Galatians

¹ From: Paul, an emissary not from people nor by a person but by Jesus Christ and God, the Father who woke him up from the dead, ² and all the members of the Family who are with me.

To: The Assembly in Galatia

³ Good fortune and peace be to you from Father God and our lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ the one who gave himself toward the balance of our deviations, so that he could rescue us from the impending age of hardship, based on the desire of our God and Father ⁵ who is celebrated from age to age. Amen.

⁶ I am amazed that you are shifting over so soon from the one who called you with Christ’s generosity to a different triumphant message, ⁷ which is not actually another one, except some people are causing you distress and wanting to turn the message of Christ’s triumph into something different. ⁸ Instead, even if we—or a messenger from the heavens!—announce a triumphant message to you besides the triumphant message we announced to you, consider them designated for destruction! ⁹ Like we have said before—and I am now saying again—if anyone announces a triumphant message besides what you have received, consider them designated for destruction!

¹⁰ Right now, am I trying to impress people or God? Or am I seeking to people-please? If I have still been people-pleasing, then I have not been enslaved to Christ. ¹¹ But I’m making known to you, members of the Family, the triumphant message—the triumphant message announced by me—because it is not passed down from a person. ¹² I neither received it from a person nor was I taught it; instead, I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ You have heard my old pattern of living regarding Judaism, that in overachieving I was pursuing God’s Assembly and destroying it. ¹⁴ I was striving to advance regarding Judaism beyond many peers among my people, excessively fanatical for the presuppositions of the precepts of my ancestors. ¹⁵ But when it seemed good to the one who called and appointed me from my mother’s womb by their generosity ¹⁶ to reveal their son through me so that I would announce the triumphant message about him among other peoples, I did not immediately consult with my flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were emissaries before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to interview Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days, ¹⁹ but I did not see other emissaries except Jacob, the lord’s brother. ²⁰ —Now, with God as a witness, know that I’m not lying in what I’m writing to you— ²¹ Then, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilica, ²² but I had not met the Judean assemblies that are with Christ. ²³ They had only been hearing, “The one who used to pursue us now announces the triumphant message about the allegiance that he used to destroy,” ²⁴ and they celebrated God regarding me.

¹ Then after the course of fourteen years, I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along with us too. ² I went up there for the purpose of revelation, and I laid out for them the triumphant message that I announce among all peoples (but privately with people who were trusted so that maybe I would not race—or had not raced—for nothing.)

³ Not even Titus who was with me (he being Greek) was required to be circumcised. ⁴ But that is only necessary to note because of the infiltration of fake members into the Family, those who crept in to spy on our freedom we have with Christ in order to enslave us. ⁵ We did not—even for a moment—surrender to subjugation to them, so the truth of the triumphant message would continue unchanged for you.

⁶ However, none of those who were trusted—whatever they had formerly been carries no weight to me; God does not take a person’s status into consideration—those who were trusted did not make any additions to what I laid out for them. ⁷ Instead, on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the triumphant message for those with a foreskin, just like Peter for those who had received circumcision ⁸ (for the one who empowered Peter for being an emissary to those who had received circumcision also empowered me for other ethnicities), ⁹ and when Jacob, Cephas, and John—who were trusted as being pillars—came to know the generosity that had been given to me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of community, so that we are for other peoples and they are for those who have received circumcision, ¹⁰ only wishing us to be mindful of those experiencing poverty, which is the very thing I was eager to do.

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was exposed in wrongdoing. ¹² You see, before the arrival of some people from Jacob, he had been eating with people of other ethnicities, but when they arrived, he withdrew and separated himself because he was afraid of them, who were from those who had received circumcision. ¹³ The rest of the Jews behaved like fellow pretenders with him, and consequently, even Barnabas was led away to being a pretender with them. ¹⁴ However, when I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the triumphant message, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, “If you are a Jew adhering to foreign presuppositions and certainly not living like a Jew, how can you require people of other ethnicities to become Jewish?”

¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and not deviators from other ethnicities. ¹⁶ Then, since we know that a person is not considered just because of actions from Torah but instead through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, we committed to faithfulness to Christ Jesus so that we could be considered just because of the faithfulness of Christ and not because of actions from Torah since nobody will be considered just because of actions from Torah. ¹⁷ So, if as we are seeking to be just with Christ, we have also found ourselves to be deviators, is Christ a servant of deviation? It could never happen! ¹⁸ You see, if I build up again the same things which I destroyed, I am making the connection that I myself am someone who sidesteps. ¹⁹ For because of Torah, I died with regard to Torah so that I could live with regard to God. ²⁰ So I live no longer as me, but Christ lives through me. So now whatever I live out with my body, I live with the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me. ²¹ I am not doing away with God’s generosity because if justice could come to be through Torah, then Christ died pointlessly.

¹ How senseless you Galatians are! Who spellbound you? Wasn’t Jesus Christ openly portrayed in full view as crucified? ² I only have one question for you: Did you receive the Life-breath by actions from Torah or by a report of faithfulness? ³ Are you so senseless that after beginning with Life-breath, now you finish with self-preservation? ⁴ Did you go through everything you experienced for nothing—if it really was for nothing? ⁵ So, does the one who provides Life-breath for you and activates power among you do so by actions from Torah or by a report of faithfulness?

⁶ Just as “Abraham was faithful to God, and it was counted as justness for him,” ⁷ so then, know that those who receive the Life-breath by faithfulness, they are heirs of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture, expecting that God is making other peoples participants in justice by faithfulness, announced the triumphant message in advance to Abraham: “All peoples will receive a share in the pronouncement of well-being through you.” ⁹ So then, those who receive the Life-breath by faithfulness receive the pronouncement of well-being alongside Abraham who was faithful. ¹⁰ For whoever receives the Life-breath by actions from Torah are subjected to a pronouncement of hardship. This is in the scriptures: “A pronouncement of hardship is over everyone who stays committed to everything written in the book of Torah and to doing it.” ¹¹ But, clearly, no one is made just in God’s perspective through Torah—since “The just will be alive by faithfulness.” ¹² But Torah does not arise out of faithfulness; instead, “whoever does these things will be alive through them.” ¹³ Christ purchased us from Torah’s pronouncement of hardship, becoming for us a pronouncement of hardship—since this is in the scriptures: “Everyone who is hanged on wood is under a pronouncement of hardship”— ¹⁴ so that the pronouncement of well-being for Abraham would become for other peoples through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promise through faithfulness.

¹⁵ Family, here is a way for me to say it based in human experience: When a person has authorized a will, no one nullifies it or adds to the directives. ¹⁶ Now, the promises were made to Abraham and his seed. It does not say, “and to your seeds,” as if to many, but instead, as if to one: “and to your seed,” which is Christ. ¹⁷ Now I say this: the Torah—having arrived 430 years later does not nullify a covenant that has already been authorized by God, so that it rescinds the promise. ¹⁸ If the inheritance is received by doing Torah, it is no longer from a promise; but God has been generous to Abraham through a promise. ¹⁹ Then, why Torah? It was provided for those who sidestep until the time when the seed to whom the promise was made would come, being arranged by messengers to be accomplished by a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator implies more than one party, but God is one. ²¹ Then, is the Torah against God’s promises? It couldn’t be! That’s because if Torah were able to give life as it was given, justice really would have been received by Torah. ²² Instead, the scripture enclosed together everything under deviation so that the promise would be given from the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to those who trust faithfully.

²³ However, before the arrival of faithfulness, we were being guarded by Torah enclosed together in anticipation of the faithfulness about to be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the Torah became our nanny for Christ, so that by faithfulness we would be made just. ²⁵ But, since faithfulness has arrived, we are no longer under a nanny. ²⁶ For you are all children of God through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus, ²⁷ for whoever of you were submersed for Christ, you covered yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ One who is within is neither Jew nor Greek, neither enslaved nor free, not male and female: You are all one within Christ Jesus. ²⁹ So if you are part of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs based on a promise.

¹ Nevertheless, I’m telling you, for as long as an heir is a minor, despite being lord of everything, nothing distinguishes them from someone who is enslaved. ² Rather, they are under caregivers and household managers until the time designated by their father. ³ It is the same for us: When we were children, we were enslaved under the fundamental assumptions of the world systems. ⁴ But when the appropriate time came, God sent out God's own son, given birth from a woman and born under Torah, ⁵ so that those under Torah would be purchased from enslavement and so that we would receive adoption as heirs. ⁶ So because you are heirs, God sent the son’s Life-breath into our hearts that were calling out, “Abba! (Father!)” ⁷ So then, no longer are you enslaved but instead are an heir; you are an heir and recipient of the inheritance through God.

⁸ Nevertheless, when you did not see God, you were enslaved to what are not meant to be gods, ⁹ but now that you know God (or more so, are known by God), how can you return again to the weak and useless fundamental assumptions? Do you wish to be enslaved all over again? ¹⁰ You are meticulously observing days and months and seasons and years; ¹¹ I fear for you that I have worked hard for you for nothing.

¹² I beg you, my family, become like me, since I also am like you. You have not acted unjustly toward me, ¹³ but as you know, originally, I announced the triumphant message to you because of a bodily weakness, ¹⁴ a test for you in my body, but you did not treat me with contempt or reject me; instead, you welcomed me with respect like a messenger of God, like Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ So, where is your sense of gratification? Because, I attest to you, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I then become a hateful person toward you because I speak truth to you?

¹⁷ They are passionate about you but not for anything genuinely beneficial; rather, they want to exclude you so that you will be passionate about them. ¹⁸ What is genuinely beneficial is being passionate about genuine benefit always and not only while I am present with you. ¹⁹ My children, I am feeling the pain of giving birth to you all over again until Christ is formed in you. ²⁰ I have been wanting to be already with you and adjust my tone because I am at a loss with you.

²¹ Tell me, those who want to be under Torah, do you not pay attention to what Torah says? ²² You see, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one from the enslaved girl and one from the free woman. ²³ While the one from the enslaved girl was conceived based on bodily impulses, the one from the free woman was through a promise. ²⁴ If these things are allegorized, these women are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai for giving birth to enslavement; this is Hagar. ²⁵ So, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; it parallels Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children. ²⁶ The higher Jerusalem is the free woman; she is our mother. ²⁷ It is written,

Celebrate, woman who is infertile, who does not give birth

Break out into shouts of joy, woman who is not in labor

Because the children of the lonely woman will be many more

Than the one who has a husband.”

²⁸ You, Family, are children like Isaac: from a promise. ²⁹ However, just as the one conceived based on bodily impulses targeted the one conceived based on the Life-breath, now it is also the same. ³⁰ But what does the scripture say? “Banish the enslaved girl and her son since the enslaved girl’s son will not inherit along with” the free woman’s son. ³¹ Therefore, Family, we are not children of the enslaved girl but, rather, of the free woman.

¹ Christ set us free for freedom, so stand up and do not be harnessed into enslavement’s yoke again. ² Look. I, Paul, am telling you that if you get circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ I testify again to every person getting circumcised that they are indebted to do Torah in its entirety. ⁴ Whoever is made just through Torah, your bond to Christ has been nullified; you fell away from generosity. ⁵ You see, with the Life-breath, we diligently anticipate the hope—justice—that is from faithfulness. ⁶ With Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor having a foreskin has any power; on the contrary, what has power is faithfulness being accomplished through love.

⁷ You used to run the course beautifully. Who cut you off and pushed you away from the truth? ⁸ That push was not from the one calling you. ⁹ A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰ I have pushed you regarding Christ, that you would not adopt some other way of thinking, but the one who is distracting you will carry the burden of the verdict, whoever he is. ¹¹ But, Family, if I am still promoting circumcision, why am I still being targeted? In that case, the cross as something that trips people up has been nullified; ¹² I wish the ones distracting you would go ahead and cut themselves off!

¹³ You were called to be in freedom, Family. Not merely freedom for self-preservation but freedom for serving each other through love ¹⁴ because the whole Torah can be fully lived out with one saying. Here it is: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ However, if you are biting and feeding on each other, watch out, or you will be completely devoured.

¹⁶ I’m telling you, walk with the Life-breath, and do not satisfy the desires of self-preservation ¹⁷ because the self-preservation desires things that are against the Life-breath, and the Life-breath desires what is against self-preservation. They are in opposition to each other, so you shouldn't just do whatever you want; ¹⁸ if you are led by the Life-breath, you are not under Torah. ¹⁹ Actions of self-preservation are easy to recognize: sexual exploitation, uncleanness, lack of restraint, ²⁰ idolatry, substance abuse, hostilities, combativeness, fanaticism, aggression, rivalry, divisions, factionalism, ²¹ envies, murder, alcohol abuse, unrestrained indulgence at celebrations, and other things like these. I tell you now, just like I already told you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Reign.

²² On the other hand, the fruit of the Life-breath is love, joy, peace, patience, active kindness, beneficial living, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-restraint. Torah is not against these things. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ crucified self-preservation alongside the suffering and desires that come from it. ²⁵ If we are alive through the Life-breath, we should also walk in line with the Life-breath; ²⁶ we should not become people who project an empty reputation, posturing toward each other, being envious of each other.

¹ Family, even if a person is caught regarding some kind of sidestepping, you who are in line with the Life-breath restore them with a gentle spirit-breath. Examine yourself so you will not also be tested. ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in that way you will completely live out Christ’s Torah. ³ You see, if someone supposes to be something while not being that something, they deceive themselves, ⁴ but each person should assess the authenticity of their own actions, and then they will have something to affirm that is only about themselves and not about someone else. ⁵ You see, each person must carry their own load. ⁶ Whoever is taught the message must be given a share of all its benefits along with whoever teaches it. ⁷ Do not wander from the Path; God is not snubbed. Whatever someone plants, this is what they harvest: ⁸ Whoever plants toward their own self-preservation will harvest something short-lived from that self-preservation, but whoever plants toward the Life-breath will harvest agelong life from the Life-breath. ⁹ May we who are producing something worthwhile not get worn out because those of us who do not give up will harvest at the exact right moment. ¹⁰ So therefore, may we work like now is that moment to bring to reality things that benefit everyone, and especially for the household of the faithful.

¹¹ Look at how big the letters are that I am writing to you with my own hand! ¹² The people who want to appear respectable in connection with self-preservation are forcing you to get circumcised, only so that they will not be targeted for the sake of Christ’s cross. ¹³ That's because those who are circumcised do not observe Torah themselves, but instead, they want you to be circumcised so they can brag about what’s been done to your flesh. ¹⁴ But for me, it is not possible to take pride without the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world system has been crucified to me and I to the world system. ¹⁵ Neither circumcision nor having a foreskin means anything; on the contrary, what means something is new creation! ¹⁶ Peace and compassion on whoever walks in line with this standard, on God’s Israel.

¹⁷ No one else torture me. I already carry Jesus’ scars on my body.

¹⁸ May the generosity of our lord Jesus Christ be with your life-breath, Family. Amen.