3 You people in Galatia are so foolish! Why do I say this? Because I told you very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But now it seems as though you have let someone use their magical powers to make you forget. 2 Tell me this one thing: How did you receive the Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No, you received the Spirit because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it. 3 You began your life in Christ with the Spirit. Now do you try to complete it by your own power? That is foolish. 4 You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope they were not wasted! 5 Does God give you the Spirit because you follow the law? Does God work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, God gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it.
God work miracle on us that he give his spirit to us and guide us. We can grow spiritually by spiritually practice like reading bible, praying and serving but It can't replace the work of the holy spirit. Sometimes we feel that our life gradually lack of the passion for the Lord, we need holy spirit to build us and give us challenge everyday that make us maintain the state of mindfulness at all point of our daily life.
6 The Scriptures say the same thing about Abraham. “Abraham believed God, and because of this faith he was accepted as one who is right with God.” [a] 7 So you should know that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith. 8 The Scriptures told what would happen in the future. These writings said that God would make the non-Jewish people right through their faith. God told this Good News to Abraham before it happened. God said to Abraham, “I will use you to bless all the people on earth.” [b] 9 Abraham believed this, and because he believed, he was blessed. All people who believe are blessed the same as Abraham was.
10 But people who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse. As the Scriptures say, “They must do everything that is written in the law. If they do not always obey, they are under a curse.” [c] 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by the law. The Scriptures say, “The one who is right with God by faith will live forever.” [d]
12 The law does not depend on faith. No, it says that the only way a person will find life by the law is to obey its commands. [e] 13 The law says we are under a curse for not always obeying it. But Christ took away that curse. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. The Scriptures say, “Anyone who is hung on a tree [f] is under a curse.” [g] 14 Because of what Jesus Christ did, the blessing God promised to Abraham was given to all people. Christ died so that by believing in him we could have the Spirit that God promised.
The Law and the Promise
15 Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life: Think about an agreement that one person makes with another. After that agreement is made official, no one can stop it or add anything to it, and no one can ignore it. 16 God made promises to Abraham and his Descendant. [h] The Scripture does not say, “and to your descendants.” That would mean many people. But it says, “and to your Descendant.” That means only one, and that one is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: The agreement that God gave to Abraham was made official long before the law came. The law came 430 years later. So the law could not take away the agreement and change God’s promise.
18 Can following the law give us the blessing God promised? If we could receive it by following the law, then it would not be God’s promise that brings it to us. But God freely gave his blessings to Abraham through the promise God made.
19 So what was the law for? The law was given to show the wrong things people do. The law would continue until the special Descendant of Abraham came. This is the Descendant mentioned in the promise, which came directly from God. But the law was given through angels, and the angels used Moses as a mediator to give the law to the people. 20 But when God gave the promise, there was no mediator, because a mediator is not needed when there is only one side, and God is one. [i]
The Purpose of the Law of Moses
21 Does this mean that the law works against God’s promises? Of course not. The law was never God’s way of giving new life to people. If it were, then we could be made right with God by following the law. 22 But this is not possible. The Scriptures put the whole world in prison under the control of sin, so that the only way for people to get what God promised would be through faith in [j] Jesus Christ. It is given to those who believe in him.
23 Before this faith came, the law held us as prisoners. We had no freedom until God showed us the way of faith that was coming. 24 I mean the law was the guardian in charge of us until Christ came. After he came, we could be made right with God through faith. 25 Now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law to be our guardian.
You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 28 Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. 29 You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.
Galatians 4
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
4 This is what I am saying: When young children inherit all that their father owned, they are still no different from his slaves. It doesn’t matter that they own everything. 2 While they are children, they must obey those who are chosen to care for them. But when they reach the age the father set, they are free. 3 It is the same for us. We were once like children, slaves to the useless rules [a] of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law. 5 God did this so that he could buy the freedom of those who were under the law. God’s purpose was to make us his children.
6 Since you are now God’s children, he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, “ Abba, [b] Father.” 7 Now you are not slaves like before. You are God’s children, and you will receive everything he promised his children.
Paul’s Love for the Galatian Believers
8 In the past you did not know God. You were slaves to gods that were not real. 9 But now you know the true God. Really, though, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to the same kind of weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again? It worries me that you follow teachings about special days, months, seasons, and years. I fear that my work for you has been wasted.
12 Brothers and sisters, I became like you. So please become like me. You were very good to me before. 13 You know that I came to you the first time because I was sick. That was when I told the Good News to you. 14 My sickness was a burden to you, but you did not stop showing me respect or make me leave. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel from God. You accepted me as if I were Jesus Christ himself! 15 You were very happy then. Where is that joy now? I can say without a doubt that you would have done anything to help me. If it had been possible, you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me. 16 Am I now your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Sometimes we just like those people that couldn't humble ourselves and accept other people's suggestion. We will get angry easily and ignore the suggestion. God please help us to be humble and get patience with fill of the holy spirit.
17 Those people [c] are working hard to persuade you, but this is not good for you. They want to persuade you to turn against us and work hard for them. 18 It is good for you to work hard, of course, if it is for something good. That’s something you should do whether I am there or not. 19 My little children, I am in pain again over you, like a mother giving birth. I will feel this pain until people can look at you and see Christ. 20 I wish I could be with you now. Then maybe I could change the way I am talking to you. Now I don’t know what to do about you.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Some of you people want to be under the law. Tell me, do you know what the law says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one son was a slave woman, and the mother of the other son was a free woman. 23 Abraham’s son from the slave woman was born in the normal human way. But the son from the free woman was born because of the promise God made to Abraham.
24 This true story makes a picture for us. The two women are like the two agreements between God and his people. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinai. The people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. 25 So Hagar is like Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is a picture of the earthly Jewish city of Jerusalem. This city is a slave, and all its people are slaves to the law. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem that is above is like the free woman, who is our mother. 27 The Scriptures say,
“Be happy, woman—you who cannot have children.
Be glad you never gave birth.
Shout and cry with joy!
You never felt those labor pains.
The woman who is alone [d] will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.”
28 My brothers and sisters, you are children who were born because of God’s promise, just as Isaac was. 29 But the other son of Abraham, who was born in the normal way, caused trouble for the one who was born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same today. 30 But what do the Scriptures say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son! The son of the free woman will receive everything his father has, but the son of the slave woman will receive nothing.” [e] 31 So, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman. We are children of the free woman.
Amen. we are not children of the slave woman, but Children of the free women.
Today early morning, after all thing settle especially the admission. I feel relieve and after supper, I get a nap infront of the counter. Thanks God I awake by a call from a lab people, she call up to ask about the platlet transfusion. Sister on call came and shout at my colleague because she is sleeping over the counter. She scold her and ask her the reason she sleeping for. Later on, my colleague give a reason that she is having sickness that's why. Sister give her the medical chit to review Dr. later. After that I went out from the room and saw the situation. The 1st thought in my mind is Thanks God, I'm safe. But another hand is that, I don't think I'm gonna escape from the caught everytime. Thanks God for giving me a chance. Hope I'm not getting in again ^^
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