5:4 And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his gift of undeserved grace.
5:5 But the Spirit makes us sure God will accept us because of our faith in Christ.
5:6 If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.
5:7 You were doing so well until someone made you turn from the truth.
5:8 And that person was certainly not sent by the one who chose you.
5:9 A little yeast can change a whole batch of dough,
5:10 but you belong to the Lord. This makes me certain you will do what I say, instead of what someone else tells you to do. Whoever is causing trouble for you will be punished.
5:11 My friends, if I still preach that people need to be circumcised, 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.
5:12 I wish everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised, but would cut off much more!
5:13 My friends, you were chosen 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.
5:14 All the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself.
5:15 But if you keep attacking each other like wild animals, you had better watch out or you will destroy yourselves.
5:16 If you are guided by the Spirit, you won't obey your selfish desires.
5:17 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.
5:18 But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you.
5:19 People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds.
5:20 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
5:21 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.
5:22 God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful,
5:23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.
5:24 And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires.
5:25 God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit.
5:26 But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.
Your support helps pay our hosting costs, and
- with a little bit extra -
lets us pay transcribers and proofreaders.
If you can help, Click here to become a Patreon:
www.patreon.com/IslamAwakened Thank you!