He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.

For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin.

For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah.

For you have heard about my earlier life in Judaism how I kept violently persecuting God's church and was trying to destroy it.

I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days.

So they kept glorifying God for what had happened to me.

I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I'm proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid that I was running or had run my life's race for nothing.

But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.

In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised.

For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles.

yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires, but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. We, too, have believed in the Messiah Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of the Messiah and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being will be justified by doing what the Law requires.

For if I rebuild something that I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a wrongdoer.

For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah.

I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not misapply God's grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah died for nothing.

Did you suffer so much for nothing? (If it really was for nothing!)

Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!"

The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!"

For if the inheritance comes about through the Law, it no longer comes about through the promise. But it was through a promise that God so graciously gave it to Abraham.

So is the Law in conflict with the promises of God? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then certainly righteousness would come through the Law.

Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed.

For all of you are God's children through faith in the Messiah Jesus.

Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female.

I am afraid for you! I don't want my work for you to have been wasted!

What, then, happened to your positive attitude? For I testify that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

So have I now become your enemy for telling you the truth?

My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until the Messiah is formed in you.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.

Now the slave woman's son was conceived through human means, while the free woman's son was conceived through divine promise.

This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery.

But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.

For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband."

But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."

So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

The Messiah has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again.

for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching the necessity of circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another.

For the whole Law is summarized in a single statement: "You must love your neighbor as yourself."

For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, and so you do not do what you want to do.

Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well.

For if anyone thinks he is something when he is really nothing, he is only fooling himself.

For everyone must carry his own load.

Let's not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

These people who want to impress others by their external appearance are trying to force you to be circumcised, simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of the Messiah.

For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.

Let no one make any more trouble for me, because I carry the scars of Jesus on my own body.