Chronological NT Plan

¹Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through human agency, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),

²and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

⁵to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,

⁷which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁸But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

⁹As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

¹⁰For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

¹¹For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is not of human invention.

¹²For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;

¹⁴and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

¹⁵But when He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace was pleased

¹⁶to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,

¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

¹⁸Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days.

¹⁹But I did not see another one of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)

²¹Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²²I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which are in Christ;

²³but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.”

²⁴And they were glorifying God because of me.

¹Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

²It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that somehow I might be running, or had run, in vain.

³But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

⁴Yet it was a concern because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy on our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.

⁵But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

⁶But from those who were of considerable repute (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me.

⁷But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised

⁸(for He who was at work for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles),

⁹and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

¹⁰They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.

¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

¹²For prior to the coming of some men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision.

¹³The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

¹⁴But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

¹⁵“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from the Gentiles;

¹⁶nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

¹⁷But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Far from it!

¹⁸For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer.

¹⁹For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live for God.

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

²¹I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

¹You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

²This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

³Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

⁴Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

⁵So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

⁶Just as Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

⁷Therefore, recognize that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

⁸The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.”

⁹So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.”

¹¹Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.”

¹²However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “THE PERSON WHO PERFORMS THEM WILL LIVE BY THEM.”

¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

¹⁴in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

¹⁶Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

¹⁷What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

¹⁸For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

¹⁹Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

²⁰Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one.

²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

²²But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed.

²⁴Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

²⁶For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.