The Good News of Deliverance

¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^(A)

5 ¹ For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.^(A)

The Nature of Christian Freedom

² Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that, if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. ⁴ You who want to be reckoned as righteous^[a] by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.^{(B) 5} For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.^{(C) 6} For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working^[b] through love.^(D)

⁷ You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?^{(E) 8} Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰ I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.^{(F) 11} But my brothers and sisters, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹² I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,^[c] but through love become enslaved to one another.^{(G) 14} For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{(H) 15} If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.