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1 It was+ so that we would not be slaves+ that the Messiah set us free!
“Don’t Allow Yourselves to Be Loaded Down, Again, by a Yoke of Slavery”
In light of these things, stand firm, and don’t allow yourselves to be loaded down, again,
+ by a yoke of slavery!
+2 Mark my words!+ I, Paul, am telling you this: If you consent to be circumcised, the Messiah, to you, will be of absolutely+ no benefit.
3 I again issue solemn warning to every man who is on the verge+ of being circumcised: He will+ be under strict+ obligation to observe Torah down to its very+ last detail!+
4 If+ it is by Torah that ᵖyou are seeking to be regarded as righteous, then you are as good as+ cut off from the Messiah; you have from God’s+ gift fallen away.+
5 As for us, you see, it is+ through the power+ of the Spirit, by faith, that we eagerly await the hope of righteousness.+
6 In union with Messiah Jesus, you see, it isn’t+ one’s state of having been circumcised or uncircumcised+ that carries weight,+ but faith expressing itself through acts of love.+
7 You were running the race so well! Exactly+ who was it that shook your confidence+ and stopped you from obeying+ the truth?
8 Such swaying from obeying+ does not come from the one who summons+ you.
9 It takes only a tiny+ bit of yeast to corrupt+ the whole+ lump of dough.
10 Still,+ I on my part am confident in union with the Lord that you will clearly+ see and fully agree with the truth of my own stance on these matters.+ The person who is throwing you into confusion, however, will pay the penalty, whoever he is.
11 As for me, brothers and sisters, if I am still advocating the necessity+ of circumcision,+ then why am I still being persecuted? If I were doing that,+ my teaching about the cross wouldn’t be a source of stumbling and offense.++
12 O that those who are troubling you would just go the whole way and castrate themselves!
13 Indeed, as for you, it was+ out of slavery+ that you were summoned,+ brothers and sisters. Only make sure you don’t twist+ this freedom+ into an excuse for gratifying the evil desires that seize the mortal nature;+ continually serve one another, rather,+ through acts of love.
14 The entire+ Torah,+ you see, is summed up in this one+ command: “ˢYou are+ to love your neighbor as yourself.”+
15 If one another, however, you are like wild animals+ always+ biting and devouring,+ then watch out, lest you be by one another destroyed.+
“It Is under the Governance of the Spirit That You Are to Conduct Yourselves”
16 Now, I say this: It is+ under the governance of the Spirit+ that you are to conduct yourselves; then+ the evil things that the mortal nature wants you to do+ you will certainly not carry out.+
17 The mortal nature, you see, seized as it is by sin, craves the opposite of what the Spirit wants.+ The Spirit, meanwhile, desires the opposite of what the mortal nature craves.+ These two, you see, are to one another fiercely+ opposed, and as a result, the things you want to do are the very+ things you do not do.+
18 If it is+ by the Spirit, however, that you are being led, you are not subject to Torah.+
19 Now the sinful things that the mortal nature wants people to do+ are very+ obvious: Sexual immorality, impurity, licentious behavior,
20 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, factions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and other things like these. I am warning you now, just as I have warned you before: People who live that+ sort of life+ will not inherit the Kingdom of God.+
22 The fruit of the Spirit, by contrast, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 humility, and self-control. Against such things+ there is no Torah.
24 Those who belong to the Messiah have crucified the mortal nature dominated by sin,+ along with its passions and its covetous desires.+
25 If we are experiencing new life+ through the Spirit, then let our conduct to the Spirit also conform.+
26 Let us not fall into an exaggerated and prideful view of ourselves, because when we are boastful, not only+ is it unfounded,+ but we are simply challenging one another to a fight,+ and of one another only+ become envious.