Do Not Throw This Freedom Away.* 8f At a time when you did not know God, you became slaves to things that by nature are not gods;* 9but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and destitute elemental powers? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?g 10You are observing days,h months, seasons, and years.* 11I am afraid on your account that perhaps I have labored for you in vain.*
30“I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.u
Witnesses to Jesus. 31v “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. 32But there is another* who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. 33You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.w 34I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved.x 35He was a burning and shining lamp,* and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.y 36But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.z 37Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,a 38and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.b 39You search* the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.c 40But you do not want to come to me to have life.