I’ve told you these things many times before, and I’m telling you them again with tears in my eyes. Many people live like enemies of the cross of Christ.
So let me tell you—and I’m speaking for the Lord as I warn you: You must not live the way the Gentiles do any longer. They’re not able to think things through correctly.
The people who are trying to get you to be circumcised want others to be impressed with them. They don’t want to suffer for saying that we have to depend entirely on the cross of Christ.
When I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the good news, I spoke to Peter in front of everyone. I said, “You’re a Jew, but you live like a Gentile, not a Jew. So why are you trying force the Gentiles to follow Jewish ways?
Most of all, this is true of people who are corrupted by their wrong desires and hate to be under authority. People like that are cocky and arrogant. They’re not afraid even to insult heavenly beings.
None of you should sin against your brother or sister by doing that. You shouldn’t take advantage of your brother or sister. The Lord will punish everyone who commits sins like those. We’ve already told you and warned you about that.
and envy; drunkenness, wild parties, and many other things like that. I warn you now, as I did before, that people who live like this won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
I wrote to you in great distress, with a heavy heart, and with my eyes full of tears. I wasn’t trying to upset you. I just wanted you to know how deeply I love you.
Don’t you know that people who do wrong won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. People who commit sexual sins, or who worship idols or commit adultery, or men who sleep with other men,
They’re like wild waves of the sea—their shame rises up like foam. They’re like stars that don’t stay in place. God has reserved very great darkness for them forever.
I don’t ever want to brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through that cross, the world has been crucified to me and I have been crucified to the world.