1ክርስቶስ ነጻ ያወጣን በነጻነት እንድንኖር ነው። ስለዚህ ጸንታችሁ ቁሙ፤ ዳግመኛም በባርነት ቀንበር አትጠመዱ።
2የምለውን አስተውሉ፤ ትገረዙ ዘንድ ብትፈልጉ፣ ክርስቶስ ፈጽሞ ለእናንት እንደማይበጃችሁ እኔ ጳውሎስ እነግራችኋለሁ። 3መገረዝ ለሚፈልግ ሁሉ ሕግን በሙሉ የመፈጸም ግዴታ እንዳለበት እንደ ገና ለእያንዳንዱ በግልጽ እናገራለሁ። 4በሕግ ለመጽደቅ የምትጥሩ፣ ከክርስቶስ ተለይታችኋል፤ ከጸጋ ርቃችኋል። 5እኛ ግን ተስፋ የምናደርገውን ጽድቅ፣ በመንፈስ አማካይነት በእምነት ሆነን በናፍቆት እንጠባበቃለን። 6በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ከሆኑ፣ መገረዝ ወይም አለመገረዝ አይጠቅምምና፤ የሚጠቅመውስ በፍቅር የሚገለጽ እምነት ብቻ ነው።
7ሩጫችሁ መልካም ነበር፤ ታዲያ ያሰናከላችሁ፣ ለእውነትስ እንዳትታዘዙ የከለከላችሁ ማን ነው? 8እንዲህ ያለው ማባበል ከሚጠራችሁ የመጣ አይደለም፤ 9“ጥቂት እርሾ ሊጡን ሁሉ ያቦካል።” 10የተለየ ሐሳብ እንደማይኖራችሁ በጌታ እታመናለሁ። ግራ የሚያጋባችሁ ማንም ይሁን ማን፣ ፍርዱን ይቀበላል።
11ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ እስከ ዛሬ ስለ መገረዝ የምሰብክ ከሆነ፣ ታዲያ እስከ አሁን ለምን ያሳድዱኛል? እንደዚያማ ቢሆን ኖሮ፣ መስቀል ዕንቅፋት መሆኑ በቀረ ነበር። 12ግራ የሚያጋቧችሁ ሰዎች የራሳቸውን መግረዝ ብቻ ሳይሆን ይጐንድሉ!
በመንፈስ መመላለስ
13ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ ነጻ እንድትሆኑ ተጠርታችኋል፤ ነጻነታችሁን ግን ሥጋዊ ምኞታችሁን5፥13 ወይም ኀጢአተኛ ተፈጥሯችሁን፤ እንዲሁም 16፡17፡19 እና 24 ይመ። መፈጸሚያ አታድርጉት፤ ይልቁንም አንዱ ሌላውን በፍቅር ያገልግል።
14ሕግ ሁሉ በአንድ ቃል ተጠቃሏል፤ ይኸውም፣ “ባልንጀራህን እንደ ራስህ ውደድ” የሚል ነው። 15ነገር ግን እርስ በርሳችሁ የምትነካከሱና የምትበላሉ ከሆነ፣ እርስ በርሳችሁ እንዳትጠፋፉ ተጠንቀቁ።
16እንግዲህ በመንፈስ ኑሩ እላለሁ፤ የሥጋንም ምኞት አትፈጽሙም። 17ሥጋ መንፈስ የማይፈልገውን፣ መንፈስም ሥጋ የማይፈልገውን ይመኛልና፤ እነዚህ እርስ በርሳቸው ስለሚጋጩ፣ የምትፈልጉትን አታደርጉም። 18በመንፈስ ብትመሩ ግን፣ ከሕግ በታች አይደላችሁም።
19የሥጋ ሥራ ግልጽ ነው፦ ይኸውም ዝሙት፣ ርኩሰት፣ መዳራት፣ 20ጣዖትን ማምለክ፣ ሟርት፣ ጥላቻ፣ ጠብ፣ ቅናት፣ ቍጣ፣ ራስ ወዳድነት፣ መለያየት፣ አድመኝነት፤ 21ምቀኝነት፣ ስካር፣ ዘፋኝነት፣ እንዲሁም እነዚህን የመሰለው ነው። አስቀድሜ እንዳልሁ፣ አሁንም አስጠነቅቃችኋለሁ፤ በእንዲህ ሁኔታ የሚኖሩ ሁሉ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት አይወርሱም።
22የመንፈስ ፍሬ ግን ፍቅር፣ ደስታ፣ ሰላም፣ ትዕግሥት፣ ቸርነት፣ በጎነት፣ ታማኝነት፣ 23ገርነት፣ ራስን መግዛት ነው። እንደነዚህ ያሉትንም የሚከለክል ሕግ የለም። 24የክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ የሆኑት ሥጋን ከክፉ ምኞቱና መሻቱ ጋር ሰቅለውታል። 25በመንፈስ የምንኖር ከሆን፣ በመንፈስ እንመላለስ። 26እርስ በርሳችን እየተጐነታተልንና እየተቀናናን በከንቱ ውዳሴ አንመካ።
Freedom in Christ
1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is required to obey the whole law. 4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9‘A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.’ 10I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished. 12As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’5:14 Lev. 19:18 15If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever5:17 Or you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
