Keep Your Freedom
1We have freedom now. Christ made us free. So stand strong. Don’t change and go back into the slavery {of law}.
2Listen! I am Paul. I tell you that if you {go back to law} by being circumcised,
3Again, I warn every man: If you allow yourselves to be circumcised, then you must follow all the law {of Moses}.
4If you try to be made right with God through the law, then your life with Christ is finished—you have left God’s grace (kindness).
5I say this because our hope of being made right with God comes through faith. And the Spirit
6When a person is in Christ Jesus, it is not important if he is circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.
7You were running a good race. You were obeying the truth. Who persuaded you to stop following the true way?
8That persuasion does not come from the One (God) who chose you.
9{Be careful!} “Just a little yeast
10I trust in the Lord that you will not believe those different ideas. Some person is confusing you with those ideas. That person will be punished, whoever he is.
11My brothers and sisters, I don’t teach that people must be circumcised.
12I wish those people who are bothering you would add castration
13My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do the things that please your sinful selves. But serve each other with love.
14The whole law
15If you continue hurting each other and tearing each other apart, be careful! You will completely destroy each other.
The Spirit and Human Nature
16So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit.
17Our sinful selves want things that are against the Spirit. The Spirit wants things that are against our sinful selves. These two different things are against each other. So you don’t do the things you really want to do.
18But if you let the Spirit lead you, then you are not under law.
19The wrong things our sinful self does are clear: doing sexual sins, not being pure, doing morally bad things,
20worshiping false gods, doing witchcraft,
21having envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now like I warned you before: The people who do these things will not be in God’s kingdom.
22But the Spirit
23gentleness, self-control. There is no law that can say these things are wrong.
24Those people who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (killed) their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do.
25We get our new life from the Spirit. So we should follow the Spirit.
26We must not be vain (conceited). We must not make trouble with each other. And we must not be jealous of each other.