Galatians 5

¹It was for the sake of freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be caught again in a yoke of slavery. ²Look, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all. ³I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised: he is obligated to perform the entire Law. ⁴You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be made just by the Law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For we, through the Spirit and by faith, are eagerly awaiting the hope of justice. ⁶For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the lack of it has any power; what matters is faith being energized through love.

⁷You were running a great race! Who cut in on you to keep you from being persuaded by the truth? ⁸This kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will take no other view. But the one who is throwing you into confusion will bear the judgment, whoever he may be. ¹¹As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹²I wish those who are unsettling you would go all the way and emasculate themselves!

¹³For you were called for freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as a base of operations for the sarx, but through love serve one another as slaves. ¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in a single statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶I say then: walk by the Spirit, and you will certainly not carry out the craving of the sarx. ¹⁷For the sarx craves against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the sarx. These are opposed to one another, so that you do not do the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹Now the works of the sarx are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I am warning you, just as I warned you before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, large-hearted patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentle strength, and self-mastery. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sarx with its passions and its cravings. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become seekers of hollow honor, provoking one another or envying one another.