Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Christ Made Us Free

5 Christ made us free. Stay that way. Do not get chained all over again in the Law and its kind of religious worship.

² Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you have the religious act of becoming a Jew done on you, Christ will be of no use to you at all. ³ I say it again. Every man who has the religious act of becoming a Jew done on him must obey every Law. ⁴ If you expect to be made right with God by obeying the Law, then you have turned away from Christ and His loving-favor. ⁵ We are waiting for the hope of being made right with God. This will come through the Holy Spirit and by faith. ⁶ If we belong to Jesus Christ, it means nothing to have or not to have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. But faith working through love is important.

⁷ You were doing well. Who stopped you from obeying the truth? ⁸ Whatever he used did not come from the One Who chose you to have life. ⁹ It only takes a little yeast to make the whole loaf of bread rise. ¹⁰ I feel I can trust you because of what the Lord has done in your life. I believe you will not follow another way. Whoever is trying to lead you in the wrong way will suffer for it. ¹¹ Christian brothers, if I would still preach that people must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew to be a Christian, I would not be suffering from those who are making it hard for me. If I preached like that, the Jews would have no reason to be against the cross of Christ. ¹² I wish those who are so willing to cut your bodies would complete the job by cutting themselves off from you.

¹³ Christian brother, you were chosen to be free. Be careful that you do not please your old selves by sinning because you are free. Live this free life by loving and helping others. ¹⁴ You obey the whole Law when you do this one thing, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ^{(A) 15} But if you hurt and make it hard for each other, watch out or you may be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves. ¹⁷ The things our old selves want to do are against what the Holy Spirit wants. The Holy Spirit does not agree with what our sinful old selves want. These two are against each other. So you cannot do what you want to do. ¹⁸ If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power over you. ¹⁹ The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins, sinful desires, wild living, ²⁰ worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching, ²¹ wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these. I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these things will have no place in the holy nation of God. ²² But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, ²³ being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things. ²⁴ Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead.

²⁵ If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all things. ²⁶ Let us not become proud in ways in which we should not. We must not make hard feelings among ourselves as Christians or make anyone jealous.

Help Other Christians

6 Christian brothers, if a person is found doing some sin, you who are stronger Christians should lead that one back into the right way. Do not be proud as you do it. Watch yourself, because you may be tempted also. ² Help each other in troubles and problems. This is the kind of law Christ asks us to obey. ³ If anyone thinks he is important when he is nothing, he is fooling himself. ⁴ Everyone should look at himself and see how he does his own work. Then he can be happy in what he has done. He should not compare himself with his neighbor. ⁵ Everyone must do his own work.

⁶ He who is taught God’s Word should share the good things he has with his teacher. ⁷ Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. A man will get back whatever he plants! ⁸ If a man does things to please his sinful old self, his soul will be lost. If a man does things to please the Holy Spirit, he will have life that lasts forever. ⁹ Do not let yourselves get tired of doing good. If we do not give up, we will get what is coming to us at the right time. ¹⁰ Because of this, we should do good to everyone. For sure, we should do good to those who belong to Christ.

The Christian’s Pride Should Be in the Cross

¹¹ See what big letters I make when I write to you with my own hand. ¹² Those men who say you must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew are doing it because they want to make a good show in front of the world. They do this so they will not have to suffer because of following the way of the cross of Christ. ¹³ Those who have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew do not even keep the Law themselves. But they want you to go through that religious act so they can be proud that you are their followers. ¹⁴ I do not want to be proud of anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the cross, the ways of this world are dead to me, and I am dead to them. ¹⁵ If a person does or does not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew, it is worth nothing. The important thing is to become a new person. ¹⁶ Those who follow this way will have God’s peace and loving-kindness. They are the people of God.

¹⁷ Let no one make trouble for me from now on. For I have on my body the whip marks of one who has been a servant owned by Jesus. ¹⁸ Christian brothers, may the loving-favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Let it be so.