¹⁶ I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes. It is meant first for the Jews. It is meant also for the Gentiles. ¹⁷ The good news shows God’s power to make people right with himself. God’s power to be made right with him is given to the person who has faith. It happens by faith from beginning to end. It is written, “The one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

Faith or Obeying the Law

3 You foolish people of Galatia! Who has put you under an evil spell? When I preached, I clearly showed you that Jesus Christ had been nailed to the cross. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law? Or did you receive the Spirit by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? You began by the Holy Spirit. Are you now trying to finish God’s work in you by your own strength? ⁴ Have you experienced so much for nothing? And was it really for nothing? ⁵ So I ask you again, how does God give you his Spirit? How does he work miracles among you? Is it by doing what the law says? Or is it by believing what you have heard? ⁶ In the same way, Abraham “believed God. God was pleased with Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6)

⁷ So you see, those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Long ago, Scripture knew that God would make the Gentiles right with himself. He would do this by their faith in him. He announced the good news ahead of time to Abraham. God said, “All nations will be blessed because of you.” (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18) ⁹ So those who depend on faith are blessed along with Abraham. He was the man of faith.

¹⁰ All who depend on obeying the law are under a curse. It is written, “May everyone who doesn’t continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law be under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 27:26) ¹¹ We know that no one who depends on the law is made right with God. This is because “the one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) ¹² The law is not based on faith. In fact, it is just the opposite. It teaches that “the person who does these things will live by them.” (Leviticus 18:5) ¹³ Christ set us free from the curse of the law. He did it by becoming a curse for us. It is written, “Everyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 21:23) ¹⁴ Christ Jesus set us free so that the blessing given to Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ. He did it so that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. The promised Spirit comes by believing in Christ.

Children of God

²³ Before faith in Christ came, we were guarded by the law. We were locked up until this faith was made known. ²⁴ So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came. He came so that we might be made right with God by believing in Christ. ²⁵ But now faith in Christ has come. So the law is no longer in charge of us.

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God by believing in Christ. ²⁷ This is because all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You have put him on as if he were your clothes. ²⁸ There is no Jew or Gentile. There is no slave or free person. There is no male or female. That’s because you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ You who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed. So you will receive what God has promised.

Christ Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God’s power to us who are being saved. ¹⁹ It is written,

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where are the great thinkers of our time? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? ²¹ God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe. ²² Jews require signs. Greeks look for wisdom. ²³ But we preach about Christ and his death on the cross. That is very hard for Jews to accept. And everyone else thinks it’s foolish. ²⁴ But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks. To them Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. ²⁵ The foolish things of God are wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important. ²⁹ So no one can boast to God. ³⁰ Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God’s wisdom for us. He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free. ³¹ It is written, “The one who boasts should boast about what the Lord has done.” (Jeremiah 9:24)

2 And this was the way it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I didn’t come with fancy words or human wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love. ² My goal while I was with you was to talk about only one thing. And that was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. ³ When I came to you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling all over. ⁴ I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. Instead, my preaching showed the Holy Spirit’s power. ⁵ This was so that your faith would be based on God’s power. Your faith would not be based on human wisdom.