Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ² and all of the brothers^[a] who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father— ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Not Another Gospel

⁶ I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, ⁷ which is really not another gospel at all. There are, however, some who are trying to disturb you by perverting the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven would preach any gospel other than the one we preached to you—a curse on him! ⁹ As we have said before, so I now say again: If anyone preaches to you any gospel other than the one you received—a curse on him!

¹⁰ Am I now seeking the favor of people or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to gain the approval of people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Jesus Gave Paul the Gospel

¹¹ But I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. ¹² For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³ Certainly you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God to an extraordinary degree and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my own people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ However, God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me, so that I would preach him among the Gentiles. At that time, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷ and I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead I went away into Arabia, and then I returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Next, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas^[b] and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now about the things I am writing to you—look, I assure you in the presence of God that I am not lying.) ²¹ Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² I was still personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They heard only: “The one who was once persecuting us is now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they were praising God for what happened to me.

Paul’s Fellowship With Those in Jerusalem

2 Then, after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus with me. ² I went up in keeping with a revelation, and I laid before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately before those who were considered important, in order to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. ³ But Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, even though he is Greek. ⁴ This was an issue because of the false brothers, who slipped in under false pretenses to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Their goal was to make us slaves. ⁵ We refused to give in to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue with you.

⁶ But as for those who were considered to be important (what sort of people they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality), indeed, those who were considered to be important added nothing to my gospel. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. ⁸ For God, who worked effectively in Peter to serve as an apostle to the circumcised, also worked effectively in me to serve as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹ And because James, Cephas, and John, who were considered to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship. They agreed that we were to go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ The only thing they asked was that we remember the poor, the very thing that I was also eager to do.

Paul Opposed Cephas (Peter)

¹¹ But when Cephas^[c] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. ¹² For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, “If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?”

Justified Through Faith!

¹⁵ “We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. ¹⁶ We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one^[d] will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷ But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!

¹⁸ “In fact, if I build up again those things that I destroyed, I bring on myself the judgment of being a lawbreaker. ¹⁹ Indeed, through the law I died to the law that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not regard the grace of God as nothing. As a matter of fact, if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”