Galatians 5 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Mid first century AD
Location
Galatian house churches in the Roman province of central Asia Minor
Audience
Believers who might read freedom from law as permission for anything
Situation
Paul insists that accepting circumcision means taking on the entire law and losing the benefit of Christ, then swings to the opposite danger, warning that freedom is not a licence for self-indulgence. He contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.
Key Background
His sharp wish that the troublemakers would go the whole way and castrate themselves would have carried a local sting, since the region around Pessinus in Galatia was famous for the cult of Cybele, whose priests did exactly that. Lists of vices and virtues set side by side were a common teaching device in Greek and Roman moral philosophy, so the form was familiar even though Paul's content was not. Calling the good qualities fruit, singular, rather than works, treats them as what grows naturally from a changed life rather than as a checklist to complete.
The set us so we could actually be So stand your ground and don't let anyone put you back under the weight of again.
Listen — I, Paul, am telling you directly: if you get thinking it will make you with then The One becomes completely worthless to you.
I'll say it again to every person who gets circumcised: you're now obligated to follow the — every single rule.
If you're trying to be made right with God through the law, you've from The One. You've walked away from
Because through the by we are eagerly waiting for the of being fully made right.
Because when you're to The One Jesus, circumcision doesn't matter at all, and neither does being uncircumcised. The only thing that matters is trust working itself out through
You were so well! Who got in your way and stopped you from following the truth?
This pressure to conform isn't coming from the one who you.
It only takes a little to work its way through the entire batch of dough.
I'm confident in the that you'll come around to seeing it my way. And whoever is stirring up confusion among you — they will face the no matter who they are.
And as for me, brothers and sisters — if I were still preaching circumcision, why would I still be getting persecuted? If I were, then the of the would be wiped out.
As for those agitators — I wish they'd go the whole way and
You were called to brothers and sisters. Just don't use your as an excuse to do whatever your want. Instead, each other through love.
Because the entire law can be summed up in one statement: the to you as you yourself."
But if you keep tearing into each other — biting and one another — watch out, or you'll end up destroying each other completely.
Here's what I'm saying: let the guide your life, and you won't end up doing what your crave.
Because your selfish instincts crave what goes against the Breath, and the Breath wants what goes against your selfish instincts. They are to each other — which is why you can't just do whatever you feel like.
But if you're being by the you're not under the
Now, what your selfish instincts produce is obvious: of
involvement with hatred, constant conflict, jealousy, explosive anger, an
drunkenness, and other things like these. I'm warning you now, just like I warned you before: people who make a habit of living this way will not inherit
But what the looks like this:
and There's no any of these.
Those who belong to The One Jesus have nailed their selfish instincts to the — with all its and
If we're of the let's actually the
Let's not become — provoking each other and each other.