Beginning
Greetings from Paul
1 From:[a] Paul—an apostle not sent[b] from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah,[c] and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me.
To: The churches in Galatia.
3 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[d] be yours! 4 He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
There is No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of the Messiah[e] and, instead, are following[f] a different gospel, 7 not that another one really exists. To be sure, there are certain people who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel about the Messiah.[g] 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you[h] a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! 9 What we have told you in the past I am now telling you again: If anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that person be condemned! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be the Messiah’s[i] servant.[j]
Jesus Himself Gave Paul His Message
11 For[k] I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah.[l] 13 For you have heard about my earlier life in Judaism—how I kept violently persecuting God’s church and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being[m] at any time, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see[n] those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.
18 Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas,[o] and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Before God, what I’m writing to you is the truth.)[p] 21 Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 But the churches of the Messiah[q] that are in Judea did not yet know me personally. 23 The only thing they kept hearing was this: “The man who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy!” 24 So they kept glorifying God for what had happened to[r] me.
How Paul Was Accepted by the Apostles in Jerusalem
2 Then fourteen years later, I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. 2 I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I’m proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid that[s] I was running or had run my life’s race[t] for nothing. 3 But not even Titus, who was with me, was forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah[u] Jesus so that they might enslave us. 5 But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
6 Now those who were reputed to be important added nothing to my message.[v] (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God pays no attention to outward appearances.) 7 In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. 8 For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles. 9 So when James, Cephas,[w] and John (who were reputed to be leaders)[x] recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the destitute, the very thing I was eager to do.
Paul Confronts Cephas in Antioch
11 But when Cephas[y] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong.[z] 12 Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men[aa] came, he withdrew from the gentiles[ab] and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. 13 The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas[ac] in front of everyone, “Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?”
Jews, Like Gentiles, are Saved by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth, and not gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires,[ad] but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus[ae] the Messiah.[af] We, too, have believed in the Messiah[ag] Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of[ah] the Messiah[ai] and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being[aj] will be justified by doing what the Law requires. 17 Now if we, while trying to be justified by the Messiah,[ak] have been found to be sinners, does that mean that the Messiah[al] is serving the interests of sin? Of course not! 18 For if I rebuild something that I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a wrongdoer. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah.[am] 20 I no longer live, but the Messiah[an] lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God,[ao] who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not misapply God’s grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah[ap] died for nothing.
Believers are Approved by God
3 You foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah[aq] clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified? 2 I want to learn only one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing[ar] the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard?[as] 3 Are you so foolish? Having started out with the Spirit, are you now ending up with the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so much for nothing? (If it really was for nothing!) 5 Does God[at] supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do the actions[au] of the Law or because you believe what you heard?[av] 6 In the same way, Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[aw]
7 You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham’s real descendants. 8 Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles[ax] by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, “Through you all nations[ay] will be blessed.”[az] 9 Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the one who believed.
No One is Justified by the Law
10 Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!”[ba] 11 Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because “The righteous will live by faith.”[bb] 12 But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, “The person who keeps the commandments[bc] will have life in them.”[bd] 13 The Messiah[be] redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!”[bf] 14 This happened[bg] in order that the blessing promised to[bh] Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah[bi] Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit[bj] through faith.
15 Brothers, let me use an example from everyday life.[bk] Once an agreement[bl] has been ratified, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn’t say “descendants,” referring to many, but “your descendant,”[bm] referring to one person, who is the Messiah.[bn] 17 This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified. 18 For if the inheritance comes about through the Law, it no longer comes about through the promise. But it was through a promise that God so graciously gave it to Abraham.
The Purpose of the Law
19 Why, then, was the Law added?[bo] Because of transgressions, until the descendant[bp] came to whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one. 21 So is the Law in conflict with the promises of God? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then certainly righteousness would come through the Law. 22 But the Scripture has captured everything by means of sin’s net, so that what was promised by the faithfulness of[bq] the Messiah[br] might be granted to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah[bs] came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
You are God’s Children
26 For all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah[bt] Jesus. 27 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah[bu] have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.[bv] 28 Because all of you are one in the Messiah[bw] Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 29 And if you belong to the Messiah,[bx] then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.
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