Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ¹  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²  but through love serve one another. ³ 

Galatians 5:17

5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires ⁴  that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to ⁵  each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

Galatians 6:8

6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh ⁶  will reap corruption ⁷  from the flesh, ⁸  but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Psalms 17:4

17:4 As for the actions of people ⁹  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ¹⁰ 

John 3:6

3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ¹¹  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Romans 7:5

7:5 For when we were in the flesh, ¹²  the sinful desires, ¹³  aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body ¹⁴  to bear fruit for death.

Romans 7:18

7:18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. ¹⁵ 

Romans 7:25

7:25 Thanks be ¹⁶  to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, ¹⁷  I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but ¹⁸  with my flesh I serve ¹⁹  the law of sin.

Romans 8:3

8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because ²⁰  it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 8:5

8:5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by ²¹  the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:9

8:9 You, however, are not in ²²  the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.

Romans 8:13

8:13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will ²³  die), ²⁴  but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ 

Colossians 3:3

3:3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

[5:13]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ² tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[5:13]  ³ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

[5:17]  ⁴ tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.

[5:17]  ⁵ tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).

[6:8]  ⁶ tn BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Or “destruction.”

[6:8]  ⁸ tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.

[17:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[3:6]  ¹¹ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[7:5]  ¹² tn That is, before we were in Christ.

[7:5]  ¹³ tn Or “sinful passions.”

[7:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “our members”; the words “of our body” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[7:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “For to wish is present in/with me, but not to do it.”

[7:25]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ Most mss (א* A 1739 1881 Ï sy) read “I give thanks to God” rather than “Now thanks be to God” (א¹ [B] Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), the reading of NA²⁷. The reading with the verb (εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ, eucaristw tw qew) possibly arose from a transcriptional error in which several letters were doubled (TCGNT 455). The conjunction δέ (de, “now”) is included in some mss as well (א¹ Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), but it should probably not be considered original. The ms support for the omission of δέ is both excellent and widespread (א* A B D 1739 1881 Ï lat sy), and its addition can be explained as an insertion to smooth out the transition between v. 24 and 25.

[7:25]  ¹⁷ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[7:25]  ¹⁸ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[7:25]  ¹⁹ tn The words “I serve” have been repeated here for clarity.

[8:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in that.”

[8:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “think on” or “are intent on” (twice in this verse). What is in view here is not primarily preoccupation, however, but worldview. Translations like “set their mind on” could be misunderstood by the typical English reader to refer exclusively to preoccupation.

[8:9]  ²² tn Or “are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit.”

[8:13]  ²³ tn Grk “are about to, are certainly going to.”

[8:13]  ²⁴ sn This remark is parenthetical to Paul’s argument.

[8:1]  ²⁵ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.