Galatians 3
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International Standard VersionNew Living Translation
1You foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified? 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.
2I want to learn only one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard?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.
3Are you so foolish? Having started out with the Spirit, are you now ending up with the flesh? 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?
4Did you suffer so much for nothing? (If it really was for nothing!) 4Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
5Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do the actions of the Law or because you believe what you heard?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.
6In the same way, Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
7You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham's real descendants. 7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, "Through you all nations will be blessed."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.”
9Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the one who believed.9So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
10Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!"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.”
11Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because "The righteous will live by faith."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.”
12But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, "The person who keeps the commandments will have life in them."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.”
13The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!"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.”
14This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.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 Promise
15Brothers, let me use an example from everyday life. Once a person's will has been ratified, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it. 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.
16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn't say "descendants," referring to many, but "your descendant," referring to one person, who is the Messiah.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.
17This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified. 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.
18For if the inheritance comes about through the Law, it no longer comes about through the promise. But it was through a promise that God so graciously gave it to Abraham.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.
19Why, then, was the Law added? Because of transgressions, until the descendant came about whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 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.
20Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one. 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.
21So is the Law in conflict with the promises of God? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then certainly righteousness would come through the Law. 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.
22But the Scripture has captured everything by means of sin's net, so that what was promised by the faithfulness of the Messiah might be granted to those who believe. 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 Faith
23Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 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.
24And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah came, so that we might be justified by faith. 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.
25But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.25And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26For all of you are God's children through faith in the Messiah Jesus. 26For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.
28Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham's descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.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.
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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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.
Galatians 2
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