25 ^kFor ^lcircumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 ^mSo, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded¹ as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically² uncircumcised but keeps the law will ⁿcondemn you who have the ^owritten code³ and circumcision but break the law. 28 For ^pno one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and ^qcircumcision is a matter of the heart, ^rby the Spirit, not by the letter. ^sHis praise is not from man but from God.

9 Is this ^ublessing then only for the circumcised, ^vor also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received ^wthe sign of circumcision as a seal of the ^xrighteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

18 ^xWas anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For ^yneither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but ^zkeeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.

3 ^oBut even Titus, who was with me, ^pwas not ^qforced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers ^rsecretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our ^sfreedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might ^tbring us into ^uslavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the ^vtruth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Christ Has Set Us Free

1 For freedom Christ has set us ^tfree; ^ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a ^vyoke of ^wslavery.

2 ^xLook: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to ^yevery man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified¹ by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by ^zfaith, we ourselves eagerly ^await for the ^bhope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus ^cneither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

7 You were ^drunning well. ^eWho hindered you from obeying the ^ftruth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 ^gA little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 ^hI have confidence in the Lord that ⁱyou will take no other view, and the one who is ^jtroubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers,² still preach³ circumcision, ^kwhy am I still being persecuted? In that case the ^loffense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would ^memasculate themselves!