Holman Christian Standard Bible (345 page)

28
 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 
29
 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now. 
30
 But what does the Scripture say?

31
 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. 

Galatians

Freedom of the Christian

5
Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery. 
2
 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.
3
 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law.
4
 You who are trying to be
•justified
by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 
5
 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
6
 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love. 

7
 You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth? 
8
 This persuasion did not come from the One who called you. 
9
 A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough.
10
 I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. 
11
 Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
12
 I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!

13
 For you were called to be free, brothers; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.
14
 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
15
 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

The Spirit versus the Flesh

16
 I say then,
•walk
by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17
 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don't do what you want. 
18
 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19
 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 
20
 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 
21
 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance — as I told you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

22
 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 
23
 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24
 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 
25
 Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.
26
 We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 

Galatians

Carry One Another's Burdens

6
Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won't be tempted. 
2
 Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 
3
 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4
 But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else.
5
 For each person will have to carry his own load.

6
 The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher.
7
 Don't be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap,
8
 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
9
 So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up.
10
 Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. 

Concluding Exhortation

11
 Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting.
12
 Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised  — but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
13
 For even the circumcised don't keep the law themselves; however, they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh.
14
 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
•world
has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.
15
 For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. 
16
 May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy to the Israel of God!

17
 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus. 
18
 Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 
•Amen
.

Ephesians

Ephesians

Greeting

1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will: 

To the faithful
•saints
 in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

2
 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's Rich Blessings

3
 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 
4
 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 
5
 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,
6
 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. 

7
 We have
•redemption
in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8
 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
9
 He made known to us the
•mystery
of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 
10
 for the administration of the days of fulfillment  — to bring everything together in the
•Messiah
, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him. 

11
 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,
12
 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 

13
 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 
14
 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Insight

15
 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16
 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
17
 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
18
 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,
19
 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

God's Power in Christ

20
 He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens  —
21
 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 
22
 And
He put everything under His feet
and appointed Him as head over everything for the church,
23
 which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.

Ephesians

From Death to Life

2
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2
 in which you previously
•walked
according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 
3
 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
4
 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 
5
 made us alive with the
•Messiah
even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
6
 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 
7
 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8
 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift —
9
 not from works, so that no one can boast.
10
 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Unity in Christ

11
 So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. 
12
 At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13
 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
14
 For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh,
15
 He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.
16
 He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it. 
17
 When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 
18
 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 
19
 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the
•saints
, and members of God's household,
20
 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
21
 The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. 
22
 You also are being built together for God's dwelling in the Spirit.

Ephesians

Paul's Ministry to the Gentiles

3
For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —
2
 you have heard, haven't you, about the administration of God's grace that He gave to me for you?
3
 The
•mystery
was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.
4
 By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the
•Messiah
. 
5
 This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
6
 The Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7
 I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of His power. 

8
 This grace was given to me — the least of all the
•saints
 — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah,
9
 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
10
 This is so God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. 
11
 This is according to His eternal purpose accomplished in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.
12
 In Him we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 
13
 So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.