Galatians

Galatians

From Paul,

a sent one—not from men, nor through human agency,

but through Jesus the Anointed One

and God the Father,

who raised Him from the dead—

and from all the brothers and sisters with me,

To the gatherings in Galatia:

May favor and peace be with you

from God our Father

and the Master, Jesus the Anointed One—

who gave Himself for our brokenness

to rescue us from this present age of distortion,

according to the will of our God and Father.

To Him be glory into the ages of ages—Amen.

A Different Message?

I am astonished

that you are so quickly turning away

from the One who called you

by the grace of the Anointed One—

and are embracing a different message.

Not that there truly is another—

but there are some among you

who are troubling you

and twisting the good news of the Anointed One.

But even if we—or a messenger from the skies—

should proclaim a message to you

different from the one we proclaimed before,

let that one be under sacred scrutiny.

As we’ve said before,

so now I say again:

If anyone delivers to you a message

other than what you first received,

let that one stand accountable before God.

Am I now seeking the approval of people—or of God?

Or am I trying to please humans?

If I were still aiming to please people,

I would not be a servant of the Anointed One.

Paul’s Message Was Not Taught by Humans

I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that the good news I proclaimed

is not something taught by human hands.

I did not receive it from any person,

nor was I instructed in it,

but it came through a revelation

from Jesus the Anointed One.

You’ve heard about my former way of life in Judaism—

how intensely I persecuted the gatherings of God

and tried to destroy them.

I was advancing in the traditions of my ancestors

beyond many of my peers,

being extremely zealous for the inherited customs.

But when the One who set me apart from the womb

and called me through His grace

was pleased to unveil His Son in me—

so that I might proclaim Him among the nations—

I did not consult with flesh and blood,

nor did I go up to Jerusalem

to those who were apostles before me.

Instead, I went away into Arabia,

and then later returned to Damascus.

Not Man-Made Authority

After three years,

I went up to Jerusalem to get to know Peter

and stayed with him fifteen days.

But I didn’t see any of the other apostles—

only James, the brother of the Master.

I assure you before God—what I’m writing to you is true.

Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

I was still personally unknown

to the gatherings in Judea that are in the Anointed One.

They only heard the report:

“The one who formerly persecuted us

is now proclaiming the trust

he once tried to destroy.”

And they glorified God because of me.

———

The Meeting in Jerusalem

Then, after fourteen years,

I went up again to Jerusalem—this time with Barnabas.

I also took Titus with me.

I went because of a revelation,

and I laid out for them the good news I proclaim among the nations.

Privately, I shared it with those considered influential,

so that I wouldn’t be running—or have run—in vain.

Yet not even Titus, who was with me,

though he is a Greek,

was compelled to undergo the covenant sign.

This matter came up

because some false brothers had slipped in—

secretly—to spy on the freedom we have in the Anointed One, Jesus,

in order to enslave us again.

We did not yield to them—

not even for a moment—

so that the truth of the good news might remain with you.

Now as for those who seemed important

(what they were makes no difference to me—God does not show partiality),

those leaders added nothing to my message.

On the contrary,

they saw that I had been entrusted

with proclaiming the good news to the nations,

just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

For the One who empowered Peter

in his mission to the circumcised

was also working through me

for the nations beyond.

When James, Peter, and John—recognized as pillars—

saw the favor that had been given to me,

they extended the right hand of fellowship

to me and Barnabas.

They agreed that we should go to the nations,

and they to the circumcised.

They only asked one thing:

that we remember the poor—

the very thing I was eager to do.

Confronting Peter to His Face

But when Peter came to Antioch,

I opposed him to his face,

because he stood condemned.

For before certain people came from James,

he used to eat with those of other nations.

But when they came,

he withdrew and separated himself,

fearing those of the circumcision group.

The rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy,

so that even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not walking uprightly

in line with the truth of the good news,

I said to Peter in front of everyone:

“If you, though born a Jew,

live like those of other nations and not like a Jew,

how can you compel the nations to adopt Jewish customs?”

Justified by Trust, Not Law

We, by nature, are Jews

and not outsiders or covenant-breakers.

Yet we know

that a person is not made right with God

by works of the law,

but through trust in Jesus the Anointed One.

So we also have trusted in the Anointed One, Jesus,

so that we might be made right by trust in Him—

not by the law.

Because by works of the law

no one will be made right.

But if, in seeking to be made right in the Anointed One,

we ourselves are found to be sinners,

does that make the Anointed One a servant of sin?

Absolutely not.

If I rebuild what I once tore down,

I show myself to be a lawbreaker.

For through the law,

I died to the law,

so that I might live to God.

I have been crucified with the Anointed One,

and it is no longer I who live,

but the Anointed One lives in me.

And the life I now live in the body,

I live by trust in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I do not set aside the grace of God,

for if righteousness could come through the law,

then the Anointed One died for nothing.

———

Foolish or Free?

O foolish Galatians!

Who has cast a spell on you?

Before your very eyes

Jesus the Anointed One was clearly portrayed as having been crucified.

I want to ask you just one thing:

Did you receive the Breath of God

by works of the law,

or by hearing and trusting?

Are you so senseless?

Having begun by the Breath,

are you now trying to reach completion by the flesh?

Have you experienced so much for nothing—

if it really was for nothing?

Does God supply you with His Breath

and work miracles among you

because you do the law,

or because you heard and trusted?

Abraham Trusted—and So Do You

Just as Abraham trusted God,

and it was counted to him as rightness—

understand this:

Those who trust are children of Abraham.

The Scriptures foresaw that God would make the nations right

by trust,

and announced the good news to Abraham in advance:

“Through you all the nations will be blessed.”

So those who trust

are blessed along with Abraham, the man of trust.

But those who rely on the law

are under a curse, for it is written:

“Cursed is everyone who does not continue

in all the things written in the book of the law,

to do them.”

Clearly no one is made right before God by the law,

because it is written:

“The one who is made right will live by trust.”

But the law is not based on trust—

it says, “The one who does these things will live by them.”

Set Free from the Curse

The Anointed One rescued us from the curse of the law

by becoming a curse for us—

for it is written:

“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

He did this

so that the blessing of Abraham

might come to the nations through Jesus the Anointed One,

and so that we might receive the promised Breath

through trust.

Promise Before Law

Brothers and sisters, let me speak in human terms:

Even a human covenant, once confirmed,

cannot be annulled or changed.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.

It does not say “to seeds,” as though meaning many,

but “to your seed”—that is, the Anointed One.

What I mean is this:

The law, which came 430 years later,

does not annul the covenant God had previously established,

so as to cancel the promise.

For if the inheritance is based on law,

it is no longer based on promise.

But God freely gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Why Then the Law?

Why then was the law given?

It was added because of transgressions,

until the seed to whom the promise referred had come.

The law was delivered through messengers

and mediated by a go-between.

But a mediator is not for one party alone,

and God is One.

Is the law then against the promises of God?

Absolutely not!

If a law had been given

that could bring life,

then righteousness would truly have come through the law.

But the Scriptures confined everything under brokenness,

so that what was promised—

given through trust in Jesus the Anointed One—

might be given to those who trust.

No Longer Under the Custodian

Before trust came,

we were guarded under the law,

kept in custody until trust would be revealed.

So the law became our custodian—

our guardian—until the Anointed One came,

so that we might be made right by trust.

But now that trust has come,

we are no longer under a custodian.

Children of God, Clothed with the Anointed

For you are all children of God

through trust in the Anointed One, Jesus.

For all of you who were immersed into the Anointed One

have clothed yourselves with the Anointed.

There is no longer Jew or Greek,

slave or free,

male or female—

for you are all one in the Anointed One, Jesus.

And if you belong to the Anointed One,

then you are Abraham’s seed—

heirs according to the promise.

———

From Slaves to Sons

Let me say this:

As long as the heir is a child,

he is no different from a servant,

even though he owns the entire estate.

He is under guardians and managers

until the time set by his father.

In the same way, when we were children,

we were enslaved under the basic patterns of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come,

God sent His Son—

born of a woman, born under the law—

to redeem those under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as children.

And because you are children,

God sent the Breath of His Son into our hearts,

crying out:

“Abba! Father!”

So you are no longer a slave,

but a child.

And if a child, then also an heir—through God.

Why Go Back to Slavery?

Formerly, when you did not know God,

you were enslaved to those

that by nature are not gods.

But now that you know God—

or rather, are known by God—

how is it that you are turning back

to the weak and impoverished ways of bondage?

Do you want to be enslaved by them all over again?

You observe special days and months

and seasons and years.

I fear for you,

that somehow I may have wasted my labor on you.

A Personal Plea

Brothers and sisters, I beg you—become like me,

for I also became like you.

You have done me no wrong.

You remember it was because of a weakness in my body

that I first proclaimed the good news to you.

Even though my condition was a trial for you,

you didn’t despise or reject me.

Instead, you received me as a messenger of God,

even as the Anointed One Himself.

What happened to your joy?

I can testify that, if possible,

you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me.

So then—have I now become your enemy

by telling you the truth?

They (the ones misleading you) are zealous for you—

but not in a good way.

They want to shut you out

so that you would seek them instead.

It is fine to be zealous for what is good—

always, not just when I’m with you.

My dear children,

for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth

until the Anointed One is formed in you—

how I wish I could be with you now

and change my tone,

because I am perplexed by you!

Two Mothers, Two Covenants

Tell me—you who want to be under the law—

do you not listen to what the law actually says?

For it is written

that Abraham had two sons:

one by the servant-woman, and one by the free woman.

The son of the servant was born according to the flesh,

but the son of the free woman was born through the promise.

This can be understood allegorically:

These women represent two covenants.

One is from Mount Sinai—Hagar—

bearing children for slavery.

Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,

and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem,

because she is enslaved with her children.

But the Jerusalem above is free—

and she is our mother.

For it is written:

“Rejoice, barren woman, who does not give birth!

Break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains!

Because more are the children of the deserted woman

than of her who has a husband.”

Now you, brothers and sisters,

like Isaac, are children of the promise.

But just as the one born according to the flesh

persecuted the one born through the Breath—so it is now.

But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the servant woman and her son,

for the son of the servant

will not inherit with the son of the free woman.”

So then, brothers and sisters,

we are not children of the servant woman,

but of the free.

———

Stand Free

It is for freedom

that the Anointed One has set us free.

Stand firm, then,

and do not let yourselves be tied again

to a yoke of slavery.

Look—I, Paul, tell you this:

If you let yourselves be marked by the law’s sign,

the Anointed One will be of no benefit to you.

Again I testify to every man

who allows himself to be circumcised:

he is obligated to obey the entire law.

You who are trying to be made right by the law

have cut yourselves off from the Anointed One—

you have fallen away from grace.

But we, through the Breath, by trust,

eagerly await the hope of being made right.

For in the Anointed One, Jesus,

neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything—

what counts is trust expressing itself through love.

A Warning About Influence

You were running well.

Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

Such persuasion doesn’t come

from the One who calls you.

A little yeast leavens the whole batch.

I am confident in the Lord

that you will not take a different view.

The one who is troubling you

will bear the judgment, whoever it may be.

Brothers and sisters,

if I were still proclaiming circumcision,

why am I still being persecuted?

In that case,

the stumbling block of the cross would be removed.

I wish those who unsettle you

would go all the way and cut themselves off.

Called to Freedom

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters—

but do not use your freedom

as an opportunity for self-centeredness.

Instead, serve one another in love.

For the entire law is fulfilled in one word:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But if you bite and devour each other,

watch out—

you will destroy one another.

Walk by the Breath

So I say:

Walk by the Breath,

and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

For the flesh desires what is against the Breath,

and the Breath what is against the flesh.

They are opposed to each other,

so you don’t do what you want.

But if you are led by the Breath,

you are not under law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious:

sexual distortion, impurity, uncontrolled desire,

idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy,

bursts of rage, selfish ambition, divisions,

factions, envy, drunkenness, wild parties,

and things like these.

I warn you, as I did before:

those who practice such things

will not inherit the reign of God.

The Fruit of the Breath

But the fruit of the Breath is:

love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

trustworthiness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

Those who belong to the Anointed One, Jesus,

have crucified the flesh

with its passions and desires.

Since we live by the Breath,

let us also walk in step with the Breath.

Let us not become conceited,

provoking and envying one another.

———

Restore One Another in Gentleness

Brothers and sisters,

if someone is overtaken in a failure,

you who are spiritual

should restore such a person

in a spirit of gentleness—

watching yourselves,

so you won’t be tempted too.

Carry one another’s burdens,

and in this way fulfill the law of the Anointed One.

If anyone thinks they are something

when they are nothing,

they deceive themselves.

Each one should examine their own work.

Then they can take pride in themselves alone,

without comparing themselves to others.

For each one must carry their own load.

Sowing and Reaping

The one who is instructed in the word

should share all good things with their teacher.

Do not be deceived—God is not mocked.

Whatever a person plants, they will also harvest.

The one who plants to please the flesh

will harvest decay from the flesh.

But the one who plants to please the Breath

will harvest life of the age to come from the Breath.

So let us not grow weary in doing good—

for at the right time we will harvest,

if we do not give up.

Therefore, as we have opportunity,

let us do good to everyone—

especially to those of the household of trust.

Paul’s Final Words

Notice what large letters I use

as I write to you with my own hand.

Those who want to make a good impression outwardly

are the ones compelling you to be circumcised—

but only so they won’t be persecuted

for the cross of the Anointed One.

Even those who are circumcised

do not keep the law themselves,

but they want you to be circumcised

so they can boast in your flesh.

But as for me—may I never boast,

except in the cross of our Master, Jesus the Anointed One,

through whom the world has been crucified to me,

and I to the world.

For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything—

what counts is a new creation.

Peace and mercy be upon all who follow this path—

and upon the Israel of God.

From now on,

let no one cause me trouble,

for I bear on my body

the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Master, Jesus the Anointed One,

be with your breath,

brothers and sisters.

Amen.