1 Corinthians 15:1 - Galatians 3:25 (The Message)

1 Corinthians 15 - Galatians 3:27

Resurrection

15 1-2 Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this

Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m

assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)

3-9 The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically

before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again

exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to

his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since

died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive

to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years

trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence.

10-11 But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do

more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that

much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it’s all the same:

We spoke God’s truth and you entrusted your lives.

12-15 Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen

from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—

if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not

only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about

God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

16-20 If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed

dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in

Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get

out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy

of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

21-28 There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody

comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the

opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the

psalmist said, “He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them.”

When Scripture says that “he walked all over them,” it’s obvious that he couldn’t at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is

finally under God’s rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God’s rule is absolutely comprehensive—a

perfect ending!

29 Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there’s no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God’s power

stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he’s going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet

alive?

30-33 And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I

look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the

resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me?

Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We

eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection

loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.”

34 Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and

loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can’t afford in times like these. Aren’t you embarrassed that you’ve let this kind of thing go

on as long as you have?

35-38 Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me

a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no

diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in

gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There

is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the

soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be

dramatically different.

39-41 You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans,

animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only

on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty

and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!

42-44 This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere

sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised,

we’re raised forgood, alive forever! The corpse that’s planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up

powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical

mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!

45-49 We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the

Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual—a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven.

The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly. In

the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends.

50 I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very

“nature” is to die, so how could they “naturally” end up in the Life kingdom?

51-57 But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be

changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet

from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach

of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to

happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the

imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will

come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death?

Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its

leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Thank God!

58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And

don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

Coming to See You

16 1-4 Regarding the relief offering for poor Christians that is being collected,

you get the same instructions I gave the churches in Galatia. Every Sunday each of you make an offering and put it in safekeeping. Be as generous as

you can. When I get there you’ll have it ready, and I won’t have to make a special appeal. Then after I arrive, I’ll write letters authorizing whomever

you delegate, and send them off to Jerusalem to deliver your gift. If you think it best that I go along, I’ll be glad to travel with them.

5-9 I plan to visit you after passing through northern Greece. I won’t be

staying long there, but maybe I can stay awhile with you—maybe even

spend the winter? Then you could give me a good send-off, wherever I may be headed next. I don’t want to just drop by in between other “primary”

destinations. I want a good, long, leisurely visit. If the Master agrees, we’ll have it! For the present, I’m staying right here in Ephesus. A huge door of

opportunity for good work has opened up here. (There is also mushrooming opposition.)

10-11 If Timothy shows up, take good care of him. Make him feel completely at

home among you. He works so hard for the Master, just as I do. Don’t let anyone disparage him. After a while, send him on to me with your blessing.

Tell him I’m expecting him, and any friends he has with him.

12 About our friend Apollos, I’ve done my best to get him to pay you a visit,

but haven’t talked him into it yet. He doesn’t think this is the right time. But there will be a “right time.”

13-14 Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve

got, be resolute, and love without stopping.

15-16 Would you do me a favor, friends, and give special recognition to the family of Stephanas? You know, they were among the first converts in

Greece, and they’ve put themselves out, serving Christians ever since then. I want you to honor and look up to people like that: companions and

workers who show us how to do it, giving us something to aspire to.

17-18 I want you to know how delighted I am to have Stephanas, Fortunatus,

and Achaicus here with me. They partially make up for your absence! They’ve refreshed me by keeping me in touch with you. Be proud that you

have people like this among you.

19 The churches here in western Asia send greetings.

Aquila, Priscilla, and the church that meets in their house say hello.

20 All the friends here say hello.

Pass the greetings around with holy embraces!

21 And I, Paul—in my own handwriting!—send you my regards.

22 If anyone won’t love the Master, throw him out. Make room for the Master!

23 Our Master Jesus has his arms wide open for you.

24 And I love all of you in the Messiah, in Jesus.

1 1-2 I, Paul, have been sent on a special mission by the Messiah, Jesus, planned by

God himself. I write this to God’s congregation in Corinth, and to believers all over

Achaia province. May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours! Timothy, someone you know and trust, joins me

in this greeting.

The Rescue

3-5 All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go

through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone

else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from

following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing

comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.

6-7 When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also

works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you’re just as willing to

endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you’re going to make it, no doubt about it.

8-11 We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we

were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have

happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who

raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your

prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s

deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.

12-14 Now that the worst is over, we’re pleased we can report that we’ve come

out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn’t by

any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised. Don’t try to read between the lines or look for hidden

meanings in this letter. We’re writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you’ll now see the whole picture as well as you’ve seen some of the details.

We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.

15-16 Confident of your welcome, I had originally planned two great visits with you—coming by on my way to Macedonia province, and then again on my

return trip. Then we could have had a bon-voyage party as you sent me off to Judea. That was the plan.

17-19 Are you now going to accuse me of being flip with my promises because

it didn’t work out? Do you think I talk out of both sides of my mouth—a glib yes one moment, a glib no the next? Well, you’re wrong. I try to be as

true to my word as God is to his. Our word to you wasn’t a careless yes

canceled by an indifferent no. How could it be? When Silas and Timothy and I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no,

on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn’t it a clean, strong Yes?

20-22 Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him,

this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in

Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

23 Now, are you ready for the real reason I didn’t visit you in Corinth? As God

is my witness, the only reason I didn’t come was to spare you pain. I was being considerate of you, not indifferent, not manipulative.

24 We’re not in charge of how you live out the faith, looking over your shoulders, suspiciously critical. We’re partners, working alongside you,

joyfully expectant. I know that you stand by your own faith, not by ours.

2 1-2 That’s why I decided not to make another visit that could only be painful to

both of us. If by merely showing up I would put you in an embarrassingly painful position, how would you then be free to cheer and refresh me?

3-4 That was my reason for writing a letter instead of coming—so I wouldn’t have to spend a miserable time disappointing the very friends I had looked forward to cheering me up. I was convinced at the time I wrote it that what

was best for me was also best for you. As it turned out, there was pain enough just in writing that letter, more tears than ink on the parchment. But

I didn’t write it to cause pain; I wrote it so you would know how much I care—oh, more than care—love you!

5-8 Now, regarding the one who started all this—the person in question who caused all this pain—I want you to know that I am not the one injured in this

as much as, with a few exceptions, all of you. So I don’t want to come down too hard. What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment

enough. Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My

counsel now is to pour on the love.

9-11 The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting

you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The

fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet

more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

An Open Door

12-14 When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found

the place wide open: God had opened the door; all I had to do was walk through it. But when I didn’t find Titus waiting for me with news of your

condition, I couldn’t relax. Worried about you, I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you. And I

got it, thank God!

14-16 In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ.

Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those

on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way

to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.

16-17 This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No—but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the

streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as

honestly as we can.

3 1-3 Does it sound like we’re patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our

credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we’re not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we

need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into

stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.

4-6 We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of

writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan

wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our

lives!

Lifting the Veil

7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a

dazzling inaugural. Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could

no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?

9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this

Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement

impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?

12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses,

we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—

and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when

the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t

see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.

16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the

veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is

personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and

God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter

and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Trial and Torture

4 1-2 Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not

about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into

occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word

to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open,

the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

3-4 If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in

any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the

fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re

stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

5-6 Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for

you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled

up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this

precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.

As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but

we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our

side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to

Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for

Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

13-15 We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who

wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly

raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more

praise!

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it

often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard

times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The

things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

5 1-5 For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like

tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration.

Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real

thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

6-8 That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we

trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in

the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

9-10 But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing

God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our

conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.

11-14 That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work

urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we

care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side

and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me

to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

A New Life

14-15 Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for

everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a

far better life than people ever lived on their own.

16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or

how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look

inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All

this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the

world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone

what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of

making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now:

Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

Staying at Our Post

6 1-10 Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t

squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us,

I heard your call in the nick of time;

The day you needed me, I was there to help.

Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don’t put it off;

don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark

over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly,

unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating;

with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his

power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though

distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing

to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.

11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel

comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up

your lives. Live openly and expansively!

14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is

light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust

and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom

God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.

So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God.

“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself.

I’ll be a Father to you;

you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”

The Word of the Master, God.

7 With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean

break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without.

Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

More Passionate, More Responsible

2-4 Trust us. We’ve never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of

anyone. Don’t think I’m finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I’m with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in

you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.

5-7 When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn’t settle down. The

fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn’t relax because we didn’t know how it would turn out. Then the

God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came

in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved,

how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!

8-9 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset

you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to

God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.

10 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us

back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a

deathbed of regrets.

11-13 And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more

reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I

was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern

was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us

before God. That’s what happened—and we felt just great.

13-16 And then, when we saw how Titus felt—his exuberance over your

response—our joy doubled. It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did. If I went out on a limb in telling

Titus how great I thought you were, you didn’t cut off that limb. As it turned out, I hadn’t exaggerated one bit. Titus saw for himself that everything I had

said about you was true. He can’t quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of

your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn’t be more pleased—I’m so confident and proud of you.

The Offering

8 1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in

which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit.

The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an

outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could

afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given

themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to

ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust

God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.

8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring

the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became

poor and we became rich.

10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your

heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not

what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take

it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all

the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your

deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,

Nothing left over to the one with the most, Nothing lacking to the one with the least.

I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and

help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of

the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about

doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking

every precaution against scandal.

20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in

our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as

energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.

23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who

travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let

them see it for themselves!

9 1-2 If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I’d be

repeating myself. I know you’re on board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia province has been

ready to go on this since last year.” Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.

3-5 Now I’m sending the brothers to make sure you’re ready, as I said you

would be, so my bragging won’t turn out to be just so much hot air. If some Macedonians and I happened to drop in on you and found you weren’t

prepared, we’d all be pretty red-faced—you and us—for acting so sure of ourselves. So to make sure there will be no slipup, I’ve recruited these

brothers as an advance team to get you and your promised offering all ready before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need to make this

offering in your own way. I don’t want anything forced or hurried at the last minute.

6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a

lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob

stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be

done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds,

giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways

never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread

for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God,

wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

12-15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful

thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain

meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward

everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever

you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

Tearing Down Barriers

10 1-2 And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but

firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-

washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present

with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their

words.

3-6 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t

fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but

they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our

powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers

erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready

at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

7-8 You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can’t see the forest for the

trees. If you’re looking for a clear example of someone on Christ’s side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing

with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I’m not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you

up, after all, not tearing you down.

9-11 And what’s this talk about me bullying you with my letters? “His letters

are brawny and potent, but in person he’s a weakling and mumbles when he talks.” Such talk won’t survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do

when present. We’re the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.

12 We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this

comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

13-14 We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits

reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get

there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?

15-18 We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is

that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in

countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. “If you want to claim credit, claim

it for God.” What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.

Pseudo-Servants of God

11 1-3 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a

moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in

marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now

I’m afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

4-6 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we

preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot “apostles,” why can’t you put up

with simple me? I’m as good as they are. It’s true that I don’t have their voice, haven’t mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much.

But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I’m talking about. We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

7-12 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God’s Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that

you wouldn’t be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I

lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was

careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it’s a point of honor with me, and I’m not going

to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It’s not that I don’t love you; God knows I do. I’m just trying to keep things

open and honest between us.

12-15 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your

money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a

sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the

time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting

by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end.

Many a Long and Lonely Night

16-21 Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I

continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh,

no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so

popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens

along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I

shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate

that kind of stuff.

21-23 Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of

being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying

these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

23-27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five

times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and

immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends,

struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought

were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked

to the weather.

28-29 And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and

anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry

fire burns in my gut.

30-33 If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master

Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the

governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to

run for my life.

Strength from Weakness

12 1-5 You’ve forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better

judgment. But now that we’re at it, I may as well bring up the matter of

visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights

of heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again,

whether in or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the

man I want to talk about. But about myself, I’m not saying another word

apart from the humiliations.

6 If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you.

I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch

with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high

and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the

handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength

moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents,

opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

11-13 Well, now I’ve done it! I’ve made a complete fool of myself by going on

like this. But it’s not all my fault; you put me up to it. You should have been doing this for me, sticking up for me and commending me instead of making

me do it for myself. You know from personal experience that even if I’m a nobody, a nothing, I wasn’t second-rate compared to those big-shot apostles

you’re so taken with. All the signs that mark a true apostle were in evidence

while I was with you through both good times and bad: signs of portent, signs of wonder, signs of power. Did you get less of me or of God than any

of the other churches? The only thing you got less of was less responsibility for my upkeep. Well, I’m sorry. Forgive me for depriving you.

14-15 Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don’t

worry about it; you won’t have to put yourselves out. I’ll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what

you have—only in you. Children shouldn’t have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I’d be most happy to empty my pockets,

even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more

I love you, the less I’m loved?

16-18 And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how

my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where’s the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I

asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven’t we always been just as aboveboard, just as

honest?

19 I hope you don’t think that all along we’ve been making our defense before you, the jury. You’re not the jury; God is the jury—God revealed in Christ—

and we make our case before him. And we’ve gone to all the trouble of supporting ourselves so that we won’t be in the way or get in the way of

your growing up.

20-21 I do admit that I have fears that when I come you’ll disappoint me and

I’ll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces—quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words,

vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam. I don’t look forward to a second humiliation by God among you, compounded by hot tears over that

crowd that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways, who refuse to turn away from the pigsty of evil, sexual disorder, and indecency in which

they wallow.

He’s Alive Now!

13 1-4 Well, this is my third visit coming up. Remember the Scripture that

says, “A matter becomes clear after two or three witnesses give evidence”?

On my second visit I warned that bunch that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways that when I came back I wouldn’t go easy on them. Now,

preparing for the third, I’m saying it again from a distance. If you haven’t changed your ways by the time I get there, look out. You who have been

demanding proof that Christ speaks through me will get more than you

bargained for. You’ll get the full force of Christ, don’t think you won’t. He was sheer weakness and humiliation when he was killed on the cross, but

oh, he’s alive now—in the mighty power of God! We weren’t much to look at, either, when we were humiliated among you, but when we deal with you this

next time, we’ll be alive in Christ, strengthened by God.

5-9 Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need

firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that

we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our

failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on

to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

10 I’m writing this to you now so that when I come I won’t have to say

another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not

have to spend time on reprimands.

11-13 And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep

your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy

embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.

14 The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

1 1-5 I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian

churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from

the dead. I’m God-commissioned. So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from

this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!

The Message

6-9 I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him

who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a

no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of

us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I’ll say it

again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches

something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed.

10-12 Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I

wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism.

I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus

Christ.

13-16 I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the

Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God’s church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my

ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother’s

womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews

about him.

16-20 Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long

before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus, but it was

three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our

Master’s brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I’m telling you the absolute truth in this.)

21-24 Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After all that

time and activity I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea. There was only this report: “That man who once persecuted us is

now preaching the very message he used to try to destroy.” Their response was to recognize and worship God because ofme!

What Is Central?

2 1-5 Fourteen years after that first visit, Barnabas and I went up to

Jerusalem and took Titus with us. I went to clarify with them what had been revealed to me. At that time I placed before them exactly what I was

preaching to the non-Jews. I did this in private with the leaders, those held in esteem by the church, so that our concern would not become a

controversial public issue, marred by ethnic tensions, exposing my years of

work to denigration and endangering my present ministry. Significantly, Titus, non-Jewish though he was, was not required to be circumcised. While

we were in conference we were infiltrated by spies pretending to be Christians, who slipped in to find out just how free true Christians are. Their

ulterior motive was to reduce us to their brand of servitude. We didn’t give them the time of day. We were determined to preserve the truth of the

Message for you.

6-10 As for those who were considered important in the church, their reputation doesn’t concern me. God isn’t impressed with mere appearances,

and neither am I. And of course these leaders were able to add nothing to

the message I had been preaching. It was soon evident that God had entrusted me with the same message to the non-Jews as Peter had been

preaching to the Jews. Recognizing that my calling had been given by God,

James, Peter, and John—the pillars of the church—shook hands with me and Barnabas, assigning us to a ministry to the non-Jews, while they continued

to be responsible for reaching out to the Jews. The only additional thing they asked was that we remember the poor, and I was already eager to do that.

11-13 Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation

with him because he was clearly out of line. Here’s the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the

non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage

between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That’s how fearful he was of the

conservative Jewish clique that’s been pushing the old system of circumcision. Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined

in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.

14 But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: “If you, a

Jew, live like a non-Jew when you’re not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to

Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?”

15-16 We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over “non-Jewish sinners.” We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-

keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen!

Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by

trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

17-18 Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great

surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t

perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the

same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so

that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to

do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I

appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer

driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not

“mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing

religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a

living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Trust in Christ, Not the Law

3 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken

leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His

sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

2-4 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by

working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy

people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do

you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be

if you keep this up!

5-6 Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his

own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral

striving orbecause you trust him to do them in you? Don’t these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God,

and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

7-8 Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith?

It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to

Abraham: “All nations will be blessed in you.”

9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived

by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture

backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”

11-12 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should

make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what

God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes

God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and

more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”

13-14 Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it

completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed

is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the

curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We

are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.

15-18 Friends, let me give you an example from everyday affairs of the free life

I am talking about. Once a person’s will has been ratified, no one else can annul it or add to it. Now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his

descendant. You will observe that Scripture, in the careful language of a

legal document, does not say “to descendants,” referring to everybody in general, but “to your descendant” (the noun, note, is singular), referring to

Christ. This is the way I interpret this: A will, earlier ratified by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the

promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will.

18-20 What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a

thoughtful addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until

Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them

to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is

a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original promise is the directblessing of God,

received by faith.

21-22 If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God’s will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we

are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own

efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his

promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.

23-24 Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to

the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who

escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.

25-27 But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing

you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.