An excerpt from the apostle Paul's Letter to the Galatians
Distinguishing the Law from Grace
Chapter 5 and 6
In this freedom Christ has made us free and completely liberated us;
stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit
again to the yoke of slavery which you have once put off.
Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision,
Christ will be of no profit to you, for if you distrust Him,
you can gain nothing from Him.
I once more protest and testify to every man who receives circumcision-
that he is under obligation and bound to practice
the whole of the Law and its ordinances.
If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given
right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing
and so separated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace,
from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing.
For we, not relying on the Law, but through the Holy Spirit's help,
by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which
our righteousness and right standing with God, our conformity to
His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us to hope.
For if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision
counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized
and expressed and working through love.
You were running the race nobly.
Who has interfered in your heeding and following the Truth?
This evil persuasion is not from Him Who called you,
Who invited you to freedom in Christ.
A little leaven, a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers
leavens the whole lump, it perverts the whole conception of faith
or misleads the whole church.
For my part I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you
will take no contrary view of the matter but will come to think with me.
But he who is unsettling you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.
But brethren, if I still preach circumcision, as some accuse me of doing,
as necessary to salvation, why am I still suffering persecution? In that
case the cross has ceased to be a stumbling block and is made meaningless.
I wish those who unsettle and confuse you
would all go away and cut themselves off!
For you, brethren, were indeed called to freedom; only do not let
your freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or
excuse for selfishness, but through love you should serve one another.
For the who Law concerning human relationships is complied with
in one precept, You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another in partisan strife, be careful
that you and your whole fellowship are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit, responsive to
and controlled and guided by the Spirit; then you will certainly not
gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh, of human nation without God.
For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Holy Spirit, and the desires
of the Spirit are opposed to the flesh, godless human nature; for these are
antagonistic to each other, continually withstanding and in conflict with
each other, so that you are not free but are prevented from
doing what you desire to do.
But if you are guided by the Holy Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.
Now the doings, practices, of the flesh are clear; they are immorality,
impurity, indecency,
Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness,
divisions, party spirit, (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand,
just as I did previously, that those who do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the work which His presence
within accomplishes is love, joy, gladness, peace, patience,
(an even temper, forebearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gentleness, humility, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus the Messiah have crucified the
flesh, the godless human nature, with its passions and appetites and desires.
If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. If by the
Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line,
our conduct controlled by the Spirit.
Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and
challenging and provoking and irritating to one another,
envying, and being jealous of one another.
For every person will have to bear his own load of oppressive thoughts.
Let him who receives instruction in the Word of God share all
good things with his teacher, contributing to his support.
Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow
Himself to be mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or
by His precepts being set aside. They inevitably delude themselves
who attempt to delude God. For whatever a person sows,
that, and that only is what they will reap.
For they who sow to their own flesh will from the flesh reap
decay and ruin and destruction, but they who sow to the Spirit
will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting
nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season
we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do
good to all people, not only being useful or profitable to them,
but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage.
Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household
of faith, those who belong to God's family with you, the believers.
But far be it from me to glory in anything or anyone except in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah, through Whom
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!
For neither is circumcision now of any importance, nor
uncircumcision, but only a new creation, the result of a
new birth and new nature in Christ Jesus the Messiah.
Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule,
who discipline themselves and regulate their lives by
this principle, even upon the true Israel of God.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed One,
be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
On The Wings Of The Wind
Zemer Levav
(2010)
Galatians 5:1-26, 6:5,6,7,8,9,10, 14,15,16,18
All scripture taken from The Amplified Bible
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