Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.
- KJV And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
- NKJV And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
- NASB But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated.
- NLT Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If Paul still preached circumcision, he would not be persecuted, and the cross's offense would be removed. The cross offends precisely because it excludes salvation by works.
Overview
Paul refutes any claim that he still endorsed circumcision for salvation; if he did, the opposition against him would cease. The 'stumbling block of the cross' is its message that righteousness comes only through Christ's death, not human effort, which offends human pride. The verse highlights that a true gospel will always provoke resistance from those who trust in works.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 1 Cor 1:23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
- Gal 6:12Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.
- Gal 4:29At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
- Gal 2:3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
- 1 Cor 1:18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- 1 Pet 2:8–9and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Acts 21:21But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.
- 1 Cor 15:30And why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
- Isa 8:14And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
- Acts 16:3Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
- Acts 21:28crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”
- Gal 6:17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
- 2 Cor 11:23–26Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Acts 23:13–14More than forty of them were involved in this plot.
- Acts 22:21–22Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
- Rom 9:32–33Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 5:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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