It is appropriate that a prosperity gospel be born in the hedonistic, self-centered, get-rich-quick milieu of modern American society. We are, by nature, pagan. Either our religion will transform us or we will transform our religion to suit our sympathies.
Michael Horton

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

{1:1} Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, butthrough Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from thedead), {1:2} and all the brethren that are with me, unto the churchesof Galatia: {1:3} Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and ourLord Jesus Christ, {1:4} who gave himself for our sins, that he mightdeliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of ourGod and Father: {1:5} to whom [be] the glory for ever and ever. Amen.{1:6} I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called youin the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; {1:7} which is notanother [gospel] only there are some that trouble you, and wouldpervert the gospel of Christ. {1:8} But though we, or an angel fromheaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which wepreached unto you, let him be anathema. {1:9} As we have said before,so say I now again, if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other thanthat which ye received, let him be anathema. {1:10} For am I nowseeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? ifI were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ. {1:11}For I make known to you, brethren, as touching the gospel which waspreached by me, that it is not after man. {1:12} For neither did Ireceive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] throughrevelation of Jesus Christ. {1:13} For ye have heard of my manner oflife in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure Ipersecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it: {1:14} and Iadvanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of mine own age among mycountrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of myfathers. {1:15} But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separatedme, [even] from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace,{1:16} to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among theGentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood: {1:17}neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me:but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus. {1:18}Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, andtarried with him fifteen days. {1:19} But other of the apostles saw Inone, save James the Lord’s brother. {1:20} Now touching the thingswhich I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. {1:21} Then Icame unto the regions of Syria and Cilicia. {1:22} And I was stillunknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:{1:23} but they only heard say, He that once persecuted us nowpreacheth the faith of which he once made havoc; {1:24} and theyglorified God in me.

{2:1} Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again toJerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. {2:2} And I went upby revelation; and I laid before them the gospel which I preach amongthe Gentiles but privately before them who were of repute, lest by anymeans I should be running, or had run, in vain. {2:3} But not evenTitus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:{2:4} and that because of the false brethren privily brought in, whocame in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus,that they might bring us into bondage: {2:5} to whom we gave place inthe way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of thegospel might continue with you. {2:6} But from those who were reputedto be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: Godaccepteth not man’s person)– they, I say, who were of repute impartednothing to me: {2:7} but contrariwise, when they saw that I had beenintrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter with[the gospel] of the circumcision {2:8} (for he that wrought for Peterunto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto theGentiles); {2:9} and when they perceived the grace that was given untome, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we shouldgo unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; {2:10} only [theywould] that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was alsozealous to do. {2:11} But when Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted himto the face, because he stood condemned. {2:12} For before that certaincame from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drewback and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision.{2:13} And the rest of the Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuchthat even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation. {2:14}But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth ofthe gospel, I said unto Cephas before [them] all, If thou, being a Jew,livest as do the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, how compellest thouthe Gentiles to live as do the Jews? {2:15} We being Jews by nature,and not sinners of the Gentiles, {2:16} yet knowing that a man is notjustified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faithin Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of thelaw shall no flesh be justified. {2:17} But if, while we sought to bejustified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ aminister of sin? God forbid. {2:18} For if I build up again thosethings which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor. {2:19} For Ithrough the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God. {2:20} Ihave been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, butChrist living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh Ilive in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me,and gave himself up for me. {2:21} I do not make void the grace of God:for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought.

{3:1} O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyesJesus Christ was openly set forth crucified? {3:2} This only would Ilearn from you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or bythe hearing of faith? {3:3} Are ye so foolish? having begun in theSpirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh? {3:4} Did ye suffer so manythings in vain? if it be indeed in vain. {3:5} He therefore thatsupplieth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, [doeth heit] by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? {3:6} Even asAbraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.{3:7} Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons ofAbraham. {3:8} And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify theGentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham,[saying,] In thee shall all the nations be blessed. {3:9} So then theythat are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham. {3:10} For asmany as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it iswritten, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that arewritten in the book of the law, to do them. {3:11} Now that no man isjustified by the law before God, is evident: for, The righteous shalllive by faith; {3:12} and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeththem shall live in them. {3:13} Christ redeemed us from the curse ofthe law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed isevery one that hangeth on a tree: {3:14} that upon the Gentiles mightcome the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive thepromise of the Spirit through faith. {3:15} Brethren, I speak after themanner of men: Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet when it hath beenconfirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto. {3:16} Now toAbraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And toseeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.{3:17} Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law,which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, soas to make the promise of none effect. {3:18} For if the inheritance isof the law, it is no more of promise: but God hath granted it toAbraham by promise. {3:19} What then is the law? It was added becauseof transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hathbeen made; [and it was] ordained through angels by the hand of amediator. {3:20} Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one; but God isone. {3:21} Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid:for if there had been a law given which could make alive, verilyrighteousness would have been of the law. {3:22} But the scripturesshut up all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christmight be given to them that believe. {3:23} But before faith came, wewere kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which shouldafterwards be revealed. {3:24} So that the law is become our tutor [tobring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. {3:25} Butnow faith that is come, we are no longer under a tutor. {3:26} For yeare all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. {3:27} For as manyof you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. {3:28} There canbe neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there canbe no male and female; for ye all are one [man] in Christ Jesus. {3:29}And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according topromise.

{4:1} But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differethnothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; {4:2} but is underguardians and stewards until the day appointed of the father. {4:3} Sowe also, when we were children, were held in bondage under therudiments of the world: {4:4} but when the fulness of the time came,God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, {4:5} thathe might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive theadoption of sons. {4:6} And because ye are sons, God sent forth theSpirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. {4:7} So thatthou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heirthrough God. {4:8} Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were inbondage to them that by nature are no gods: {4:9} but now that ye havecome to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back againto the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be inbondage over again? {4:10} Ye observe days, and months, and seasons,and years. {4:11} I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowedlabor upon you in vain. {4:12} I beseech you, brethren, become as I[am], for I also [am become] as ye [are]. Ye did me no wrong: {4:13}but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached thegospel unto you the first time: {4:14} and that which was a temptationto you in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but ye received me asan angel of God, [even] as Christ Jesus. {4:15} Where then is thatgratulation of yourselves? for I bear you witness, that, if possible,ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. {4:16} Sothen am I become your enemy, by telling you the truth? {4:17} Theyzealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out,that ye may seek them. {4:18} But it is good to be zealously sought ina good matter at all times, and not only when I am present with you.{4:19} My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christbe formed in you– {4:20} but I could wish to be present with you now,and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about you. {4:21} Tell me, yethat desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? {4:22} For itis written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one bythe freewoman. {4:23} Howbeit the [son] by the handmaid is born afterthe flesh; but the [son] by the freewoman [is born] through promise.{4:24} Which things contain an allegory: for these [women] are twocovenants; one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, whichis Hagar. {4:25} Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answerethto the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children.{4:26} But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.{4:27} For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the

husband.

{4:28} Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.{4:29} But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him[that was born] after the Spirit, so also it is now. {4:30} Howbeitwhat saith the scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son: for theson of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman.{4:31} Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but ofthe freewoman.

{5:1} For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, andbe not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. {5:2} Behold, I Paul sayunto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit younothing. {5:3} Yea, I testify again to every man that receivethcircumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. {5:4} Ye aresevered from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallenaway from grace. {5:5} For we through the Spirit by faith wait for thehope of righteousness. {5:6} For in Christ Jesus neither circumcisionavaileth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.{5:7} Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obeythe truth? {5:8} This persuasion [came] not of him that calleth you.{5:9} A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. {5:10} I haveconfidence to you-ward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwiseminded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever hebe. {5:11} But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am Istill persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been doneaway. {5:12} I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyondcircumcision. {5:13} For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only[use] not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through lovebe servants one to another. {5:14} For the whole law is fulfilled inone word, [even] in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.{5:15} But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be notconsumed one of another. {5:16} But I say, walk by the Spirit, and yeshall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. {5:17} For the flesh lustethagainst the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these arecontrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that yewould. {5:18} But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under thelaw. {5:19} Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]:fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, {5:20} idolatry, sorcery,enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,{5:21} envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which Iforewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise suchthings shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {5:22} But the fruit ofthe Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, {5:23} meekness, self-control; against such there is nolaw. {5:24} And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the fleshwith the passions and the lusts thereof. {5:25} If we live by theSpirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. {5:26} Let us not becomevainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

{6:1} Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye whoare spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking tothyself, lest thou also be tempted. {6:2} Bear ye one another’sburdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. {6:3} For if a man thinkethhimself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. {6:4}But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have hisglorying in regard of himself alone, and not of his neighbor. {6:5} Foreach man shall bear his own burden. {6:6} But let him that is taught inthe word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. {6:7}Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, thatshall he also reap. {6:8} For he that soweth unto his own flesh shallof the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shallof the Spirit reap eternal life. {6:9} And let us not be weary inwell-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. {6:10} Sothen, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward allmen, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.{6:11} See with how large letters I write unto you with mine own hand.{6:12} As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compelyou to be circumcised; only that they may not be persecuted for thecross of Christ. {6:13} For not even they who receive circumcision dothemselves keep the law; but they desire to have you circumcised, thatthey may glory in your flesh. {6:14} But far be it from me to glory,save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the worldhath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world. {6:15} For neitheris circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.{6:16} And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace [be] upon them,and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. {6:17} Henceforth, let no mantrouble me; for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus. {6:18}The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

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