GLORY IN THE CROSS!
Galatians 6:11-18
Introduction: Our series in Galatians
began back in May, and today (hopefully!) we’ll conclude this urgent letter from Paul. Our series before this was on the Gospel of Mark, do you remember the first verse of that Gospel? "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." That Gospel showed how Jesus lived a sinless life, and how He willingly took the wrath of God against sin for all who would believe. He took our sin, and by grace, through faith, we receive his righteousness. That is Good News! As Paul wrote Galatians, some false teachers were saying that the work of Christ was important, but it wasn't enough to make us right with God. Certain outward acts of obedience, such as circumcision, were needed for us to be saved. Paul is calling the Galatians back to the Truth: Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! This
last paragraph is not simply a series of disconnected thoughts as Paul is
ending the epistle. It is packed with truth. And here Paul draws together some
of the major themes of the letter, a final reminder of the message they had
heard and believed, the Good News through which we can have a relationship with
God and by which we can live as His people in a fallen world.
We
see here a final, personal appeal from the apostle to the gentiles: "See
with what large letters I have written to you..." We know that Paul
routinely used a scribe, an amanuensis, to put in writing the content that he
dictated for his letters to the churches. On several occasions, perhaps to
authenticate the letter as genuinely from him, he would add a closing word
written in his own hand. Some take his reference to the “large letters”
coming from his hand as evidence that his physical malady had something to do
with his eyesight. That could be. But by saying this at the end of the letter
he clearly is emphasizing his concluding statement: "Don't miss
this!" It is like underlining something for emphasis, or maybe using bold
letters or all caps. I thought of John Hancock signing the Declaration of
Independence and saying something like, “The king won’t need his spectacles to read
that!” For Paul, the passion and urgency that has been present in this letter
continues to the very end!
The “gospel” the Judaizers were tempting
the Galatians with was "no gospel at all." It was in fact contrary to
the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith which Paul preached and by which
the Galatians were saved. Paul argues that “works religion” and “Grace” are
mutually exclusive. His exposition of the Christian life in Chapter 5 and into
6 is answering the possible charge that his gospel would lead to license to
sin. Yes, we are saved by grace apart from works—yes salvation is based on what
Christ has done on our behalf, not on our ability to keep the rules well enough—but
a saved person, indwelt by the Spirit, is controlled by a deeper Law, a Law not
legislated from without but produced from within, the law of love
(5:13-14,16,25).
After giving instructions for restoring a
sinning brother, after warning that there are consequences to sin—Paul exposes
the false motives of the Judaizers and shows what should motivate us as faithful
followers of Jesus. Simply put…
The Maine*
Idea: The Spirit-led believer lives for the glory of God not the praise of men.
We’ll look at that from the perspective of three questions, as you see in the outline,
A-B-C… 1. How is our attitude; 2. In what can we boast; and 3)
Have we counted the cost?
I. How's OUR ATTITUDE?
Legalism is the
desire to exalt human achievement and to minimize the cost of true discipleship.
It is thinking, We can do this
(6:12-13). Really?
12
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to
be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross
of Christ. 13 For even those
who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you
circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
Paul points out that the legalists were
guilty of being man-pleasers, and of being prideful and arrogant. He
points out the root of the opposition to him and his message: religious pride
(12a). “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh…” Let’s
face it, we all want people to like us. But Paul is saying that these men are
adding to the Gospel in order to win the approval of the Jews. The offense of
the Cross would be lessened if the case could be made that Christians are
observant Jews. Paul says that grace plus works in no gospel at all. And that
teaching didn’t start with Paul. Jesus had repeatedly confronted the Pharisees
over their focus on the outward, while neglecting the weightier matters of
the heart. In one such encounter we read in Luke 16:14-15,
Now the Pharisees, who
were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15
And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but
God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination
in the sight of God.”
The story of the Pharisee
and the Publican in Luke 18:9-14 illustrates the hyprocrisy of any system that relies on good
works to be justified before God. Notice how Luke as narrator introduces Jesus’
teaching in that story, “Also He spoke
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others…” The pharisee
in that story was self-righteous, he was “not like other men,” but
it was the tax collector, broken and praying for mercy, that went away
justified.
The way that seems right to humans but ends in
death, the idea that is at the center of every man-made religion, is “good
works” as a basis for justification. Paul spoke to the issue in Colossians
2:8,20,23, using a term, “basic principles,” [stoicheia] which
Paul has used in Galatians (Gal 4:3,9) as well. In Colossians 2:8 he said,
“Beware lest
anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the
tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and
not according to Christ.”
He then gets more
specific in Colossians 2:20-23,
“Therefore, if you died with Christ
from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the
world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 "Do not
touch, do not taste, do not handle," 22 which all concern
things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and
doctrines of men? 23 These
things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false
humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence
of the flesh…”
Paul
asked the Corinthians in 1 Cor 4:7 “ For who makes you differ from another?
And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive
it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Jesus did it all! He
gets the glory.
They
were also motivated by fear of persecution, 12b. “…simply that they may not be persecuted
for the cross of Christ…” Why do they do it? “So that…” they may not
be persecuted. It is easy to compromise the truth when there is a cost.
Remember Peter’s bold assertion when Jesus said they would all leave Him? Though
they all leave, Lord, I will never leave you! I am ready to die with you!
But after His arrest, what happened? Three times Peter denied that he knew
Jesus! Peter failed, but he was graciously restored by Jesus after the
Resurrection (John 21:15-19). Then, empowered by the Spirit, we see this same
Peter boldly proclaiming the message of Christ (cf. Acts 4,5)! Faithful
preachers of the Gospel won’t compromise the message because they fear the reaction
of the world. The Cross, has always been an offense…
For
Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but
to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God (I Cor 1:22-24).
The Gospel message assumes
we need to be saved; we are sinners deserving judgement. That wasn’t a
popular message for the Jews of Paul’s day, nor for the Greeks. And it isn’t
a popular message today. People have the idea that all paths lead to God
and that we have the right to do whatever we want, as long as it makes us
happy. When we say with Peter that “There is no other name under heaven,
given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), people can take
offense. “That is ok for you, but don’t tell me what to believe!” Listen: We
don’t get to make the rules. God is God. We are not. Jesus said, “I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn
14:6). Is that exclusive? Yes. Is it offensive? To unbelievers it will be,
until God intervenes and opens their heart to the truth.
Read
the book of Acts and you will see how unbelievers responded to the preaching of
the Apostles. In Acts 5:29-33, the religious leaders were “cut to the quick
and intended to slay them…” The ESV translates the scene like this,
…Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God
rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you
killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right
hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy
Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." 33 When
they heard this, they were enraged [literally, “cut to the quick”] and wanted to kill
them… (Acts 5:29-33).
Ok, Peter was pretty direct,
wasn’t he? Even after being threatened and arrested twice, he had to tell
the truth, no matter the cost. This time, they would be beaten and then
released. Later, we see Stephen (Acts 7) and then James martyred (Acts 12).
Ultimately, preaching the truth led to all of them laying down their lives for
the Gospel (except John, who apparently died in exile on Patmos). The last
quarter of the Book of Acts Paul is a prisoner. It strikes me that that is the
same pattern we see in the Gospels, the last quarter or so dedicated to the
final week, the passion week, of Christ. Jesus said “Do not be surprised if
the world hates you, it hated me first” (John 15:18; cf. I John 3:13). The Judaizers
in the Galatian churches wanted no part of such suffering, they were unwilling
to take Christ at his word, and so to take up their cross and follow Him. They
wanted to make the message a little less offensive by requiring the outward
obedience to aspects of the Law. We can be in danger of the same error, if
we are so concerned for cultural sensibilities that we water down the truth. We
can be so “seeker sensitive” that we never tell people they are lost sinners
needing grace!
According to Paul, that attitude amounts to
religious hypocrisy (v.13)—they knew the impossibility of keeping the Law
themselves, and yet were essentially enslaving others. Jesus similarly said in
Matthew 23:2-5,
"The scribes and the Pharisees… bind heavy burdens, hard
to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move
them with one of their fingers. 5 "But all their works they do
to be seen by men.”
The Gospel leaves no room
for boasting in ourselves. God gets all the credit. And the Spirit-led believer
lives for the glory of God not the praise of men.
II. In what can
we BOAST? The believer's only basis for boasting is what Christ has accomplished on
the cross (6:14-16).
14
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts
for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this
rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
“May it never be that I should boast, except…”
God forbid that I boast for any other motive than this… Paul words this as a strong
negative prohibition, God forbid that this should ever happen. No boasting
is warranted, none is justified, if it is focused on my ability or character or
achievements. And the wording makes that emphatic: God forbid “…that I
should boast…” Like the song says, “Not because of what I’ve done, but
because of who you are… because of what you’ve done…” The pronoun here is
in an emphatic position, “May I never boast…” These false
teachers are boasting in their human accomplishments, they are proud of
their rule keeping as a demonstration of their supposed spirituality. Paul is
saying, “As for me, may the only boasting that you hear from my lips be in what
Christ has done on my behalf.”
Galatians has shown us our need for grace.
There is not room for boasting. The paradigm for sin is the famous example of the
boast of the King of Babylon, perhaps also reflecting the rebellion of Lucifer,
in Isaiah 14, “I will make myself like the Most High…” Satan indeed used
that idea as he tempted Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, “…you will be like God…”
No. We need to see ourselves rightly, God is God, we are not! We boast only
in the Cross of Christ. Paul knew the person of the cross-the
crucified and risen Lord. Jesus Christ is mentioned at least 45 times in Galatians-
the heart of the Christian faith is not a religious system, it is a Person, and
a relationship with Him. We don’t convert people to Christianity when we
witness, we introduce them to Jesus. Salvation isn’t found at the end of debate.
It’s God opening a heart to know Him.
Paul also knew the purpose of the
cross – it was not a defeat, but victory, accomplishing redemption, paying a
debt we could not pay. And so He brought into the world a new people of God,
the church, composed of Jew and Gentile, without distinction. He knew as well the
power of the cross – two cross beams, stained with blood, to the world
an object of disgrace and defeat, not only a means of execution, but of
humiliation and scorn. For the Christian it is “Good News” – Paul said in I Cor
1:23-24, “…we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to
the gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called… Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God.” The Cross of Christ, the pivot-point of
salvation history!
The power to free men from the world’s
bondage (14b). I am crucified to the world, it has no power over me. I
am free from bondage. And the world is crucified to me, it is dead to
me. The life I live in the flesh, I live be faith in the Son of God! The
only “life with meaning” is the life lived in Christ, by faith (Eph 2:1-7). It
doesn’t mean we are never influenced by sin, it does mean that we are not under
its dominion!
The power to
do what the flesh cannot do (v.15). “For neither circumcision counts for
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Man needs a new life: we
enter into that life by grace through faith. He used similar language in 2 Cor
5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ — a new creation! Old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I don’t think Paul
is talking about our transformation or sanctification in these verses, but he
is looking to the future, to our sure hope in a new creation – the New
Heavens and the New Earth. In a certain sense, believers, sealed with the Holy
Spirit, who is the down-payment of our inheritance, are already experiencing
the blessings of the age to come!
The power to
bring salvation (v.16). “Peace and Mercy” speak to present salvation, “peace”
speaks of a new, right relationship with God; “mercy,” the forgiving of sins
and setting aside of judgment. “Rule” translates the word “canon,” which refers
to a “measure or standard.” It refers to God’s way, the way of Grace. Because
of what God has done in Christ, the Spirit-led believer lives for the glory of God not the
praise of men. But no one said living by faith in a fallen world would be easy…
III. Have we
counted the COST? There is a price to pay for those who would be a
committed follower of Christ (6:17-18).
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for
I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Jesus said in Mark 8:34,
"If anyone wishes to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Salvation cost us
nothing, Jesus paid it all: “It is finished” = "The debt is
paid." Yet discipleship is a call to radical commitment – “Take up your
cross and follow me!” is about as committed as you can get (cf. Rom 12:1,2)!
In v.17, Paul suffered for his faith. He
could have taken an easier path but chose to follow Jesus. He was beaten,
arrested, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned, and finally, according to tradition,
beheaded. He kept believing, he trusted in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, and Lord. This
is the man who said “God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ…” Grace keeps the focus on Jesus, and grace is Paul’s
final word, “The grace of the Lord be with you all” (v.18).
What is God
saying to me in this passage? Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. The Spirit-led believer lives for the glory of God
not the praise of men. We’ve called this series, “Getting the Gospel right.”
When you do, it changes everything. It is the foundation for our new life, and
it fuels New Creation living, now.
What would God
have me to do in response to this passage? Have you decided to
follow Jesus? If you have recognized the truth about yourself, that you are a
sinner, if you have understood that there is no other way but through Him, if
you believe that He took the wrath of God against sin for you, then you
have understood the Way of Grace. That is how God showed His love among us.
Does that astonish you? Now what? Read the love letter He has given us (the
Bible), ponder every word, and so know Him and love Him. And be ready, because
that love will overflow in a changed heart, a heart set on obedience and
service. You will see the church differently, and you will see the world differently.
When you get this, it changes everything! Amen.
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