And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.

For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing –

how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom.

So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.

And I hope that you will realize that we have not failed the test!

But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek.

Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?

so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.

Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation!

so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory.