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I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle. People have not sent me. No human authority has sent me. I have been sent by Jesus Christ and by God the Father. God raised Jesus from the dead. 2 All the brothers and sisters who are with me join me in writing. We are sending this letter to you, the members of the churches in Galatia.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins. He set us free from this evil world. That was what our God and Father wanted. 5 Give glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I am amazed. You are so quickly deserting the one who chose you. He chose you to live in the grace that Christ has provided. You are turning to a different ‘good news.’ 7 What you are accepting is really not the good news at all. It seems that some people have confused you. They are trying to twist the good news about Christ. 8 But suppose even we should preach a different ‘good news.’ Suppose even an angel from heaven should preach it. Suppose it is different from the good news we gave you. Then let anyone who does that be cursed by God. 9 I have already said it. Now I will say it again. Suppose someone preaches a ‘good news’ that is different from what you accepted. That person should be cursed by God.
10 Am I now trying to get people to think well of me? Or do I want God to think well of me? Am I trying to please people? If I were, I would not be serving Christ.
1:1–10 Paul was very concerned about the believers in Galatia. They had believed the good news Paul taught them about Jesus. But then after Paul left other teachers went to Galatia. They taught things that went against the good news about Jesus. The Galatians started to believe those teachings. God had sent Paul to preach the good news. That was Paul's work as an apostle. Paul was completely sure about the truth of the message that he preached. He preached that Jesus gave his life for the sins of human beings. Jesus sets those who believe in him free from this evil world. That was how Paul described the power of sin, death and evil. God the Father wanted Jesus to set people free. All teaching about Jesus must agree with this. If it doesn't, followers of Jesus must refuse to believe it.
11 Brothers and sisters, here is what I want you to know. The good news I preached does not come from human beings. 12 No one gave it to me. No one taught it to me. Instead, I received it from Jesus Christ. He showed it to me.
13 You have heard how I lived earlier in my Jewish way of life. With all my strength I attacked the church of God. I tried to destroy it. 14 I was moving ahead in my Jewish way of life. I went beyond many of my people who were my own age. I held firmly to the teachings passed down by my people. 15 But God set me apart from before the time I was born. He showed me his grace by appointing me. He was pleased 16 to show his Son in my life. He wanted me to preach about Jesus among the Gentiles. When God appointed me, I decided right away not to ask anyone for advice. 17 I didn't go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem. I went there to get to know Peter. I stayed with him for 15 days. 19 I didn't see any of the other apostles. I only saw James, the Lord's brother. 20 Here is what you can be sure of. And God is even a witness to it. What I am writing to you is not a lie.
21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 The members of Christ's churches in Judea did not know me in a personal way. 23 They only heard others say, ‘The man who used to attack us has changed. He is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ 24 And they praised God because of me.
1:11–24 Paul explained how he learnt the good news about Jesus. At first Paul hadn't believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Paul had always been a very faithful Jew. He knew Jewish laws and teachings better than most other Jews did. He was a Pharisee. He used to put Jesus' followers in prison for not obeying Jewish laws. Then Jesus appeared to him. Jesus showed Paul that he was the Son of God. This completely changed Paul's life. This story is told in Acts chapter 9. After that, Paul spent his life sharing the good news about Jesus. He met other apostles like Peter and James. Together with other believers in Judea, they were happy that Paul was following Jesus.