Various counsels
1Brethren, in the event of someone falling into a sin, you who are spiritual shall set him aright with the spirit of kindness. Take care for you, too, may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something, when in fact he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Let each one examine his own conduct and boast for himself, if he wants to do so, but not before others. 5In this, let each one carry his own things. 6He who receives the teaching of the Word ought to share the good things he has with the one who in structs him. 7Do not be fooled. God cannot be deceived. You reap what you sow. 8The person who sows for the benefit of his own flesh shall reap corruption and death from the flesh. He who sows in the spirit shall reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9Let us do good without being discouraged; in due time we shall reap the reward of our constancy. 10So while there is time, let us do good to all and especially to our family in the faith.
I am crucified with Christ
11 ① See these large letters I use when I write to you in my own hand. Who obliges you to be circumcised? 12Those who are most anxious to put up a good show in life: what if the cross of Christ should bring them some trouble! 13Not for being circumcised do they observe the Law: what interests them is the external rite. What a boast for them if they had you circumcised! 14For me, I do not wish to take pride in anything except in the cross of Christ Jesus our Lord. Through him the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15Let us no longer speak of the circumcised and of non-Jews, but of a new creation. 16Let those who live according to this rule receive peace and mercy: they are the Israel of God! 17Let no one trouble me any longer: for my part, I bear in my body the marks of Jesus. 18May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with your spirit brothers and sisters. Amen.
- Gal 6,11 At the moment of saying good-bye, once again Paul speaks about the crisis in the community. It is not only a problem of religious practice, there are also certain persons anxious to put up a good show in life (see Phil 3:2-11). Those who persuade you to be circumcised: they are members of the community. They want to be different from ordinary Christians, forming an apparently more serious group, more religious because of being circumcised. Actually, this rite would assure them a welcome to Jewish homes - a good way of making professional contacts. Already at that time the links uniting Jewish communities established in all the cities of the Roman Empire increased their possibilities. For those middle class people it was advantageous to rely on them. Paul instead chose to break up and he was to be persecuted from city to city till the moment in which his adversaries would have him condemned by imperial justice. The world has been crucified to me. Paul has chosen a different way. He goes on his way, without a home, persecuted by some, despised by others, feared by those who cannot stand his example of complete abnegation, nor his mingling with so many people whom they consider inferior. This is to follow Christ to the cross.
