Christ makes people free from special rules
1 Christ has made us free so that we can be really free! So be strong in your minds. Do not let yourselves become slaves to the Jewish rules again.
2 Listen carefully! I, Paul, tell you this. If you allow someone to circumcise you, then Christ will be worth nothing to you. 3 I will say it again very clearly. Every man who lets someone circumcise him must then obey all the Jewish rules. 4 Some of you think that God will accept you as right if you obey all the rules of his Law. But if you think that, you have made yourselves separate from Christ. You have turned away from God's grace. 5 But if we believe in Christ, we are sure that God will accept us as right with him. As we wait for that, God's Spirit helps us to know that it is true. 6 We belong to Christ Jesus. So it does not matter whether anyone has circumcised us or not. The only thing that matters is that we trust in Christ. And as a result we will love other people.
7 Like good runners in a race, you were doing very well! You should not have let anyone turn you away from God's true message. 8 It is not God who has caused you to change what you believe. No! God is the one who has chosen you to belong to him. 9 People say this: ‘Only a small amount of yeast in the flour will cause a loaf of bread to grow big.’ 10 But the Lord helps me to feel sure about you. I know that you will agree with what I say about this. But as for the man who is confusing you, God will punish him. It does not matter who he is, God will punish him.
5:9In the Bible, yeast is often a picture of something bad that causes more bad things to happen.
11 My Christian friends, I certainly do not teach that believers must be circumcised. If I still teach that, why do people still cause me to suffer? My message about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry. 12 Those people who are causing trouble and want to circumcise you should cut their own bodies even more! Yes, that is what they should do!
