Read the Bible

Freedom

¹ Jesus has taken the hobbles off us! You are free and no longer hobbled to the Law.

² Listen to me! If you think clipping your pickles is going to make God like you better, then you must not need Jesus. ³ I've said it once and I'll say it again, any cowboy who tries to go by one part of the Law must obey every part of the Law—every twist, turn, nook, and cranny. ⁴ Those of you wanting to reinstitute the old code have quit on Jesus. When you ain't got him, you ain't got God's grace anymore either. ⁵ But those of us who ride with the power of the Holy Ghost are waitin' on God to make us right through our faith in his boy. ⁶ It don't make no difference at all if you are clipped or not when you ride with Jesus. The important thing is that you have faith in God and love for others.

⁷ Man, y'all were doing so good! What on earth made y'all sidestep the truth? What did that fellow say to y'all to make you turn away from Jesus? ⁸ You can't say, "That's what God said," because God ain't gonna make you quit on his boy. ⁹ The lies these people are spreadin' is like foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. It infects one and then fatally spreads to others. ¹⁰ You ain't going to get infected or infect anyone else if you keep to the truth. I'm confident all of y'all are true riders of the brand. These lies might find your ears, but don't let 'em get to your heart or your mouth. God will deal with these liars one day and it ain't gonna be pretty.

¹¹ Do y'all really think the Jews are after me because I'm trying to convince everyone to get their pickles clipped? If I were doing that, nobody would bother me at all! If I went back to telling people they could be saved by following rules instead of trustin' in the cross, my problems would all go away. ¹² I wish these people who keep harassing you about circumcision would just try to be an example and go all the way. Why stop at the tip? Let 'em castrate themselves, too. Maybe then their lies wouldn't reproduce.

¹³ As for y'all though, you were called to ride free. But this freedom doesn't mean you are free to follow every dirty thought that crosses your mind. Use your freedom to serve others, not satisfy yourselves. ¹⁴ Even the old code of Moses can be summed up in one sentence, "Love yourself and others the same." ¹⁵ But if y'all act like a bunch of hungry coyotes who are constantly biting and snarling at each other, don't be surprised when y'all are all chewed to pieces.

Enemies

¹⁶ You can either follow the Holy Ghost or you can follow your human nature. You'll have to pick one because you can't ride for both. ¹⁷ What the Spirit wants for us and what our human nature wants are two opposite things. Trying to do both is like straddlin' a barbed wire fence. You don't get anywhere and it hurts real bad. ¹⁸ And when you choose to ride with the Holy Ghost, you are under no obligation whatsoever to follow the code of Moses.

¹⁹ The trail of sinful nature is easy to follow. It's marked plain with immoral sexuality, unclean acts, dirty pleasures, ²⁰ worshiping things other than God, witchcraft, getting mad all the time, picking fights, being jealous, throwin' fits, thinking only of yourself, blaming others for everything, picking sides, ²¹ wanting what another man has, staying drunk every weekend, having orgies, and other sins like these. I've warned you before and I'll warn you again, anyone living intentionally like this won't have no part in God's outfit.

²² But riding with the Holy Ghost makes a man be able to love and have things like joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ humility, and self-control. There's no code against such things. ²⁴ And those who ride for Christ have nailed their sinful human natures to the cross. All the dirty passions and nasty desires are dead. ²⁵ Our new life come from the Holy Spirit and so we must give him the reins. ²⁶ Do not be proud, irritating, or jealous of one another.