Galatians 5

Christ Gives Freedom

1 Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.

2 I, Paul, promise you that Christ won’t do you any good if you get circumcised.3 If you do, you must obey the whole Law.4 And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness.5 But the Spirit makes us sure that God will accept us because of our faith in Christ.

6 If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.
7 You were doing so well until someone made you turn from the truth.8 And that person was certainly not sent by the one who chose you.9 t9 A little yeast can change a whole batch of dough,

10 but you belong to the Lord. That makes me certain that you will do what I say, instead of what someone else tells you to do. Whoever is causing trouble for you will be punished.
11 My friends, if I still preach that people need to be circumcised, why am I in so much trouble? The message about the cross would no longer be a problem, if I told people to be circumcised.

12 I wish that everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised, but would cut off much more!
13 My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.14 t14 All that the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself.15 But if you keep attacking each other like wild animals, you had better watch out or you will destroy yourselves.

God’s Spirit and Our Own Desires

16 If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires.17 t17 The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should.

18 But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you.
19 People’s desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds.20 They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are

21 envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God’s kingdom.
22 God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful,23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.24 And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires.25 God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit.

26 But don’t be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.

Galatians 6

Help Each Other

1 My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don’t be tempted yourself.

2 You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand.
3 If you think you are better than others, when you really aren’t, you are wrong.4 Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others.

5 We each must carry our own load.

6 Share every good thing you have with anyone who teaches you what God has said.
7 You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant.8 If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life.9 Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up.10 We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord.

Final Warnings

11 You can see what big letters I make when I write with my own hand.

12 Those people who are telling you to get circumcised are only trying to show how important they are. And they don’t want to get into trouble for preaching about the cross of Christ.13 They are circumcised, but they don’t obey the Law of Moses. All they want is to brag about having you circumcised.

14 But I will never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his cross, the world is dead as far as I am concerned, and I am dead as far as the world is concerned.

15 It doesn’t matter if you are circumcised or not. All that matters is that you are a new person.

16 If you follow this rule, you will belong to God’s true people. God will treat you with undeserved kindness and will bless you with peace.

17 On my own body are scars that prove I belong to Christ Jesus. So I don’t want anyone to bother me anymore.
18 My friends, I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you! Amen.

Ephesians 1

1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. To God’s people who live in Ephesus andt are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Christ Brings Spiritual Blessings

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven!4 Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.5 God was kindt and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children.

6 God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.
7-8 t7-8 Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding,9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways.

10 Then when the time is right, God will do all that he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.
11 God always does what he plans, and that’s why he had Christ choose us.12 He did this so that we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him.13 Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God.14 The Spirit also makes us sure that we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.

Paul’s Prayer

15 I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.16 So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers.17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God.

18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.
19 I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used20 t20 when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right sidet in heaven.21 There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well.22 t22 God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything.

23 The church is Christ’s body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything. t