2Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem. This time I went with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ²I went because God showed me what he wanted me to do. I told the people there the good news that I preach among those who aren’t Jews. But I spoke in private to those who seemed to be leaders. I was afraid that I was running or had run my race for nothing.

³Titus was with me. He was a Greek. But even he was not forced to be circumcised.

⁴That matter came up because some who pretended to be believers had slipped in among us. They wanted to find out about the freedom we have because we belong to Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves again.

⁵We didn’t give in to them for a moment. We wanted the truth of the good news to remain with you.

⁶Some people in Jerusalem seemed to be important. It makes no difference to me what they were. God does not judge by what he sees on the outside. Those people added nothing to my message.

⁷In fact, it was just the opposite. They saw that I had been trusted with the task of preaching the good news just as Peter had been. My task was to preach to the non-Jews. Peter’s task was to preach to the Jews. ⁸God was working through Peter as an apostle to the Jews. He was also working through me as an apostle to the non-Jews.

⁹James, Peter and John are considered to be pillars in the church. They recognized the special grace that was given to me. So they shook my hand and the hand of Barnabas. They wanted to show they accepted us. They agreed that we should go to the non-Jews. They would go to the Jews. ¹⁰They asked only one thing. They wanted us to continue to remember poor people. That was what I really wanted to do anyway.

Paul Opposes Peter

¹¹When Peter came to Antioch, I told him to his face that I was against what he was doing. He was clearly wrong. ¹²He used to eat with those who weren’t Jews. But certain men came from the group that was led by James. When they arrived, Peter began to draw back. He separated himself from the non-Jews. He was afraid of the circumcision group.

¹³Peter’s actions were not honest. The other Jews joined him. Even Barnabas was led down the wrong path.

¹⁴I saw what they were doing. It was not in line with the truth of the good news. So I spoke to Peter in front of them all. “You are a Jew,” I said. “But you live like one who is not. So why do you force non-Jews to follow Jewish ways?”

God’s Grace and Our Faith

¹⁵We are Jews by birth. We are not “non-Jewish sinners.” ¹⁶We know that no one is made right with God by obeying the law. It is by believing in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus. That is so we can be made right with God by believing in Christ, not by obeying the law. No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.

¹⁷We are trying to be made right with God through Christ. But it is clear that we are sinners. So does that mean that Christ causes us to sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸Suppose I build again what I had destroyed. Then I prove that I break the Law.

¹⁹Because of the law, I died as far as the law is concerned. I died so that I might live for God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer. Christ lives in me. My faith in the Son of God helps me to live my life in my body. He loved me. He gave himself for me.

²¹I do not get rid of the grace of God. What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Faith or Obeying the Law

3You foolish people of Galatia! Who has put you under an evil spell? When I preached, I clearly showed you that Jesus Christ had been nailed to the cross.

²I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law? Or did you receive the Spirit by believing what you heard? ³Are you so foolish? You began with the Holy Spirit. Are you now trying to complete God’s work in you by your own strength?

⁴Have you suffered so much for nothing? And was it really for nothing? ⁵Why does God give you his Spirit? Why does he work miracles among you? Is it because you do what the law says? Or is it because you believe what you have heard?

⁶Think about Abraham. Scripture says, “Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” ⁷So you see, those who have faith are children of Abraham.

⁸Long ago, Scripture knew that God would make non-Jews right with himself by believing in him. He announced the good news ahead of time to Abraham. He said, “All nations will be blessed because of you.” ⁹So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham. He was the man of faith.

¹⁰All who depend on obeying the law are under a curse. It is written, “May everyone who doesn’t continue to do everything that is written in the Book of the Law be under God’s curse.” ¹¹We know that no one is made right with God by keeping the law. Scripture says, “Those who are right with God will live by faith.”

¹²The law is not based on faith. In fact, it is just the opposite. It teaches that “the one who does those things will live by them.”

¹³Christ set us free from the curse of the law. He did it by becoming a curse for us. It is written, “Everyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” ¹⁴Christ Jesus set us free so that the blessing given to Abraham would come to non-Jews through Christ. He did it so that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit by believing in Christ.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life. No one can get rid of an official agreement between people. No one can add to it. It can’t be changed after it has been made. It is the same with God’s covenant. ¹⁶The promises were given to Abraham. They were also given to his seed. Scripture does not say, “and to seeds.” That means many people. It says, “and to your seed.” That means one person. And that one person is Christ.

¹⁷Here is what I mean. The law came 430 years after the promise. But the law does not get rid of God’s covenant and promise. The covenant had already been made by God. So the law does not do away with the promise.

¹⁸The great gift that God has for us does not depend on the law. If it did, it would no longer depend on a promise. But God gave it to Abraham as a free gift through a promise.

¹⁹Then what was the purpose of the law? It was added because of human sin. And it was supposed to control us until the promised Seed had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a go-between. ²⁰A go-between does not take sides. God didn’t use a go-between when he made his promise to Abraham. But the same God was at work in both the law and the promise.

²¹So is the law opposed to God’s promises? Certainly not! What if a law had been given that could give life? Then people could become right with God by obeying the law. ²²But Scripture announces that the whole world is a prisoner because of sin. It does so in order that what was promised might be given to those who believe. The promise comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

²³Before faith in Christ came, we were held prisoners by the law. We were locked up until faith was made known. ²⁴So the law was put in charge until Christ came. He came so that we might be made right with God by believing in Christ.

²⁵But now faith in Christ has come. So we are no longer under the control of the law.

Children of God

²⁶You are all children of God by believing in Christ Jesus. ²⁷All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ as if he were your clothes. ²⁸There is no Jew or Greek. There is no slave or free person. There is no male or female. Because you belong to Christ Jesus, you are all one.

²⁹You who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed. You will receive what God has promised.

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