[This letter is from] Paul, an apostle, (not from [the authority of] men, or through the [agency] of a man, but by [a direct commission from] Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).

I am astonished that you people are so quickly abandoning God [i.e., by rejecting His truth], who called you [to Himself] through the unearned favor bestowed [on us] by Christ. [You are turning] to a different "gospel,"

[Furthermore], I did not receive this [Gospel message] from any person, nor was I taught it [by anyone]. Instead, it came to me through [a divine] revelation from Jesus Christ.

But then it was the good pleasure of God, who set me apart [for this purpose] before I was born, to call me [to this ministry] through His unearned favor.

So, they gave honor to God for [what He was doing through] me.

still we know that a person is not justified [i.e., made right with God] by [perfect obedience to] the law of Moses, but rather through faith in [the person and work of] Christ. [Knowing this] we have trusted in Christ Jesus [to save us], so that we might be made right with God by trusting in Him and not by [our compliance with] the requirements of the law of Moses. Because by such law-compliance no one can be made right with God.

But, if while we were trying to be made right with God through a relationship with Christ, we were discovered to still be sinners [by acting like unsaved Gentiles], does that mean Christ is responsible for our sin? Of course not.

For it was by means of [this system of] law-keeping that I [realized I] was dead. This was so I could find life through a relationship with God.

Are you so foolish [as to believe that after] having begun [your Christian lives] through [the power of] the Holy Spirit, you can [now] become complete by [living according to your human strength]?

And, predicting that God would consider the Gentiles right with Him by [their] faith, the Scriptures previously recorded [this promise of] the Gospel to Abraham by saying [Gen. 12:3], "All nations will receive a blessing through your descendant [i.e., Jesus]."

[This happened] so that the blessing [promised] to Abraham might be received by the Gentiles through [the person and work of] Christ, so that we might receive the promised [gift of the] Holy Spirit through [our] faith [in Jesus].

What then is [the benefit of] the law of Moses? It was introduced [as part of God's revelation] in order to define what sin was, until the seed [i.e., Jesus] would come, to whom the promise [of never ending life] was made. The law of Moses was ordained through [the medium of] angels and [delivered] through the hand of an intermediary [i.e., Moses].

For all of you are children of God through your faith in Christ Jesus [as God's only Son].

So [now], you are no longer a slave but a child, and since you are a child, you also will receive an inheritance through [the blessings of] God.

But the last thing I want to do is brag [about such things]. For [if I had any bragging to do at all], it would be about [salvation through] the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is through Him that this [sinful] world has been crucified [i.e., died] as far as I am concerned and I have been crucified [i.e., died] as far as it is concerned.