The Spirit of Life
Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.
I, Paul, promise you that Christ won’t do you any good if you get circumcised. If you do, you must obey the whole Law. And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness. But the Spirit makes us sure that God will accept us because of our faith in Christ. Circumcised or not, if you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference. Your faith, that makes you love others, is all that matters.
You were doing so well until someone made you turn from the truth. The one who chose you did not send that person. A little yeast can change a whole batch of dough, but you belong to the Lord. That makes me certain that you will do what I say, instead of what someone else tells you to do. Punishment awaits whoever is causing trouble for you.
My friends, if I still preach people need circumcision, why am I in so much trouble? The message about the cross would no longer be a problem if I told people to be circumcised. I wish that everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised but would cut off much more!
My friends, he chose you to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love. All that the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself. But if you keep attacking each other like wild animals, you had better watch out or you will destroy yourselves.
God’s Spirit and Our Own Desires
If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should. But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you.
People’s desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God’s kingdom.
God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don’t be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.