Galatians - Justification by Faith Alone in Jesus Christ

Revealed Text – RvT (Paraphrase) 

Galatians One – “Only One True Message”

Galatians 1:1  From the apostle Paul, not elected by people but chosen by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Jesus Christ from death to life.

Galatians 1:2  And from all of God's followers with me, to the churches in Galatia.

Galatians 1:3  Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:4  Jesus Christ obeyed the will of God our Father, and gave Himself up as a sacrifice for our sins to rescue us from the evil world system.

Galatians 1:5 Glory be given to God forever. Amen.

Galatians 1:6  I am surprised you have quickly turned away from God, who chose you through the grace of Jesus Christ, to believe a different message from the good news

Galatians 1:7  when there is only one true message, but trouble makers want to distort the good news of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:8  For if we, or even an angel from heaven, proclaim a different message to you other than the good news we presented to you, let them receive eternal destruction.

Galatians 1:9  I repeat that eternal destruction should fall upon anyone who proclaims anything different from what you already believe.

Galatians 1:10  Is it my desire to please God or people? If I wanted to please people I would not be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:11  My friends, I want you to know the good news I proclaim to you is not made up by people.

Galatians 1:12  I did not receive it or learn it from people, it was revealed to me from Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:13  You know when I was in Judaism I tried to persecute and destroy God's church.

Galatians 1:14  And I excelled in greater zeal than my other Jewish colleagues for my ancestor’s traditions.

Galatians 1:15  But it pleased God, who gave birth to me, and called me, through His kindness,

Galatians 1:16  by revealing His Son to me, so that I would proclaim His message to the Gentiles and I did not discuss this with anyone.

Galatians 1:17  Nor did I visit the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before me.  I went to Arabia first and then returned to Damascus.

Galatians 1:18  Three years later I went to visit Peter in Jerusalem and stayed with him for fifteen days.

Galatians 1:19  I saw no other apostle but James, the Lord's brother.

Galatians 1:20  God sees I do not lie about these things.

Galatians 1:21  Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

Galatians 1:22  No one in the Judean churches ever saw me in person before.

Galatians 1:23  But they heard about the one who once persecuted them was now proclaiming the message he tried to destroy.

Galatians 1:24  And now they gave glory to God for my work.

                   Galatians Two – “Jesus Christ or the Covenantal Laws?”

Galatians 2:1  Fourteen years later I returned to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus.

Galatians 2:2   I went there because God told me to go and explain the good news that I preach to the Gentiles. I met privately with the leaders to ensure my work would not be for nothing.

Galatians 2:3  And Titus, the Greek, never saw a reason to be circumcised.

Galatians 2:4  And those who pretend to be followers snuck in among us as spies to take away the freedom Jesus Christ has given us and bring us back into bondage.

Galatians 2:5  But we never gave them any time so that you would continue with the truth of the good news.

Galatians 2:6  They are not important people to me and God doesn't have favorites. They never added anything important to my message.

Galatians 2:7  They saw that bringing the good news to the Gentiles was assigned to me, and the same message for the Jews was assigned to Peter.

Galatians 2:8  God worked effectively through Peter to the Jews, and myself to the Gentiles.

Galatians 2:9  When the church leaders, James, Peter, and John,  realized that God gave me the same message about his mercy and kindness they gave Barnabas, and myself, a handshake of agreement showing that we would work with the Gentiles and they would work with the Jews.

Galatians 2:10  And they reminded us to remember the poor, which is something I was already eager to do.

Galatians 2:11  I told Peter in Antioch that he was wrong

Galatians 2:12  because He was eating with the Gentile followers of the Lord until James sent in some Jewish followers. And Peter, being afraid of the Jews, would stop eating with Gentiles.

Galatians 2:13 Peter and the Jewish followers acted behind their true feelings so well they even fooled Barnabas.

Galatians 2:14  And when I saw they were not obeying the truth of the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone by saying; Peter, you are a Jew but live like a Gentile. So how can you compel Gentiles to live like the Jews?

Galatians 2:15  We are Jews by birth and not of sin like the Gentiles.

Galatians 2:16  For we know that God does not consider a person ”not guilty”, if  they work to obey the Covenantal Law of Moses, for God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God through obedience to The Law. So we believe in placing our faith in Jesus Christ and God accepts us because of our faith. No one is accepted by God through the works of The Law.

Galatians 2:17  If we seek right standing with God by the way of Jesus Christ, then we appear to live as sinners so does this mean Jesus made us sinners? No, it doesn't!

Galatians 2:18  For if I build back up what I tear down, I prove that I was wrong at first.

Galatians 2:19  I died because of The Law so that I can live for God.

Galatians 2:20  I have been nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ and it is no longer I that lives but Jesus Christ living within me and I now live my body of flesh through faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave His life for me.

Galatians 2:21  I don't reject God's undeserved kindness because if we can obtain right standing and be acceptable to God through obedience to The Law, then it was needless for Jesus Christ to die.

   Galatians Three – “Abraham’s Faith or the Covenantal Law?”

Galatians 3:1  Foolish Galatians! Who placed a spell upon you denying and disobeying the truth of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross?

Galatians 3:2  I ask you, did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the Covenantal Law of Moses or by hearing and placing your faith in Jesus Christ?

Galatians 3:3  Can you foolishly think that if you began by the Holy Spirit you complete yourself through your own flesh?

Galatians 3:4  Have you experienced all these sufferings for nothing?

Galatians 3:5  He who supplies His Holy Spirit and works miracles among you does this because you obey The Law or because you heard about Jesus Christ and placed your faith in Him?

Galatians 3:6  For Abraham believed God’s Word and he was accounted in right standing with God.

Galatians 3:7  Only those of this kind of faith are children of Abraham.

Galatians 3:8  Genesis 12:3 reveals that God will accept the Gentiles because of their faith and God told Abraham the good news that all nations will be blessed through him.

Galatians 3:9  Those who demonstrate this same kind of faith will share in the same blessings promised to Abraham due to his belief in God.

Galatians 3:10 Deuteronomy 27:26 says, "Anyone who stops obeying the Covenantal Law of Moses is under the curse."

Galatians 3:11  But no one achieves right standing with God by obeying The Law because Habakkuk 2:4 says, "Those in right standing with God live by their faith."

Galatians 3:12  The Covenantal Law of Moses is not based upon faith because it promises life to those who can succeed with obeying all of The Law’s commands.

Galatians 3:13  Jesus Christ purchased our freedom from the Curse of The Law by becoming The Curse for us. Deuteronomy 21:23 says; “cursed is the one left hanging on a tree.”

Galatians 3:14  And so the blessings promised to Abraham were delivered to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ so that we can now receive the promises of the Holy Spirit by faith.

Galatians 3:15  Speaking from the level of man made laws, when an agreement is made, no one can cancel or add to it.

Galatians 3:16  And so God’s promise made to Abraham about his Seed, in Genesis 22:18, was not regarding many descendants but to only one seed, and that one Seed is Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:17  Therefore, the Covenantal Law of Moses cannot change or cancel out God's promise of Jesus Christ, and that promise was made 430 years before The Law was even given.

Galatians 3:18  If  God's blessings are from The Law, then God’s blessings are not from God's promised Seed. But God gave Abraham the promise of the Seed.

Galatians 3:19  For what purpose is The Law? The Law of Moses was appointed to us through angels and delivered by a mediator to show us our Sins until the arrival of the Promised Seed.  

Galatians 3:20  A mediator does not intercede for only one party though God, as One, was mediator alone when he made His promise to Abraham in Genesis 15.

Galatians 3:21  Is The Law in opposition with God's promises? No, for if any Law could bring life, we could then be in right standing with God through obedience to The Law.

Galatians 3:22  But Isaiah 53:6 declares that all are trapped in Sin, and God's promises are for all that have the faith to believe in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:23  The Law restricted us until the time was revealed that we could have faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:24  The Law was our teacher bringing us to Jesus Christ so that we could be in right standing before God.

Galatians 3:25  But once faith in Jesus Christ had arrived, there was no longer the need for the Law as a teacher.

Galatians 3:26  You are God's children because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:27  And when you were immersed into Jesus Christ, you were united with Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:28  This Faith in Jesus Christ makes you equal with one another, whether Jewish, Greek, slave or free, man or woman.

Galatians 3:29  So if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are heirs of Abraham's family and will be given God’s promises.

Galatians Four – Adopted by God

Galatians 4:1  When a young heir is a child, he is not considered greater than a slave though he is really master of all.

Galatians 4:2  Children are placed in the care of guardians and teachers until the time appointed by the father.

Galatians 4:3  That is how it was with us. We were like children ruled by the powers of man made religions.

Galatians 4:4  But just at the right time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, and born under The Law,

Galatians 4:5  to purchase our freedom from The Law, so we could be adopted as God's children.

Galatians 4:6  And now that we are his children, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts revealing that God is our Father.

Galatians 4:7  So you are no longer slaves but God's children, and the inheritor of everything He has promised.

Galatians 4:8  Before you knew God, you were slaves of false gods.

Galatians 4:9  But now that you know God and God knows you, how can you turn back into the slavery of those weak and pitiful rituals?

Galatians 4:10  You ritualize special days, months, seasons, and years.

Galatians 4:11  I am afraid I have wasted my time working with you.

Galatians 4:12  I urge you to copy me just as I tried to be like you. You never caused any harm to me

Galatians 4:13   even though you knew I was sick when I preached to you.

Galatians 4:14  You were not mean to me in my illness and you welcomed me like I was one of God's angels or Jesus Christ himself.

Galatians 4:15  Where are those blessings you experienced? I am sure that you would even have given me your own eyes if that was possible.

Galatians 4:16  Have I become your enemy since I tell you the truth?

Galatians 4:17  They spend a lot of time with you for bad reasons. They want to exclude me and keep you devoted to themselves.

Galatians 4:18  It is better staying devoted to good things even when I am not present.

Galatians 4:19  My children, I painfully labor for Jesus Christ to be seen living through you.

Galatians 4:20  I wish I were with you now to change my tone with you because I am having doubts about you.

Galatians 4:21  You desire following the Covenant Law of Moses but do you realize what this Law implies?

Galatians 4:22  Genesis 16 and 21 explains Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, was a slave, and Sarah, the mother of Isaac was free.

Galatians 4:23  Ishmael was born through works of the flesh but Isaac was born through God's promise.

Galatians 4:24  Each mother symbolically represents one of the covenantal agreements God made with his people. Hagar, the slave woman, represents the bondage agreement God made at Mount Sinai.

Galatians 4:25  Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and the present city of Jerusalem. Both are in bondage.

Galatians 4:26  Sarah represents the freedom of our mother city of Jerusalem in heaven above.

Galatians 4:27  In Isaiah 54:1, God tells Jerusalem, "Be full of joy because you have never had children before but now you will have more children than a long term wife."

Galatians 4:28  Now we are born of this same promise as Isaac.

Galatians 4:29  And the child born through works of the flesh still to this day persecutes the child born of the Spirit.

Galatians 4:30  Sarah told Abraham in Genesis 21:10, "Get rid of Hagar and Ishmael because they will not be heirs with Isaac."

Galatians 4:31  We are the heirs of Sarah, not of Hagar.

Galatians Five – “Freedom from Religious Slavery”

Galatians 5:1  Hold on to your freedom because Jesus Christ has liberated you and don’t turn back to the slavery of The Covenant Law.

Galatians 5:2  I, Paul, promise you that the work of Jesus Christ did not pay for circumcision.

Galatians 5:3  Because if you do that, then you owe obedience to all of the Covenant Laws.

Galatians 5:4  And if you try to gain right standing with God through obedience to the Covenant Laws, you have severed yourself  from the salvation plan of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:5  Because the Holy Spirit gives us the hope of right standing with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:6  For if you are immersed in Jesus Christ, it does not matter if you are circumcised or not. What matters is your faith in Jesus Christ that makes you love God and others.

Galatians 5:7  You were living correctly but who turned you from the truth?

Galatians 5:8  This persuasion does not come from Him who chose you.

Galatians 5:9  This influence has changed the whole group.

Galatians 5:10  I have confidence that since you belong to the Lord you will practice what I say and whoever is causing this trouble will be judged and punished.

Galatians 5:11  Dear family, if I still taught the law of circumcision I  would not be persecuted and the offensive message of the crucifixion would not be necessary.

Galatians 5:12  I wish those troubling you with circumcision would go to the extreme of castration.

Galatians 5:13  You were chosen to be liberated so don't use your freedom for selfish desires but use it as the opportunity to serve others with love.

Galatians 5:14  For the completion of the Covenant Law is to love others as much as you love yourself.

Galatians 5:15  But if you keep attacking each other you will destroy yourselves.

Galatians 5:16  Therefore, live by the Holy Spirit and you won't obey your selfish desires.

Galatians 5:17  Because the Holy Spirit and your selfish desires are against each other and this conflict prevents you from doing what you really desire to do.

Galatians 5:18  But if you obey the leadings of the Holy Spirit, you are away from the Covenant Law.

Galatians 5:19  Selfish desires cause dirty thoughts and sexual indulgences like adultery, pornography, and other shameful deeds.

Galatians 5:20  They also cause idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and arguments against others, selfish ambitions, jealousy, dissension, hostility and other heresies.

Galatians 5:21  They cause envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and I tell you again that no one practicing these things will inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Galatians 5:23  gentleness, and self-control. There is no need for external law with this behavior.

Galatians 5:24  Those who belong to Jesus Christ have nailed their personal passions and selfish desires to the cross.

Galatians 5:25  Since the Holy Spirit has given us life, we should conduct our daily lives in the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:26  But don't become conceited and provoke others to envy or jealousy.

                             Galatians Six - “Christian Cooperation”

Galatians 6:1  And if someone is trapped in sin, be spiritual and gently lead that person back but be careful you are not tempted yourself.

Galatians 6:2  Support one another’s difficulties for this completes the law of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 6:3  And don’t be deceived into thinking you are better than others because you are not.

Galatians 6:4  Don't compare yourself with others but find satisfaction in your own work.

Galatians 6:5  We are each responsible for our own conduct.

Galatians 6:6  And share everything good with those who teach you God’s word.

Galatians 6:7  Don’t be misled, as if you can ignore and ridicule God, because you will collect all you have planted.

Galatians 6:8  If you invest in your selfish desires, you will obtain corruption and destruction, but if you live by the Holy Spirit, you will obtain the highest quality of living.

Galatians 6:9  Don't become apathetic and give up helping others because you will be rewarded at the right time.

Galatians 6:10  Find every opportunity to help others, especially those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 6:11  Notice the large letters I write with my own hand.

Galatians 6:12  Those who urge you to get circumcised are trying to act important and don't want persecution for preaching the cross of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 6:13  They are circumcised but don't obey the Covenant Law of Moses. They just want to brag about getting you circumcised and claim you as their disciple.

Galatians 6:14  I brag about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and now my interests in the world system is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.

Galatians 6:15 Circumcision is not important because if you are in Jesus Christ, you are a new creation, and that is most important.

Galatians 6:16  Live by this rule, and you will belong to God's chosen people, and God will bless you with peace and mercy.

Galatians 6:17 The scars on my body prove that I belong to Jesus Christ so no one trouble me again with this argument.

Galatians 6:18  May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.