They praised God when they heard it, and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous upholders of the Law.

to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again.

The brethren

They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

Except

But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses.

Happy is the man whose sin the Lord will take no account of!"

This is the freedom with which Christ has freed us. So stand firm in it, and do not get under a yoke of slavery again.

Look out for those dogs, those mischief-makers, with their amputation!

Take care that nobody exploits you through the pretensions of philosophy, guided by human tradition, following material ways of looking at things, instead of following Christ.

After

Yet Moses gave you the rite of circumcision??ot that it began with Moses but with your forefathers??nd you practice it even on the Sabbath.

Ye

As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds,

If a man was circumcised when he was called, he must not try to alter it. If a man was uncircumcised when he was called, he must not have himself circumcised.

Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me.

For in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the want of it counts for anything, but only faith acting through love.

Why, even those who let themselves be circumcised do not observe the Law themselves! But they want you to let yourselves be circumcised so that they can boast of that physical fact about you!