From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him in this way.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will not be blamed.

I don’t say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to live together and to die together.

and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a little while.

Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us.

So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your diligence for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.

I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability,

So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have.

It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality—

at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality.

And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help.

For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be embarrassed in that situation.

Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way.

and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.

Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.

We are not bragging beyond measure about other people’s labors. But we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

Though untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have always made that clear to you in everything.

Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know, God knows—

For if I want to boast, I will not be a fool, because I will be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,

especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

So in what way were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

You have thought all along that we were defending ourselves to you. No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and I may not be found by you to be what you want; there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity they practiced.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.

And I hope you will recognize that we do not fail the test.

Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong—not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear to fail.

This is why I am writing these things while absent, that when I am there I will not use severity, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the good news about the Messiah.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought.

to reveal His Son in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.

I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles—but privately to those recognized as leaders—so that I might not be running, or have run the race, in vain.

This issue arose because of false brothers smuggled in, who came in secretly to spy on the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.

But we did not give up and submit to these people for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised,

When James, Cephas, and John, recognized as pillars, acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I made every effort to do.

Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.

If I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.

For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ

then understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.

Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you.

Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Brothers, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to even a human covenant that has been ratified.

And I say this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God and cancel the promise.

Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law.

But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness.

What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

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

For it is written:

Rejoice, childless woman,
who does not give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate are many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.

Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.

Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.

I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.

Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him

so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,

so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

not from works, so that no one can boast.

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.

you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you?

I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.

This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit,