Judgement and Salvation

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^(A)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, ^(B)the law was our ^(C)guardian until Christ came, ^(D)in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus ^(E)you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as ^(F)were baptized ^(G)into Christ have ^(H)put on Christ. ^28 (I)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^[a] nor free, ^(J)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(K)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, ^(L)heirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,^[b] though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, ^(M)were enslaved to the elementary principles^[c] of the world. ⁴ But ^(N)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^(O)born ^(P)of woman, born ^(Q)under the law, ^5 (R)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive ^(S)adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent ^(T)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then ^(U)an heir through God.

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26 (A)Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[b] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house ^(B)but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he ^(C)cried out and fell down before him and said ^(D)with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(E)Son of ^(F)the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon ^(G)into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, ^(H)“Legion”, for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into ^(I)the abyss. ³² Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into ^(J)the lake and were drowned.

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting ^(K)at the feet of Jesus, ^(L)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[c] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes ^(M)asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and ^(N)declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.