All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!”

I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing.

When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.

What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”

So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”

But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.

If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.