The Council of Jerusalem.* 1Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,* taking Titus along also.a 2I went up in accord with a revelation,* and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.b 3Moreover, not even* Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised,c 4but because of the false brothers* secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus,d that they might enslave us— 5to them we did not submit even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel* might remain intact for you.e 6But from those who were reputed to be important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those of repute made me add nothing.f 7* On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised,g 8for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles, 9and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John,* who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.h 10Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,* which is the very thing I was eager to do.i

Peter’s Inconsistency at Antioch.* 11j And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.* 12For, until some people came from James,* he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised.k 13And the rest of the Jews* [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.l 14But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all,m “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”*

Faith and Works.* 15We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, 16n [yet] who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.* 17But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin?* Of course not! 18But if I am building up again those things that I tore down, then I show myself to be a transgressor.* 19For through the law I died to the law,* that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ;o 20yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.p 21I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.q