Eventually Paul left Corinth and headed back east along with Priscilla and Aquila. They stopped in Asia Minor on the coastal town of Ephesus where he spoke at the synagogue. Paul told the believers in Ephesus that he needed to move on. When they asked him to stay longer, he had compassion on them and asked Priscilla and Aquila to stay with them in his place. He travelled to Caesarea Maritima, then south to Jerusalem, before heading back north to Antioch where he stayed for three years, concluding his second journey. While there, Paul heard some troubling reports and wrote a letter which was read aloud to, not just the church of Antioch, but Lystra, Iconium Derbe, indeed all of Galatia.
To all the churches who read this, grace and peace to you from God our father and our savior Jesus, who sacrificed himself for our sins to save us from the evil of the world we live in, fulfilling God’s plan.
I am shocked to learn that you are so quickly turning away from the story of Jesus to embrace a new teaching. Apparently some people are confusing you with lies. If anyone, even me, even an angel, tries to convince you of something that contradicts what we first told you, may they be cursed. I’m not saying this to try to win any person’s approval, only God’s.
The story of Jesus is not just some tale Imade up. It wasn’t taught to me. I was shown it in a vision by Jesus himself. You know how intensely I used to hunt believers and try to destroy the church. I was one of the most gifted Pharisees. But God chose me and revealed the truth of Jesus to me so that I would share with it everyone whether they were Jewish or not. So I began my journeys.
After 14 years I returned to Jerusalem with Barnabas to discuss with the apostles the story of Jesus that I had been sharing with the gentiles. The apostles could see that God had given me the task of sharing the story of Jesus with the gentiles just as Peter had with the Jews.
Why are you being foolish? You personally heard the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. So tell me, did you receive the Holy Spirit by following the law of Moses or by believing in the story of Jesus? Even Abraham was said to be righteous because he had faith in God’s promise. So even if you aren’t Jewish, if you have faith like Abraham you are counted as one of his children. God planned it this way. He even told Abraham, “all nations will be blessed through you.”
If you rely on the law you are living under a curse. It is written, “everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the law is cursed.” Jesus rescued us from the curse of the law by becoming cursed for us when he was killed. He saved us so the blessing of Abraham could come to the gentiles.
So you might ask, why was the law created at all? It was created as a guide until the time of Jesus because people continued to sin. It was like a guardian that kept us locked up for our own good. But then Jesus came and unlocked the door so that we could live by faith and no longer need a guardian.
If you have faith in Jesus you have become children of God. In God’s eyes no one is greater than anyone else. There is no Jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female. You are adopted into Abraham’s family and will receive the promises made to him.
When you are an heir, but you are still controlled by a guardian, it’s really not different than being a slave until the time comes for you to receive your inheritance. This was our life under the law. But when the time was right, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to save us who live under the law so we could be adopted as sons of God ourselves. Because you're also his sons, he gave you the same Holy Spirit given to Jesus.
Before you knew God, you were slaves to other things. So now that you know God, or at least, God knows you, why are you turning back to these weak and miserable masters? Do you want to be their slaves again? I’m afraid for you. I hope my time with you wasn’t wasted.
From the bottom of my heart I hope you will look to my example and change your lives. You might remember when I first stayed with you, you welcomed me as though I was Jesus himself. You would have done anything for me. So what happened? How is it that I have become your enemy just by telling you the truth?
These other teachers are trying to win your hearts and minds, but they are up to no good. They want you to be passionate about them. Passion is all well and good as long as your purpose is pure. My children, in my heart I feel like a mother suffering through childbirth. I wish I could be with you because I’m just so confused about what’s happening with you.
Those of you who want to continue to live under the law, don’t you remember Hagar and Sarah? Abraham had two sons, one born from a slave and one born from a free woman. Ishmael was born by flesh, but Isaac was born because of God’s promise. I’m speaking figuratively, but in this case Hagar’s children represent the slavery of the law and Sarah’s children represent the freedom of God’s promise. You are all like Isaac, children of God’s promise. In Isaac’s day Ishmael, the slave-child, mistreated Isaac, the heir, and it is the same now. Remember which kind of child you are.
Jesus came to free you, so don’t let yourselves be weighed down again by the burden of slavery to the law. If you are relying on the law, then you are distancing yourself from Jesus. The only thing that matters is faith expressed through love. You were doing so well. Who has kept you from obeying the truth? A little yeast is all it takes to change an entire batch of dough.
The opposite extreme is the temptation to use your freedom to do whatever you want. You should instead by trying to love your neighbor like you love yourself. That summarizes the entire law. If you take advantage of each other you will be destroyed by each other.
So walk with the Holy Spirit and you will do what is right. Your earthly side wants the opposite of what the Spirit wants. These earthly desires are obvious: a lack of respect for your marriage, being out of control, worshipping other gods, witchcraft, hatred, stirring up conflict, jealousy, rage, selfishness, causing division between people, being drunk, things like this. If you live like this you will miss out on God’s kingdom.
To contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness & loyalty, gentleness, and self-control. Just as Jesus was crucified, those that follow him crucify their earthly desires.
If you have a relationship with another follower of Jesus and you know that they are sinning you should work to gently lead that person back towards Jesus. Carry each other’s burdens and don’t fool yourselves into thinking you are better than you are. Test your actions to see if they are right.
Whatever you plant is what you will harvest. If you are just trying to fulfill all of your own desires, that leads to death. If you work to please God it leads to life. Never tire of doing good to all people.
Notice how large I am writing this paragraph. Those that are trying to convince you to live under the law aren’t able to keep the law themselves and are just trying to inflate their own egos. I don’t want to brag about anything except what Jesus did on the cross because that is the only thing that brings a new creation. Peace and mercy be with everyone who believes this.
Jesus be with you, my dear friends,
Paul
To all the churches who read this, grace and peace to you from God our father and our savior Jesus, who sacrificed himself for our sins to save us from the evil of the world we live in, fulfilling God’s plan.
I am shocked to learn that you are so quickly turning away from the story of Jesus to embrace a new teaching. Apparently some people are confusing you with lies. If anyone, even me, even an angel, tries to convince you of something that contradicts what we first told you, may they be cursed. I’m not saying this to try to win any person’s approval, only God’s.
The story of Jesus is not just some tale Imade up. It wasn’t taught to me. I was shown it in a vision by Jesus himself. You know how intensely I used to hunt believers and try to destroy the church. I was one of the most gifted Pharisees. But God chose me and revealed the truth of Jesus to me so that I would share with it everyone whether they were Jewish or not. So I began my journeys.
After 14 years I returned to Jerusalem with Barnabas to discuss with the apostles the story of Jesus that I had been sharing with the gentiles. The apostles could see that God had given me the task of sharing the story of Jesus with the gentiles just as Peter had with the Jews.
Why are you being foolish? You personally heard the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. So tell me, did you receive the Holy Spirit by following the law of Moses or by believing in the story of Jesus? Even Abraham was said to be righteous because he had faith in God’s promise. So even if you aren’t Jewish, if you have faith like Abraham you are counted as one of his children. God planned it this way. He even told Abraham, “all nations will be blessed through you.”
If you rely on the law you are living under a curse. It is written, “everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the law is cursed.” Jesus rescued us from the curse of the law by becoming cursed for us when he was killed. He saved us so the blessing of Abraham could come to the gentiles.
So you might ask, why was the law created at all? It was created as a guide until the time of Jesus because people continued to sin. It was like a guardian that kept us locked up for our own good. But then Jesus came and unlocked the door so that we could live by faith and no longer need a guardian.
If you have faith in Jesus you have become children of God. In God’s eyes no one is greater than anyone else. There is no Jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female. You are adopted into Abraham’s family and will receive the promises made to him.
When you are an heir, but you are still controlled by a guardian, it’s really not different than being a slave until the time comes for you to receive your inheritance. This was our life under the law. But when the time was right, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to save us who live under the law so we could be adopted as sons of God ourselves. Because you're also his sons, he gave you the same Holy Spirit given to Jesus.
Before you knew God, you were slaves to other things. So now that you know God, or at least, God knows you, why are you turning back to these weak and miserable masters? Do you want to be their slaves again? I’m afraid for you. I hope my time with you wasn’t wasted.
From the bottom of my heart I hope you will look to my example and change your lives. You might remember when I first stayed with you, you welcomed me as though I was Jesus himself. You would have done anything for me. So what happened? How is it that I have become your enemy just by telling you the truth?
These other teachers are trying to win your hearts and minds, but they are up to no good. They want you to be passionate about them. Passion is all well and good as long as your purpose is pure. My children, in my heart I feel like a mother suffering through childbirth. I wish I could be with you because I’m just so confused about what’s happening with you.
Those of you who want to continue to live under the law, don’t you remember Hagar and Sarah? Abraham had two sons, one born from a slave and one born from a free woman. Ishmael was born by flesh, but Isaac was born because of God’s promise. I’m speaking figuratively, but in this case Hagar’s children represent the slavery of the law and Sarah’s children represent the freedom of God’s promise. You are all like Isaac, children of God’s promise. In Isaac’s day Ishmael, the slave-child, mistreated Isaac, the heir, and it is the same now. Remember which kind of child you are.
Jesus came to free you, so don’t let yourselves be weighed down again by the burden of slavery to the law. If you are relying on the law, then you are distancing yourself from Jesus. The only thing that matters is faith expressed through love. You were doing so well. Who has kept you from obeying the truth? A little yeast is all it takes to change an entire batch of dough.
The opposite extreme is the temptation to use your freedom to do whatever you want. You should instead by trying to love your neighbor like you love yourself. That summarizes the entire law. If you take advantage of each other you will be destroyed by each other.
So walk with the Holy Spirit and you will do what is right. Your earthly side wants the opposite of what the Spirit wants. These earthly desires are obvious: a lack of respect for your marriage, being out of control, worshipping other gods, witchcraft, hatred, stirring up conflict, jealousy, rage, selfishness, causing division between people, being drunk, things like this. If you live like this you will miss out on God’s kingdom.
To contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness & loyalty, gentleness, and self-control. Just as Jesus was crucified, those that follow him crucify their earthly desires.
If you have a relationship with another follower of Jesus and you know that they are sinning you should work to gently lead that person back towards Jesus. Carry each other’s burdens and don’t fool yourselves into thinking you are better than you are. Test your actions to see if they are right.
Whatever you plant is what you will harvest. If you are just trying to fulfill all of your own desires, that leads to death. If you work to please God it leads to life. Never tire of doing good to all people.
Notice how large I am writing this paragraph. Those that are trying to convince you to live under the law aren’t able to keep the law themselves and are just trying to inflate their own egos. I don’t want to brag about anything except what Jesus did on the cross because that is the only thing that brings a new creation. Peace and mercy be with everyone who believes this.
Jesus be with you, my dear friends,
Paul
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