Chapter 2

¹ Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas.  I took Titus along also.  I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel [of Christ's grace] that I preach among the Gentiles.  But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.  Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised [which the Old Testament law required], even though he was a Greek.  This matter [of circumcision] arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom [of grace] we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves [again to the Old Testament law.  They tried to do this by saying that unless a man is physically circumcised there is no way for him to enter covenant with God and have his sins forgiven].  We did not give in to them [and their dictates] for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel [of grace] might remain with you.

⁶ As for those who seemed to be important--whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance--those men added nothing to my message.  On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.  For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.  James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.  They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.  All they asked was that we should continue to remember the [Jewish] poor, the very thing I was eager to do.  

¹¹ [Later, however, this law versus grace battle surfaced again.  This time it had its hold on Peter.  I had to take a stand for grace.  So] when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Before certain men came from James [a Jew], he used to eat with the Gentiles.  But when they arrived, he [Peter] began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.  The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.  How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

¹⁵ We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified [declared righteous by having his sins forgiven] by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.  So we [Jews], too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?  Absolutely not!  If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.  For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith 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 be gained through [observing and obeying] the law, Christ died for nothing!

Chapter 3

¹ You foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?  Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish?  After beginning [your Christian walk] with the Spirit [by believing Him and accepting His grace through Christ's crucifixion], are you now trying to attain your goal [of being more and more godly] by human effort?  [That's what you're doing by looking to, legalistically obeying, and trusting the law.]  Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing?  Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

⁶ [Think about it a minute.]  Consider Abraham: "He [Abraham] believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.  The Scripture foresaw that God would justify [declare righteous through the forgiveness of sins] the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed [justified] through you [Abraham]."  So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

¹⁰ All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because [as the Old Testament declares], "The righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."  Christ redeemed from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."  He redeemed us in order that the blessing [of justification] given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus [and not through the law], so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

¹⁵ [To further clarify] brothers, let me take an example from everyday life.  Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.  [God made a covenant with Abraham.]  The promises [God made] were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.  What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later [through Moses], does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.  For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.  [It had nothing to do with the law.]

¹⁹ What, then, was the purpose of the law?  It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.  The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.  A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God?  Absolutely not!  For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

²³ Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up [and powerless to do anything about it ourselves] until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  [The law was not the answer to our sin.  It was a sign, and it pointed to the answer.  The answer is Christ Jesus.]  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.  [This is true for both the Jew and the Gentile.]

²⁶ You are all [Jew and Gentile] sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  [In Christ there is no hierarchy of importance, nor any favoritism.]  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Chapter 4

¹ What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child [and figuratively, that's what we all were for the thousands of years before Christ came], he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father [at which time he receives the full rights and benefits as a son].  So also, when we were children [for those thousands of years before Christ came], we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world [empowered by the law].  But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who 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 those weak and miserable principles [empowered by the law]?  Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?  You are observing special days and months and seasons and years [as if you are more godly and righteous because you do]!  I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

¹² I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you.  You have done me no wrong.  As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.  Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn.  Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.  What has happened to all your joy?  I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.  Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷ Those people [those false brothers who infiltrated to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus] are zealous to win you over, but for no good.  What they want is to alienate you from us [and the freedom you have in Christ Jesus], so that you may be zealous for them.  It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.  My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!  [You were enslaved by the law; Christ came and set you free from the law; and now you want the law back again!]

²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman [Hagar] and the other by the free woman [Sarah].  His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

²⁴ These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants.  One covenant is from Mount Sinai [where God gave Moses the law] and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.  Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.  But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.  For it is written:

"Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."

²⁸ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.  At that time the son born in the ordinary way [Ishmael--whose mother was Hagar] persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit [Isaac--whose mother was Sarah].  It is the same now [those who love and serve the law persecute those who love and serve Christ with freedom].  But what does the Scripture say [in relation to this law versus freedom dichotomy]?  "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."  Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman [and the "law" that she symbolizes], but of the free woman [and the freedom in Christ by the Spirit that she symbolizes].

Chapter 5

¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery [the law].

² Mark my words!  I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised [and trust in it as your way of entering covenant with God and obtaining His acceptance], Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law [and we know that this cannot be successfully done].  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace [and apart from grace there is no justification].  But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

⁷ You were running a good race.  Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth [of the gospel of grace]?  That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.  "A little yeast [of heretical doctrine] works through the whole batch of dough."  I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view.  The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.  Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?  In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.  As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

¹³ You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit [whom you received when you believed the gospel of grace], you are not under law.

¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is not law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.