When I wrote this letter to the believers who lived in the Galatian region I was mad! The last time I had seen them they were living in freedom and it showed in everything they thought and did and said. But it didn't appear that way to a certain group of people who thought they knew what it was to do the will of God.

Let me get right to the point: God chose me to bring the message of freedom. I was not sent by men, nor do I represent any establishment of man, nor do I have anything to do with their systems. The one who sent me is Jesus Christ … and God, His Father, who raised Him up from the dead!

I bring the grace of God, and the peace which has been made by Jesus when He died on purpose to deliver us from the hell-hole we once knew … which is the prison the whole world still lives in. The whole set-up is part of God's plan and He is the one who gets the credit for all of it … eventually, we will see what a magnificent plan it is.

You know, I've seen a lot, and it isn't easy to surprise me anymore, but this was ridiculous! I didn't know what else to say … I was shocked at how fast it happened. They were turning away from HIM, the very God who called them into the freedom of Christ!! The ironic part is that they had been deceived into thinking they were actually getting closer to Him. Imagine that!! Yeah, they had been listening to this different message of freedom. But you know what? There is no such thing!! But there were some people who were messing with their minds (yeah, I knew about them). Do you know what they really wanted? They desired to twist and pervert the message of freedom in Christ. Oh, yeah, they called it gospel alright, but it wasn't.

Guess what? I'm disturbed now because I've been watching what's been going on and you're doing the same things they did! You've got so many programs designed to make you better Christians … and you don't even realize there is no such thing. How do you get caught up in this stuff? Do you think there's more truth to it if the preacher has credentials?

You know what? I don't care if it's an angel from God … I don't care if it's me, or one of my buddies who comes and tells you something different … the message of freedom through the work of Christ on the cross, as I originally told it is the only true message. Whoever tells you a different message is to be considered as a carrier of death! I'm going to say it again. Anybody who brings you a message of freedom that is not the same one that was received from me is to be avoided as being the carrier of death!

I know what those guys said, and I know what they are saying now. I know they tell you that I endorse their false message and agree with their additions to the message of freedom. Do you really think I'm like them? Do I sound as if I'm seeking their approval? Or God's? Haha … what a joke! I keep getting kicked out of my own Bible studies! Do you think I'm looking for that pat on the back they love to get? I know what that's like. I haven't forgotten because as you well know it used to be what drove me. Get serious! If I had been looking to be the man-pleaser I used to be I sure wouldn't be hooked up with Christ … because he's not impressed with reputation.

There is something you need to know about this message of freedom that I speak: it didn't come to me in the usual way. When it came to me it by-passed all the conventions of man's wisdom. What I'm telling you is that I didn't get it from another man, I didn't learn it in some school, or read it in a book … I got it directly from Jesus Christ, Himself!! It wasn't learned … it was revealed.

You've heard about the man I used to be and the religion that consumed me; and how I did everything in my power to do away with this Jesus thing and those who belonged to him. I was on my way to the top … way ahead of most … and I was in my prime! I had a passion for the traditions of the religion of my people … my roots meant everything to me. And right in the middle of all of it God stopped me dead in my tracks. I wasn't looking for this, I thought I was doing God's will already! But it turns out that He had already picked me out for this before I was even born. Me! It pleased him to reveal his Son in and through me … the guy who was dead-set against him! He had purposed that I would be the one to take this message of freedom and preach Jesus to those who were not my people.

Let me tell you what I didn't do: from the start, I didn't consult with anybody on this revelation from God. I didn't go to Jerusalem and get together with those who had lived with Jesus to discuss this thing that had happened to me. I went away to the desert and later returned to the place I was going to when he got a hold of me. I didn't go to Jerusalem until three years later to go see Peter … and even then I only stayed with him for 15 days. The only other of the original twelve disciples I saw was James, the brother of Jesus.

Do you know why I am telling you this? And God is my witness that I am not lying when I say this: the message of freedom that I speak did not come from any man, but from God !!

My reputation became quite different than what it used to be. Those who belonged to Jesus in the Judea area didn't even know what I looked like. All they knew was that the guy who had hated them and wanted to kill them was now preaching the faith that he tried to destroy. And on account of me (isn't it ironic?) they were praising God.

I went to Jerusalem again … 14 years later. This time, though, it was for a different reason; and God had compelled me to go. My constant companion, Barnabas, went with me … and I also took this kid named Titus, because being a Greek and not a Jew he had not been circumcised.

Now, this may not mean a whole bunch to you guys, but for us it was a distinction we learned from childhood. We called people who weren't Jews the uncircumcision. It defined who we were as a people. With you, if one of your males are born in a hospital they get trimmed automatically … no ceremony, no meaning. But in my day this distinction between us and them was used by these religious men as a token requirement that could be held over non-Jews to push them into conformity. They came up with the absurd formula that you weren't really delivered by Jesus unless you were circumcised. I call it absurd because the meaning of the ritual should have been more obvious to us … it actually gave proof to God's acceptance of believers from among the uncircumcision.

(You may wonder how we knew who was and who wasn't. First, it was assumed. No one had it done unless they were Jews. The only exceptions were those who joined themselves to us and became Jews. That was it. If we didn't know we could just ask. Most who weren't circumcised despised us, and had no reason to claim it. But either way, we could always find out. We didn't have the privacies you have and we had spies all over the place.)

Now, this formula had quite an impact. Non-Jews who believed began to feel less than Jews who believed. This put pressure on the have-nots to consider becoming the haves in order to get connected with God! So, the rite of circumcision had become this essential thing that caused those who don't have it to feel inferior … and it gave those who do have it a false reason to feel superior.

Don't pretend you don't know what I mean. When I wrote to the Galatian believers there was one big, obvious issue that was being used to bring them back into the hell-hole they had been delivered from. Today, you have so many issues I can't even begin to count them. But you know what? It's all the same. You just think it's so different.

Anyway, I went up to Jerusalem to hit this thing head-on and take the message of freedom that I speak to the heathen to see where they would stand with the truth. Now, I didn't want to bring this up in their open forum … I went privately to those who seemed to be something (this whole reputation thing can make people agree to some pretty stupid things, as I well know). I did this because I have seen how this perversion destroys freedom … I could only imagine the devastation caused if Jesus' own head-honchos were promoting it.

But I was relieved to find that none of them tried to push Titus to have the initiation rite performed, which is what the impostors among them wanted so bad. Don't you remember how many times I wrote in my letters how there would be people who hang with you and pretend to be your brothers? These spies can't stand the freedom we have in Christ. They have no idea what living in freedom is. How could they? Their have lived their whole life behind bars … and they won't be happy unless they force us into the same prison they are in!! But we did not give into them for a moment because the integrity of the message of freedom was on the line; and I was not about to let them take that freedom away.

Just in case you didn't know, it was Peter who really spoke out at the big meeting that had been called to discuss what was called the necessity of circumcision. They had been arguing for quite some time (You know, I hadn't heard so much twisted scripture in years … I had been pretty good at it myself at one time). But anyway, it was getting rather heated when Peter decided to stand up and talk about how God had used him to take the message of freedom to the non-Jews. You should have heard him drive home the reality of how they had received the Spirit in the exact same way we had: through faith. Man, he was bold that day … here he was silencing this foolish concept by pointing out that God made no distinction between the heathen and us Jews. Those self-righteous men among us were steaming … but they couldn't answer against him. Then he asked this question: Are we trying to fool God by forcing these believers to live in the prison that none of us Jews were able to bear? That got them to shut up long enough for us to describe how God had been working among the heathen through our speaking the message of freedom.

Okay, so as you can imagine Peter had gained quite a reputation and definitely seemed to be something; add to this the power of James and John and they became a force to be reckoned with. Don't get me wrong because I really do count them as friends, but I didn't care less who they were. God is not biased or impressed by what people think about themselves or each other. And you know what? Those who had reputations didn't add a doggoned thing to me or to my message! Actually, the effect was the opposite. It had become obvious to them that God really did give me this message of freedom to take to the non-Jews in the same way that Peter was chosen to speak to Jews. It's just like God to do something like that. These men who had the reputation for being the pillars among God's people fully accepted me, the guy who had been their enemy years before! You know, I think they were very surprised that God chose me.

The only concern they had with us had nothing to do with appeasing the false ones among them. They simply wanted to know if we would ask the believers who were not devastated by the famine in Jerusalem to help out financially. Which was something I had already planned on doing when I got back.

I want you to understand the dynamics surrounding Peter's visit to Antioch (that's the town where I was). Keep in mind that I had gotten over my earlier obsession with climbing the ladder of success. You see, I had learned to stay out of conflicts within the hierarchy of my own religion. Oh, I was aggressive alright, but I wasn't stupid! We observed the proper protocol when we stepped on each other. But strictly speaking, we were professional yes-men! We didn't really tell each other what we truly thought and felt … and we especially had to take care what we said to those who were above us. Otherwise, we would have never gotten as far as we did.

Now, don't forget that God had used Peter to take this message of freedom to the non-Jews in a very powerful way. You remember, it was the thing where he had the vision about the animals on the sheet coming down from heaven. God said, “Have a barbecue” … Peter said, “No way, it's not kosher, I'll get contaminated!” The lesson Peter learned was that if God calls it clean, then it's clean! The next thing Peter knew he was going to visit some Italians, and he got in a lot of trouble from that visit. He actually ate dinner with these heathen. I know, this might not sound like such a big deal to you, but for a Jew it could ruin his life! Imagine losing the respect of the people you live with … then you can understand what he had risked. This was the story he told during the big meeting that helped put an end to the discussion about circumcision.

Had I been operating by the fear I had grown up with I wouldn't have confronted such an important man to his face … in front of everybody! But the simple fact was that he was acting as a carrier of death!

So, here's the situation. Peter was living in the freedom of one who knows there is no distinction between people. The fear that someone might see him and think less of him for it didn't concern him one bit. The Gentiles knew he accepted them simply by how he lived among them. But then the boys from Jerusalem, the circumcision, came to town … and Peter began to act like a different man! The bottom line to his actions was fear ! He stopped eating with his brothers and instead started treating them as the uncircumcision. It was infectious! The other Jews also began acting out of character (that's the new character, mind you) and copied Peter's example. It was so bad that even my buddy, the rock-solid Barnabas, got caught up in the hypocrisy!

Okay, you may say, What's the big deal? So, he stopped eating dinner with the goyim! It's not like he was preaching a false message! But it was exactly that. Can't you see how his actions were presenting another message of freedom? Chances are that you don't … and that's no surprise. I say this because your modern culture and thought processes have been built upon the Greek philosophy system. Now, I had quite a few run-ins with that, but your whole concept of knowledge has taken what I saw to the extreme. Hey, most of you people can't even think without one of these systems!

Let me see if I can describe what Peter was silently telling these uncircumcised believers. Imagine this. You're at a social gathering where much to your surprise you find yourself accepted by some people you had previously considered snobs. Things are going well and you are feeling like one of the gang until some really cool people show up and join the party. All of a sudden you realize you are being treated as an outsider again. So much for the acceptance, huh? You've been there before, haven't you? The stuff that hurts is the silence and the subtle looks of rejection. You don't have to be told, “We are embarrassed by you”, but it comes across loud and clear. That is what Peter communicated. Because of his fear of reputation, he told the Galatians this simple message: You are not one of us … you didn't really think that you were our equals, did you?. What else is the rejected one left with than to consider that in order to be accepted he must have whatever it is the other person has?

I know what I said to him had quite an impact because it was almost a rewording of what he so boldly said at the Jerusalem meeting. Talk about Deja Vu, huh?

Here is what I asked him. If you are one of the initiated, but you live like the uninitiated, where's the rationale to push the uninitiated into receiving the initiation? Put another way: If you are one of the insiders, but you live like an outsider and not like an insider, how can you force the outsiders to live like the insiders? Oh, sure, we were born into the initiation (automatic insiders) … we aren't one of the heathen sinners (outsiders)! But hasn't God taught us that being made right is not a matter of doing this law that we were initiated into? Don't we know that it is through faith in Christ that God has included us among the righteous? Even we, the initiated (the insiders), had to believe in Christ Jesus for this righteousness that comes by faith and not by following the set of rules. Because nobody can be made right by following the rules no matter how hard he tries. But if we are trying to be made right in Christ, and in doing so we see ourselves as the sinners we despise, does that mean that Christ, through what he has done, brings sin? This is an insane question, for it is not the grace of Christ that causes sin!

Listen to me. If I put myself back into the system I tore down of trying to prove I'm better than you, who is it that is proving that I am a law-breaker? I am! The crucified and risen Christ has nothing more to do with sin. Don't you get it? It is the old system of rules that killed me, which, in turn, removed me from that system of rules, which has removed me from the sin … for the purpose of making me alive to the God I had been dead to! When Christ was crucified, I was crucified. The man I used to be, the initiated one, is no longer alive, but it is Christ who is my very life! This life I am now living in this body I live by the faith that has its source in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.

I'm not going to void out the grace of God with another message (spoken or not); because if you can make yourself right or improve yourself by some kind of law (God's or man's) or rule or principle or self-help course, then Christ did not have to die … it was for nothing!

Have you guys gone wacko or something? Did you forget everything I told you about Jesus? Don't you remember how it used to be so OBVIOUS to all of you that Christianity is a miracle? Did you forget that your former mindset was exposed as death? Don't you remember that HIS death on the cross was the end of everything you USED TO BE? Can you tell me just ONE thing? This new life … the Spirit of Christ, Himself living in you … did it come from something you did? Or was it a miracle that came about through faith? Have you gone insane? You KNOW the Spirit came and made you alive by the miracle of hearing! You think you can make that new life BETTER by something you do? Are you stupid or something? Remember all the opposition and rejection you had to put up with from your friends and neighbors because you had turned away from the community religion (Now, that was a system of rules and regulations!)? Was that all for nothing? What I'm asking you is this: are you telling me that God does what he does based on how well you do what you do? Or is it a miracle that happened when you heard and believed? I think somebody has been messing with your heads!

Kinda harsh, huh? But this situation was critical and I called it as I saw it. The believers from Galatia were acting as if they had been put under a spell. They were listening to this “Don't you know we're children of Abraham?” stuff … and they were buying into it! Hey, look, even Abraham was made righteous when he believed God, not because he did something to deserve it. I find it rather odd how his so-called children think they get better by what they do.

God told Abraham, “All the nations shall be blessed in you”. And even in the writings they hold so dear it attests to this fact that “The righteous shall live by faith”. Now, if the promise came through Abraham, you can be sure about this: it has come to those who are of faith. And you know who the 'Sons of Abraham' are? You got it … those who are like Abraham … believers! Let me tell you something. These guys who are of the Law aren't the real sons of Abraham, they are under the curse of the Law! Hey, if they understood the books they quoted from they would know that the law is NOT OF FAITH! Those whose lives are based on law-keeping must continue on that basis. How it is that they come to you with a mixture of life by laws and life by grace is a contradiction of the very essence of both. It's against the law! Their books have to be burning their hands. Christ came and delivered us from that curse by becoming the curse FOR US!! In doing so, we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

You think I left something out? You think maybe the Law changes what was promised to Abraham? That's exactly what the Galatians were considering. The men who came behind me with their version of the message of freedom put serious doubts into the minds of those who had experienced such an incredible joy … they had been freed from guilt, shame and fear.

Let me ask you: did you realize that the promise was made to Abraham … and to his SEED? Not SEEDS, just SEED. Do you know who that is? It is Christ. So, then, who is the promise to? The promise was made to Jesus Christ! That means you would have to be in union with him in order to receive the promise. I hope you are getting the connection. I hope the sense of it is causing your head to rattle a bit!

Look, this promise was made over four centuries BEFORE the Law was even given … what does that tell you? You think God changed His mind or something? I'm telling you right now that if this promise comes about by some kind of obedience on your part then it is NOT A PROMISE! Those impostors thought they knew Abraham, but they didn't know anything!!

You want to know why the Law was added after the promise? Listen well and follow this. It took the one broken command of Adam (the only one recognized by God) and multiplied law-breaking to the extreme. What does that tell you about how well the law works for bringing perfection? If it DID make people right THEN there would have been a conflict between the Law and the promise. But there was no law given by God that did anything to improve the condition of any man. Are you still fooled by the facade? Instead, the Law put the nails in the coffin until Christ appeared!!

Do you understand what I am saying? Before the miracle of faith came God's people were locked up and had nothing to do with faith … that came with Christ. Do you know what relationship my people had with God before Jesus got here? We were like children who had to be lead about by the hand and NEEDED supervision … THAT'S WHAT THE LAW WAS TO US!! But now that He HAS come the REAL sons of Abraham are NOT under such supervision!

Those religious, self-righteous men had played into the fears of the Galatian believers. You understand those fears all too well. You may think it was much different back then, but you are under the same kind of influences yourselves. You find yourself feeling less than those who boast of doing well. You think you're not as good as the morally upright. You are sure that you are not as close as the one who is on fire for God. You become convinced that you are not as connected to God as the dedicated. You question your own sincerity in view of those who appear to walk the talk. Don't you know who you are? ALL OF YOU who believe in Christ are Sons of God and there is nothing that separates one from another or puts some in a better class than the rest.

Have you missed something? Hasn't it struck you that the circumcision ritual leaves half of us out of the picture? Actually, all of us received the removal of the flesh through the death and resurrection of Christ when we what we were was cut away from us. The distinction of male and female has no bearing on our true identity. Social status means nothing, either. Let me ask you: what group of people do you consider as being outside the scope of God's grace?

You know what else amazes me? People read this letter and think that I was questioning the DESTINATION of the Christian, when, in fact, I was describing THE LIFE we have been called into! From our earliest experiences to the present day, this life is totally unlike any principle of living we have ever known. It is this difference we seem to forget as we go through our everyday routines. Somehow, the miraculous nature of our new life in Christ gets pushed right out of our actual considerations. No wonder so many of us live in such confusion.

You know, it wasn't a bad thing for Israel to live under the law… it was in accordance with God's plan of keeping them in custody. You know how some people have hired a nanny to keep after the children until they are grown? Well, the Law was the nanny for the children of Israel … and their childhood lasted from Moses until Christ! That's a long childhood. Their whole existence was lived in view of, “This is what I am supposed to do and/or not to do”. They were given corresponding punishments and rewards that hung over their heads. If it sounds similar to the way in which you were raised, it should. All of us were born into this prison … and the law intensified it for us! And this is what Christ came to redeem us from.

The Galatians had no reason to be intimidated by those who were hanging on the old system. The time had come and it had passed them by … they were still being led by the hand as little children! And they were trying to make the true sons of God feel as if they didn't really belong. But how does one who doesn't belong call out to the true God and call him, Daddy? Don't you realize that if the Spirit of Christ has been sent into the outsiders that also means freedom for the insiders? Those who were insiders have nothing over those who were outsiders.

Here is what we really miss: the life principles of those without God are the same as the life principles of those who are under the laws of God!! What else did you think it meant to “turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things”? Paul told them that by turning to the law they were actually returning to the same operating principles they had been called out of. And if this is what Christ is all about, who needs Christ?

The Galatians were showing all kinds of signs that they had regressed to their former bondage. They were falling into the religious habits the Jews had observed under the nanny. Just a quick look around most religious groups today reveals a similar condition! You believers today hold to forms that have no life, but only give the appearance that you have your stuff together. Whatever happened to freedom?

In case you don't know, I hadn't planned on going to visit the Galatians in the first place. It was accidental … if you can call it that. I got thrown off from my original plans. I was in bad shape from an illness and I didn't look so good. Which means their first impression of me gave them reason to look down on me as being the representative of God, but they didn't. After all, what kind of a God sends sick people? But they heard God's voice through me. The joy they received was not because I impressed them … they accepted me as Christ. This had been a miraculous thing. What had happened? Were did their joy go? How had I become their enemy? Because I was telling them the truth?

Those impostors who were wooing the Galatians were being dishonest. They pretended to care. They said they were concerned about improving relationships with Christ, but they only wanted to increase their own little kingdom. Their formula was simple: entice them … shut them out … make them beg to get in! I have no problem with the sincere love that seeks another's good, but that is often not the case. Open your eyes, there are impostors desiring to get you in their group. Just notice how they are doing what they are doing … it should be quite obvious!

Okay, maybe you're considering some formula to make you more spiritual. That's what the Galatians were doing. They figured if circumcision was the thing they were missing then why not do it? They were desiring a system of performance to live by, but they had no idea what that system really was. Do you? Do you know the significance in the fact that Abraham had TWO sons? Listen, there is a difference between a son of Abraham by the natural means and a son by the miraculous!

God had made a promise which left no option but to believe Him. But time passed and it didn't seem to be working, so Abraham and Sarah (aka Abram and Sarai) decided to take matters into their own hands. It was actually Sarai's idea. She begged Abram to go have sexual intercourse with her slave-girl; it doesn't appear that he put up a fight. Didn't you know it was the custom for a free woman to have children through her slave? In their minds they were doing the right thing! Call it what you will … “acting in faith”, “putting feet to prayer” “making practical application” … but they had attempted to do God's work their way! And their solution caused a major conflict. Ishmael was conceived and the free woman was despised by the slave. Years later (leave it to God's timing, huh?), God did give Sarah a child (Issac) and it was a miracle child for she was an old, old woman. The results? The child of bondage harassed the child of faith.

Don't you see it? The productivity of the flesh always questions the productivity of the Spirit. Here is the lesson we have learned in the world: If you want to get things done you gotta do it yourself! The lesson of God is this: Let God do what God promises to do! In the meantime, know this: the children of bondage will despise you and call you illegitimate, which is what they did to the Galatians. They questioned their identity. They called their life-source (the Spirit) a dry well. Then they tried to convince them that it was up to them to produce some fruit! “Get excited when you discover you can't produce! Shout with joy when it appears that nothing is happening! For there is more productivity in those who can't produce than in those who seem to be fertile!” Don't you get it? Don't you know who you are? Are you going to sit there and let the impostors define reality for you? How long will you let them question the source of your new life? How long will you let the dead tell you how to live? How long will it take you to realize that there is a foundational difference between those born of the Spirit and those born of the flesh? How much slavery will you endure because the religious world convinces you that you are still the same? Stop operating as if you have the same Momma! Stop living as if you need laws and rules to control you. Refuse to listen to those who are not of faith, do not let them sink their claws into you! For you have been born of the Spirit!

So, why did Christ set us free? We were set free for FREEDOM! So stand firm in it, and don't give into anyone who wants to take it away from you! I tell you this because those who are in bondage can't stand the idea that you may have escaped; and they will do anything to pull you back into prison with them.

With the Galatians, circumcision was the thing that took their focus off the freedom of Christ. They were considering that maybe they could get closer to God if they went along with the program. The deceptive part of the persuasion is that it all sounds very Christian at the time. Is there some pressing issue on your mind that makes you feel less spiritual than others? Are you feeling pressured to perform certain Christian duties in the hope that you can improve your standing with God? Are you seeking some sign or spiritual gift in order to prove yourself? This is what circumcision was to them … a token requirement of spirituality.

If you give into this, then the freedom of Christ is not doing you any good at all! Don't you understand? I'm telling you, if you go along with their game and receive their initiation you will find yourself trapped into performing all of their standards! What did you think? Didn't you know that if you grabbed the tiger by the tail you had to deal with the claws and the teeth? Once you turn away from the miracle of freedom in Christ (even in such a small thing) you have set the pattern of living for yourself. All of your life starts to revolve around doing the right thing … which becomes the thing you are obligated to do … which becomes your bondage. And what does any of this have to do with the concept of freedom? Hey, you have cut Christ right out of your actual living. The life of grace is far above the pathetic life of living under the law. If you are trying to make yourself right by trying to do right, you have fallen from a high calling. Justify it to yourself, but a free man knows the difference.

What is the life of freedom? What has the Spirit taught us? To wait for God to do what He has promised. Remember Abraham and Sarah? Remember what they produced when they thought they were doing the right thing? We do not produce righteousness by our efforts, the Spirit brings it about through faith … that is the promise! Live every moment in anticipation of what He is doing. For what we do or what we don't doesn't mean anything, but instead, it is faith that operates through love.

You know, all the talk about obedience made me sick. Why is it that the Galatians were doing so well before those guys got a hold of them? Is it possible that maybe their push for obedience stopped it from happening? It's a funny thing … when you're living in expectation of the miracle of life in Christ obedience is a by-product. Then someone comes along who convinces you that it's not happening unless you are producing some specific fruit or gift. It only takes a little bit of this thinking to permeate all of your thoughts. The men who were preaching circumcision should have had their whole thing cut off! Whoever is troubling you has it coming as well. I don't care what they tell you: I didn't preach circumcision then and there is nothing in my writings to support anybody's formulas. If I did then I would have been perverting the good news of Christ; because it's offensive to the natural mind. If you can get closer to God by something that you do (or don't do) then who needs a Jesus who only came for those who are too far gone to help themselves in any way?

Have you been listening to what I've been telling you? Do you understand what I mean by another message of freedom? Do you know why it rattles my cage? There is no freedom in those other messages! You were called to freedom … and many of you have traded it in for a counterfeit! Do you not know what the Galatians were doing with their stupid move toward circumcision? They were trashing freedom by attempting to turn it into something else altogether. But the thing they were calling freedom was no longer freedom. It was only a shell that was becoming was a place where sin could function! Don't you understand that those who have died to sin don't live there anymore? Freedom contains no place for sin to operate … but Law does. If you are persuaded to commit to somebody's program by doing their thing, then you are only giving sin a place to work in your life. By the way, how many of you thought this verse was a caution to balance freedom? You guys never cease to amaze me!

Don't do it! Don't relapse to the self-serving facade of love, but really serve one another through the miracle of love! Or didn't you know that this miracle fulfills everything the law requires? But if you opt for the sin-conscious existence that picks on each other for not living up to each other's favorite principles, you'll eventually destroy each other! Yeah, if you and I are holding our tigers by their tails all we have toward each other is teeth and claws!

Have you found yourself caught up in an ongoing, desperate struggle to not do evil? That's not Christianity; that's what you get when you are looking to principles or rules to control you. I'm telling you to look to the Spirit who produces life and you will not do its bidding! Don't you understand that there are only TWO sources and they are as different and night and day? The Spirit of God, and the spirit of the world. One is the very essence of life; the other is found in death, for it lacks life. Laws and rules deal with the stuff that makes the evil world tick, so it makes no difference how much you want to produce good and keep from evil … you just can't do it and you know it because you have tried and it doesn't work!

But hear this now: if the Spirit of Christ is your life you are not under the law. You may think you are under the law. And you may live as if you are under the law. But you are not! What is produced by the law is obvious – listen and see if it doesn't sound like the stuff you have seen in operation amongst yourselves since you have been turning away from grace.

Don't you harp on morality and purity because you see the lack of it in your own life? And the insane desire to feel the Spirit's operation is nothing more than living by the senses. How can you be satisfied with Christ when you are always looking for something more? You consult your formulas as one who trusts his horoscope. Your standards give rise to hatred, jealousy, despising and resentment because you compare yourselves with yourselves. You are always disputing and challenging each other, and blowing up when you can't change the other guy. You are constantly creating new reasons to split with one another, but you can't stand it if someone has something you want. Your life is an expression of the simple fact that you are out of control … you find yourself giving into anything that will help you bear it!

Do you think those who do things like this are the ones who inherit the promise to Abraham (which is God's kingdom)? But do you also know that this is not who you are? I warn you: stop taking heed to those who have no part in the inheritance!

Now, the inheritance is what the Spirit produces; and He is the one who has given that unexplained inner drive to care for each other more than your own selves. What? Did you think you did that? No wonder it has become such a difficult task. He is the source of the joy that doesn't make sense, and is the one that makes fear go away. His patience is not a matter of putting up with one another by ignoring each other's faults, but by having taken them out of the way! And what magic do you think causes you to treat each other in a genuine kindness that doesn't care about getting something from it? His goodness is pure for it comes from the only one who is good. Considering the fact that your natural born inclination didn't believe God … how does he now call you of faith? His gentleness comes from having taken the judgment himself! The self-control He produces is made possible by having killed our uncontrollable former selves … truly a miracle!

Do you realize there are no laws against these things? Those who belong to Jesus have already died to what they used to be. Live in this place where law has no bearing. Quit with the rule-based life already … it only causes us to get boastful. You are familiar with the routine. If I do something that I think is better than what you do, I get prideful and arrogant about it. It only produces envy and despising.

So, how do you deal with each other when you see one who is breaking the law? Hello?!? Shouldn't that tell you something? You need to be careful how you handle these situations because you will find yourself falling right back into the same old patterns of using some kind of a law, a rule, or a principle to correct the law-breaker. Hey, look, I'm talking to you who are spiritual … you who have the very life of God within you! Do you hear what I'm saying? This is the exact point where we usually lose it and jump back into bondage, because while I may view myself in freedom I see you doing something wrong and I approach you as one who needs advice on how to deal with your problem. Hey, the problem here is that your brother has forgotten who he is … and you have, too! Forget the advice and the formulas. What the guy needs is for you to lift this weight of bondage off of him through the power of the message of freedom. When this happens you will see Christ's command to “Love one another” fulfilled.

Anyone who thinks he has a reputation or considers himself a somebody is playing the comparison game. Give it up, where do you get off with this reputation stuff? But when you're operating under a system of rules and regulations it creates a framework with a system of degrees and credentials. It's this measuring of one against another that produces the illusion. In reality, God has taken those who the world considers nobodies and gives them significance in the life of another … the risen Christ Jesus!

You want to boast about something? Get off this thing of comparing yourself to others! Now examine your own work. Without the comparison game to place yourself above or below one another what are you left with? Don't you find that Christ is your life and only in him can you boast? Now, those who teach this freedom to you … support these guys in every good way.

Let me ask you something. Do you remember how God established that all things would produce “after its own kind”? Do you suppose that he will suspend this natural order of reproduction? Get real. The life lived under a system of rules®ulations(law) is trapped by the weak and worthless elemental principles of the world and only produces more of the same! So, don't be surprised at the stuff you see happening in your life when you turn from Christ and determine to produce it yourself. On the other hand, true life – the quality that is eternal life – is only produced by the Spirit. What I'm telling you should be obvious! A poisoned well only produces poisoned water, a living well only produces living water.

So, don't be fooled by appearances and lose heart in doing that which is truly good … for there is always the tendency to do the right thing instead of being the living thing. It's just too easy to get tired of not seeing enough action … remember the product of Abraham's impatience. As to doing good, you don't need any rules to tell you how to live … it is in you; that is the miracle of God's indwelling. So, why is it that we always question the good we want to do by trying to justify it with a principle? Know this: a principle comes in, the life goes out … and love with it. You have been made alive in Christ, live free and count upon the fact that the Spirit of Christ is leading you non-stop into love for one another, especially toward fellow believers. Go for it!

I want you to know that I have given this whole matter my personal attention … I wrote this myself. In my day, men who desired to look respectable would coerce others into the initiation rite of circumcision for the simple reason that they would not have to suffer the rejection reserved for those who preach the message of freedom. It's no different today. Look around you and notice the things your religious leaders are respected for: degrees, morality, signs and wonders, spiritual gifts, a strong stand on their favorite Biblical principles, knowledge, heritage, oratory skills, programs, buildings, large crowds, a denomination, etc. Don't be fooled … that is what they are preaching! For when the man who was rejected by the whole world (by hanging on the cross) is proclaimed as the only way to freedom it doesn't sit very well with the pride of man. For it is one thing to claim to believe in Christ thinking it is a good thing to do; and entirely another to know that you were so far gone that you couldn't do a thing and that you desperately need his sacrifice.

Whether it was the circumcision farce of my day or whatever you hold to today as the thing to bring you closer to God, it really doesn't make any difference. Don't you know that those who pass the initiation don't keep the law themselves? No, they are only looking for you to join their club and receive their brand on you so they can glory in one more convert! As for me, may I have no cause for boasting except in the thing that the organizations of man despise, which is the cross of Christ. It is this very instrument of death that separates the world from me … and me from the world! Whatever the initiation issue is that you are considering (or are holding to now) means nothing, nor does the lack of it mean anything. Simply stated, it is not what you do or what you don't do that counts for anything, but it is the new creation that you have been made in Christ that counts for everything. Those that want a rule … there it is! I know, that sounds like an anti-rule, but the peace of God is upon those who hold to it.

I've had enough of these guys with their brand marks … don't let them cause me any more trouble! They're showing theirs, well I can show mine … and I have lots of them. I count it a privilege to have suffered for Jesus and the scars all over my body are his brand marks on me … not that the world considers them something to be proud of. God's grace through Christ be with your spirit, my brothers.