Galatians 3
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New Living TranslationChristian Standard Bible
1Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.1You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.2I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?
3How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?3Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?
4Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?4Did you experience so much for nothing--if in fact it was for nothing?
5I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.5So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard--
6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”6just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness?
7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.7You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham's sons.
8What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”8Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you.
9So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.9Consequently those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.
10But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”10For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
11So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”11Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.
12This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”12But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.
13But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
14Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. The Law and God’s Promise14The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.
15Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.15Brothers and sisters, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.
16God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children, ” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say "and to seeds," as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.
17This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.17My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise.
18For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.18For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise.
19Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.19Why then was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.
20Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.20Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one.
21Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.21Is the law therefore contrary to God's promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.
22But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. God’s Children through Faith22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin's power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.
23Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.23Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.
24Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.24The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.
25And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.25But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
26For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.26for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.27For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.28There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Galatians 2
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