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Christian Liberty
1⚓Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a ⚓yoke of bondage.
2Indeed I, Paul, say to you that ⚓if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
3And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised ⚓that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
4⚓You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; ⚓you have fallen from grace.
5For we through the Spirit eagerly ⚓wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6For ⚓in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but ⚓faith working through love.
Love Fulfills the Law
7You ⚓ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
9⚓A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
10I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, ⚓why do I still suffer persecution? Then ⚓the offense of the cross has ceased.
12⚓I could wish that those ⚓who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only ⚓do not use liberty as an ⚓opportunity for the flesh, but ⚓through love serve one another.
14For ⚓all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ⚓“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Walking in the Spirit
16I say then: ⚓Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17For ⚓the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, ⚓so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18But ⚓if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19Now ⚓the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that ⚓those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But ⚓the fruit of the Spirit is ⚓love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, ⚓goodness, ⚓faithfulness,
23gentleness, self-control. ⚓Against such there is no law.
24And those who are Christ’s ⚓have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25⚓If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26⚓Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.