Galatians 5

1Christ set us free so that we could be free. So stand firm, and do not let yourselves be tied up again as slaves.

2Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised to be saved, then Christ is no help to you at all.

3Again I warn every man who gets circumcised for that reason: he must then obey the whole law.

4If you try to be made right with God by the law, you have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

5But by the Spirit we wait, with hope, to be made right with God through faith.

6For in Christ Jesus it does not matter whether a person is circumcised or not. What matters is faith that works through love.

7You were running so well. Who got in your way and stopped you from obeying the truth?

8That kind of teaching does not come from the One who called you.

9Just a little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough.

10But because of the Lord, I am sure that you will not think any other way. And whoever is confusing you will be judged, no matter who that person is.

11Brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that people must be circumcised, why am I still being attacked? If that were true, the cross would no longer offend anyone.

12As for those who are upsetting you — I wish they would go all the way and cut themselves off!

13You were called to be free, brothers and sisters. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to follow your sinful self. Instead, serve one another in love.

14For the whole law is summed up in one command: Love your neighbor as yourself.

15But if you keep biting and tearing at each other, watch out, or you will destroy one another.

16So I say, let the Spirit lead your life, and you will not do what your sinful self wants.

17For the sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against the sinful self. They fight each other, so that you do not do what you want to do.

18But if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the law.

19The things the sinful self does are easy to see: sexual sin, anything unclean, wild living,

20worshiping idols, witchcraft, hate, fighting, jealousy, bursts of anger, selfish ambition, arguing, splitting into groups,

21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before: people who live like this will not be part of God's kingdom.

22But the fruit that the Spirit grows is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like these.

24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful self to the cross, with all its desires.

25Since we live by the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

26Let us not be proud, making each other angry and jealous.