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Galatians 5.1-6.10

Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop attaching yourselves to the yoke of slavery again. Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised is obligated to obey the entire law. Those of you who are trying to be justified by the law have been cut off from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith that is active through love.

You were running beautifully! Who cut in on you and stopped you from obeying the truth? Such influence does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of the matter. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God's judgment, whoever he is. 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. I wish that those who are unsettling you would castrate themselves!

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.” But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never fulfill the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us stop being arrogant, provoking one another and envying one another.

Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person in a spirit of gentleness. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well. Practice carrying each other's burdens. In this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is really nothing, he is only fooling himself. Each person must approve his own actions, and then he can boast about his own accomplishments and not those of his neighbor. For everyone must carry his own load.

The person who is taught the word should share all his goods with his teacher. Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants. For the person who plants in his flesh will harvest decay from the flesh, but the person who plants in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest—if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have the opportunity, let us practice doing good to everyone, especially to the family of faith.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version^®. Copyright © 2001 by The ISV Foundation, 2200 N. Grand Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705-7016. Used by permission of Davidson Press, Inc. All rights reserved internationally.