Paul’s Final Advice
11NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING.
12Those 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. 13And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want …
4Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
6Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
A couple simple principles, but listen. Is God speaking directly …
We Harvest What We Plant
1Dear brothers and sisters, if another believera is overcome by some sin, you who are godlyb should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3If you think you are too important to …
19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22But the Holy …
16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry …
Freedom in Christ
1So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with …
Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
8Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10You are trying to earn favor with God …
1Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like …
6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”b 7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All …
The Law and Faith in Christ
1Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the …