1 It is in order that we might live without ◄being obliged to/having to► obey all the Jewish rituals that Christ freed us from God condemning us because of our disobeying those rituals. So, firmly reject the false teaching that someone must circumcise you, and do not live like slaves again [MET] by letting others force you to obey those rules and rituals again. 2 Consider very carefully what I, Paul, an apostle, now tell you: If you are permitting yourself to be circumcised {someone to circumcise you}, what Christ has done for you will not benefit you at all. 3 Instead, I solemnly declare again to every man who is circumcised {has someone circumcise him} in order for God to accept him, that you must perfectly obey all of the laws that God gave Moses, in order for God to save you. 4 Those of you who are sure that God will erase the record of your sins because you obey the laws that God gave to Moses, you have separated yourselves from Christ. You have abandoned/rejected God's true method of saving you, which was by kindly erasing the record of your sins, in a way that you did not deserve. 5 But we who have a relationship with Christ and who trust in Christ are eagerly waiting to receive what God's Spirit assures us that we can expect. We can expect to receive it because God has erased the record of our sins. 6 As for us who have a relationship with Christ Jesus, God is not concerned whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. Instead, God is concerned about whether we trust in Christ, with the result that we love other people.

7 You were progressing well spiritually [MET]. You should not have let someone influence you so that now you are not believing the true message about Christ [RHQ]! 8  God, the one who chose you, is not the one who is persuading you to think like this! 9  Remember that this false doctrine that someone is teaching you will affect all of you, just like [MET] a little yeast causes all of the dough to swell up. 10  Nevertheless, because of my relationship with the Lord, I am certain that you will think only as I do about forcing people to obey rules and rituals. Furthermore, God will punish anyone who is confusing you by teaching this false message, even if he is an important person. 11 But, my fellow believers, although someone claims that I am proclaiming that men must be circumcised, I certainly am not still proclaiming that. Remember that the Jews are still ◄ persecuting me/causing me to suffer►. If I were still proclaiming that men must be circumcised in order for God to accept them, ◄the Jews would not be persecuting me./why would the Jews be persecuting me?► [RHQ] They would [RHQ] not be persecuting me/causing me to suffer because then the Jews would no longer be offended. They ◄ are offended/do not want to accept what I teach► because I proclaim that Christ, the Messiah, died on the cross [MTY]. 12 I would even wish that those who are disturbing you by insisting that men be circumcised would also emasculate [EUP] themselves, with the result that they would be expelled from your congregations!

13 My fellow believers, God chose you in order that you might live without having to obey rules and rituals. But do not assume that because you are free from having to obey rules and rituals, God permits you to do what your self-directed nature desires. Instead, constantly, as you love each other, serve each other. 14 Keep in mind that we can sum up all of the laws that God has given us in one law, which is: “You must love each person you come in contact with, just like you love yourself.” 15 Since you are attacking and injuring [MET] each other by the things that you say [MET], I warn you that if you continue doing that, you will totally ruin each other spiritually.

16  So I tell you this: Constantly let God's Spirit direct you. If you do that, you will certainly not do the things that your self-directed nature wants you to do. 17 Your self-directed nature ◄opposes God's Spirit/does not want you to do what God's Spirit wants you to do►, but also his Spirit opposes your self-directed nature. These two are always ◄fighting with/opposing► each other. The result is that you do not constantly do the good deeds that you truly desire to do. 18 But when you are led by God's Spirit {when God's Spirit directs you}, you can do what pleases God, now that you are no longer obligated to obey all the laws that God gave Moses.

19  You already know how people think and act [PRS] because of their self-directed nature. These are some of the things that they do: People are sexually immoral. People commit unnatural sexual acts. People act indecently. 20  People worship false gods and things that represent those gods. People perform ◄rituals in order that evil spirits might act for them/sorcery►. People are hostile to others. People quarrel with each other. People are ◄jealous/resent other people's status►. People behave angrily. People try ◄to get others to think highly of them/to exalt themselves► and ◄do not consider what others want/act selfishly►. People do not associate with others. People associate only with those who agree with them. 21  People want what others have. People get drunk. People ◄revel/participate in wild parties►. And people do other things like these. I warn you now, just like I warned you previously, that the ones who constantly act and think like this will not receive what God has for his own people when he begins to rule over us. 22 But God's Spirit causes us to do these things: We love others. We are joyful. We are peaceful. We are patient. We are kind. We are good. We are ones whom others can trust. 23 We are gentle. We control our behavior. There is no law that says people should not think and act in such ways. 24 Furthermore, we who belong to Christ Jesus have stopped obeying our self-directed nature and stopped doing all the evil things that we desire to do [MET]. It is as though [MET] we nailed them to the cross!

25 Since God's Spirit has caused us to be spiritually alive, we should conduct our lives the way the Spirit directs us. 26 We should not be saying how great we are. We should not be making ourselves more important than others. We should not envy each other.