¹² Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.

¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers^[a]: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²³ These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

³ And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.^[a]