But I still feel confident about you. Our life in union with the Lord makes me confident that you will not take a different view and that whoever is upsetting you will be punished by God.

I wish that the people who are upsetting you would go all the way; let them go on and castrate themselves!

Some men came from Judea to Antioch and started teaching the believers, "You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised as the Law of Moses requires."

We have heard that some who went from our group have troubled and upset you by what they said; they had not, however, received any instruction from us.

The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.

Those men are not true apostles---they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ.

Of course what I am saying now is not what the Lord would have me say; in this matter of boasting I am really talking like a fool.

In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends.

My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere.

Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires,

False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.

Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth.

For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.

But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed.

Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us.

Freedom is what we have---Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.

As for you, my friends, you were called to be free. But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. Instead, let love make you serve one another.

Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

I will live in perfect freedom, because I try to obey your teachings.

So Jesus said to those who believed in him, "If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples;

"We are the descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and we have never been anybody's slaves. What do you mean, then, by saying, 'You will be free'?"

A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.

Now, "the Lord" in this passage is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom.

Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God's slaves.

They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits---for we are slaves of anything that has conquered us.

In the same way, we too were slaves of the ruling spirits of the universe before we reached spiritual maturity.

But now that you know God---or, I should say, now that God knows you---how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

You pay special attention to certain days, months, seasons, and years.

Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people.

I will give it to those who oppressed you, to those who made you lie down in the streets and trampled on you as if you were dirt."

You tolerate anyone who orders you around or takes advantage of you or traps you or looks down on you or slaps you in the face.