The Preacher's Bible

Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ²Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. ³Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ⁴You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. ⁵For we through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision amounts to anything, but faith working through love. ⁷You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth? ⁸This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹A little yeast grows through the whole lump. ¹⁰I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

¹¹But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off. ¹³For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another. ¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, ²¹envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.