1I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle. People have not sent me. No human authority has sent me. I have been sent by Jesus Christ and by God the Father. God raised Jesus from the dead. ²All the brothers who are with me join me in writing.

We are sending this letter to you, the members of the churches in Galatia.

³May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. ⁴Jesus gave his life for our sins. He set us free from this evil world. That was what our God and Father wanted. ⁵Give glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.

There Is No Other Good News

⁶I am amazed. You are so quickly deserting the One who chose you because of the grace that Christ has provided. You are turning to a different “good news.” ⁷What you are accepting is really not the good news at all.

It seems that some people have gotten you all mixed up. They are trying to twist the good news about Christ.

⁸But suppose even we should preach a different “good news.” Suppose even an angel from heaven should preach it. I’m talking about a different one than the good news we gave you. Let anyone who does that be judged by God forever. ⁹I have already said it. Now I will say it again. Anyone who preaches a “good news” that is different from the one you accepted should be judged by God forever.

¹⁰Am I now trying to get people to think well of me? Or do I want God to think well of me? Am I trying to please people? If I were, I would not be serving Christ.

Paul Was Appointed by God

¹¹Brothers and sisters, here is what I want you to know. The good news I preached is not something a human being made up. ¹²No one gave it to me. No one taught it to me. Instead, I received it from Jesus Christ. He showed it to me.

¹³You have heard of my earlier way of life as a Jew. With all my strength I attacked the church of God. I tried to destroy it. ¹⁴I was moving ahead in my Jewish way of life. I went beyond many Jews who were my own age. I held firmly to the teachings passed down by my people.

¹⁵But God set me apart from the time I was born. He showed me his grace by appointing me. He was pleased ¹⁶to show his Son in my life. He wanted me to preach about Jesus among those who aren’t Jews.

When God appointed me, I didn’t talk to anyone. ¹⁷I didn’t go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

¹⁸Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem. I went there to get to know Peter. I stayed with him for 15 days. ¹⁹I didn’t see any of the other apostles. I only saw James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰Here is what you can be sure of. And God gives witness to it. What I am writing you is not a lie.

²¹Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. ²²The members of Christ’s churches in Judea did not know me in a personal way. ²³They only heard others say, “The man who used to attack us has changed. He is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴And they praised God because of me.

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