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.

he predestined us for adoption to himself through Jesus the Messiah, according to the pleasure of his will,

so that we who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah might live for his praise and glory.

who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory.

Therefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers.

and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength,

He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.

God has put everything under the Messiah's feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church,

Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us

For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God

For we are God's masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.

He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near.

For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit.

In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord.

You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God's Spirit to dwell.

For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of the Messiah Jesus for the sake of you gentiles.

and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things.

Therefore, stripping off falsehood, "let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor," for we belong to one another.

Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.

Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.

Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.

For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.

Do not let anyone deceive you with meaningless words, for it is because of these things that God becomes angry with those who disobey.

For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,

for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are.

For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient people in secret.

for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, "Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.''

you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;

and you will submit to one another out of reverence for the Messiah.

For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body.

Husbands, love your wives as the Messiah loved the church and gave himself for it,

For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church.

For we are parts of his body of his flesh and of his bones.

But each individual man among you must love his wife as he loves himself; and may the wife fear her husband.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.

""so that it may go well for you, and that you may have a long life on the earth."

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear, trembling, and sincerity, as when you obey the Messiah.

because you know that everyone will receive a reward from the Lord for whatever good he has done, whether he is a slave or free.

Masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.

For this reason, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.

Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints.

Pray also for me, so that, when I begin to speak, the right words will come to me. Then I will boldly make known the secret of the gospel,

for whose sake I am an ambassador in chains, desiring to declare the gospel as boldly as I should.

I am sending him to you for this very reason, so that you may know how we are doing and that he may encourage your hearts.

always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you

For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you're constantly on my mind. Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.

For God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the compassion that the Messiah Jesus provides.

As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about the Messiah.

The former proclaim the Messiah because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.

For to me, to go on living is the Messiah, and to die is gain.

Indeed, I cannot decide between the two. I have the desire to leave this life and be with the Messiah, for that is far better.

But for your sake it is better that I remain alive.

The only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

For you have been given the privilege for the Messiah's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.

And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you.

For all the others look after their own interests, not after those of Jesus the Messiah.

Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things are going to turn out for me.

For he has been longing for all of you and is troubled because you heard that he was sick.

because he came close to death for the work of the Messiah by risking his life to complete what remained unfinished in your service to me.

So then, my brothers, keep on rejoicing in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you; indeed, it is for your safety.

For it is we who are the circumcision we who worship in the Spirit of God and find our joy in the Messiah Jesus. We have not placed any confidence in the flesh,

Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.

As for my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As far as righteousness in the Law is concerned, I was blameless.

But whatever things were assets to me, these I now consider a loss for the sake of the Messiah.

What is more, I continue to consider all these things to be a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah

However, we should live up to what we have achieved so far.