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.

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.

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.”

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

¹³ These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.

¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.

⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

¹⁵ It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

¹³ And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.