Journey Through God's Word

¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

²Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

³I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

⁴You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

⁷You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

⁸This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

⁹A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

¹⁰I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

¹¹But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

¹²I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

¹⁴For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

¹⁷For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

²¹envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

²And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

⁴Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

⁵For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

⁷Therefore do not become partners with them;

⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,

¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

¹⁹addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

²⁷so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

²⁸In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

³⁰because we are members of his body.

³¹“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

³³However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

¹If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

⁷In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

⁸But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

¹¹Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹²Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

¹³bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

²²Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

²⁵For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.