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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Galatians chapter six. We're coming to the end of the 
epistle of Paul to the Galatians. We're going to actually break 
up this last section because I don't want to just gloss over 
verse 14, it does require some treatment on its own. So we'll 
just take up verses 11 to 13 tonight in Galatians chapter 
six. I'll begin reading in verse one. 
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are 
spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering 
yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and 
so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself 
to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let 
each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing 
in himself alone and not in another, for each one shall bear his own 
load. Let him who is taught the word 
share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, 
God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that 
he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh 
will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit 
will of the spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary 
while doing good. for in due season we shall reap 
if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, 
let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household 
of faith. See with what large letters I have written to you 
with my own hand. As many as desire to make a good 
showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, 
only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of 
Christ. For not even those who are circumcised 
keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, that 
they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should 
boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For 
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything 
but a new creation. And as many as walk according 
to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them. and upon the Israel 
of God. From now on, let no one trouble 
me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Let 
us pray. Father, thank you for your written 
word and thank you for the Holy Spirit who guides us and who 
instructs us. Thank you for the prophet Christ 
who speaks to his church by his word and by his spirit. We pray 
that you would just cause us now to reflect upon these truths, 
cause us, Father, to receive these things, cause us to examine 
our own heart, our own life, our own place before you, God, 
to make sure we're not holding on to heresy or false doctrine 
or anything that would keep us from you. We pray that you would 
forgive us for all of our sins and our transgression. We thank 
you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. 
We pray that even now you would wash us afresh. in the blood 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his most blessed 
name that we pray. Amen. Well, Paul brings his epistle 
here to the Galatians to a close. And in these last several verses, 
he summarizes essentially the entire contents of the epistle 
itself. As the letter draws to a close, 
the Apostle states, or he demonstrates, rather, this antithesis again 
between the flesh and the spirit, specifically seen in what the 
proponents boast in. The Judaizers, the legalists, 
those who are troubling the churches in southern Galatia, would boast 
in the flesh. Paul, rather, would boast in 
the cross. He would boast in those things 
concerning Christ and Him crucified. That's always a clear indicator 
of where one stands. What do they boast in? Do they 
boast in their accomplishments? Do they boast in what they don't 
do? Do they boast in where they don't go? Do they boast in how 
they've changed? Or do they say with Paul, God 
forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. That is to be the ground of boasting 
that we find ourselves in. Now, tonight I'm going to use 
the word legalist as we consider this particular section, and 
I'm using it strictly. I'm using it in a soteriological 
meaning, somebody who adds words to faith in order to be justified, 
not legalism in the sense that somebody is a little bit different 
than you or I are, so therefore they must be a legalist. No, 
we're using it with reference or as it bears upon the doctrine 
of justification, adding words. to faith in order to be justified 
or accepted by God. Of course, that was the problem 
facing these churches in southern Galatia that Paul has written 
to combat. So tonight I want to do two things. 
First, we'll look at the apostles' large letters, verse 11, try 
to figure out what he means by that. And then secondly, the 
activity of the opposition. That's where we'll spend our 
time this evening, the activity of the opposition in verses 12 
and 13. I just want to read a quote from Ronald Fung's commentary 
on Galatians. He says, before concluding his 
letter, Paul returns once more to the antithesis of cross and 
circumcision, setting them forth this time as representing respectively 
the true and false ground of boasting, and thus carrying a 
stage further his polemic against the Judaizers and their way of 
legal observance. So, if you get that in your mind, 
you'll understand what Paul is doing here as he finishes this 
particular letter to the churches of Galatia. Notice first, he 
says in verse 11, see with what large letters I have written 
to you with my own hand. Now, Paul would use at times 
what's called an amanuensis, basically a secretary, somebody 
that he would dictate to and they would then write down the 
words that the Apostle said here as he brings this particular 
letter to a close. It seems as if he takes pen to 
paper and he is highlighting this reality. See with what large 
letters I have written to you with my own hand. In Romans 16, 
22, we read of a man by the name of who actually penned the epistle. Again, it's the Word of the Spirit, 
ultimately through Paul, but he used this particular man as 
a secretary or an amanuensis in order to actually write down 
the words of Scripture on paper. 1 Corinthians 16, 21, the salutation 
with my own hand. So, up to this point, everything 
had been written by this amanuensis, but here Paul takes pen to paper 
and he writes this specifically. Similar convention is found in 
Colossians 4 at verse 18. Colossians 4.18, this salutation 
by my own hand. Paul, remember my chains. Grace 
be with you. Amen. And then again, in second 
Thessalonians, chapter three and verse 17, the salutation 
of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle. So 
I write. Let me just read the one in Romans 
16, 22 as well, just so you understand that as Paul brings this letter 
to a close, He takes up the pen, not again, not as if this is 
somehow his exact words, or the other stuff isn't as authoritative, 
but I think there's a reason why he specifies what he does 
at the end of Galatians. 1622 in Romans, I, Tertius, who 
wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. So as Paul is closing 
off and signing off, Tertius throws in his particular greeting 
as well. It doesn't affect the doctrine 
of inspiration. Paul wrote by the Spirit. He 
used a particular man or men to pen the actual words on the 
paper. But as he highlights here, the 
large letters, some have speculated that Paul had a problem with 
his eyes. In fact, in Galatians 4.15, he says, when I came to 
you first, you received me as an angel of heaven. If it were 
possible, you would have given me your eyes. So some have speculated 
he writes big letters because he had bad eyesight. If you have 
bad eyesight, the best you can do is write big letters. I don't 
think probably that's what he's going for here, but rather I 
think he's highlighting the importance of the subject matter. Again, 
this summarizes everything that we have found up to this particular 
point. It's Paul's way of signing off 
with a bit of emphasis. It's Paul's way of signing off 
highlighting his apostolic authority, highlighting the fact that he 
has a specific design to turn them away from the false teaching 
of the Judaizers. to turn them away from following 
this path that will ultimately lead to hell. The stakes are 
very high. You don't mingle faith and words 
in order to be accepted by God. If you mingle them together, 
you end up having neither. You either work your way to heaven 
by perfect entire, perpetual obedience, or you bow the knee 
to King Jesus Christ, confess Him as Lord and Savior, and receive 
salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. You are not to mingle. It is 
not to be an addition. It is not to be a little bit 
of Jesus and a little bit of circumcision. A little bit of 
the cross and a little bit of circumcision in order to complete 
the package. No, Paul rather is showing the 
importance and the necessity for them to receive this as apostolic 
injunction so that they will not depart from the truth that 
they had received. Let's look at the activity of 
the opposition under three considerations. First, their goal. Second, their 
motives. And third, their inconsistency. 
Notice their goal. Twice he specifies, verse 12, 
these would compel you to be circumcised. Verse 13, but they 
desire to have you circumcised. That's the goal of the Judaizers. That's kind of an interesting 
thing to consider, isn't it? And why are they putting such 
an emphasis on circumcision? Again, in their mind, as we'll 
see in just a moment, there's particular motives that Paul 
ascribes. But in their mind, they don't believe the work of 
Christ is complete. They don't believe that Jesus 
paid it all. They couldn't sing 690 with us. They couldn't affirm that salvation 
is by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. It is 
the alone aspect of those declarations that set them apart from the 
Judaizers' so-called gospel. It is the alone element in those 
declarations that sets Protestantism apart from Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholics and the Judaizers 
before them affirmed grace. They even affirmed faith. They 
affirmed the cross. They did not look at it, however, 
as the sole foundation upon which their acceptance with God was 
received. That's the difference between 
Protestant theology and every other system. It is by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of 
God alone. It is that alone element that 
sets us apart. It is that alone element that 
Paul highlights. It is that alone element that 
Paul writes Galatians and Romans to set forth and other places 
to be sure. But these men, these Judaizers, 
came to the churches in the southern Galatia region. They said what 
Paul is preaching is good. Jesus is good. Yes, believe Jesus 
or believe on Jesus. That's wonderful. But in order 
to gain acceptance with God, you have to be circumcised. You 
have to subscribe to the ceremonies of Moses. If you don't do that, 
you will not be saved. You can compare this with Acts 
15. That was precisely the issue. 
It was a justification matter. That's why, in the very beginning 
of the letter, Paul comes out of the gate, pronouncing anathema 
upon those who would distort the gospel. You may turn back 
to Galatians 1 and verse 6. Again, this is who he is highlighting, 
those who would compel circumcision, those who desire to have you 
circumcised. Paul says in verse six of Galatians 
1, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called 
you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is 
not another. But there are some who trouble 
you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. There's an agenda 
here, and as we consider their motives, we'll see. It's not 
just ignorance. It's not that they just got it 
a little wrong. I mean, in the matter of sanctification, sometimes 
people do some foolish things. We cut them slack. We bear with 
them. We're gracious to them. We love 
them. We don't cast them out. We don't 
pronounce anathema on them if they do something a little bit 
differently than the way that we approve of when it comes to 
sanctification. You cannot read Paul this way 
in Galatians 1. He is dealing with the doctrine 
of justification. How a sinner is accepted by God. This is what gets him to this 
position where he is pronouncing anathema. It is a different gospel, 
he says, in verse seven, which is not another. But there are 
some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 
But even if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 
to you than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema. 
Let him be a curse. Let him be damned to hell. This 
is the Greek equivalent of the word haram in the Old Testament 
in Hebrew, which means devoted to destruction. Don't miss what 
Paul is saying here. Now, Paul was very long suffering 
toward errors and sanctification, wasn't he? Just read Corinthians. You ever hear people say, we 
need to get back to the early church. Oh, really? Do you see 
what they were doing in Corinth? Paul has to tell them, flee sexual 
immorality. Paul has to condemn the fact 
that the church was arrogant because a man had had his father's 
wife. Paul has to tell them several 
things that are pretty flagrant in terms of what we might deem 
sanctification errors or sins. But all the while, he's gracious. 
He's firm to be sure, but he is not anathematizing them. He 
is not devoting them to destruction. He is not saying, let them be 
under the ban. Paul's attitude here is different 
because the stakes are high. It is our acceptance with God 
via the doctrine of justification. Even if we are an angel from 
heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached 
to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now 
I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than 
what you have received, let him be accursed. Some of us were 
brought up in Roman Catholicism and Bible studies or in discussion. We take a pretty hard tack against 
that religion. Some of you not brought up in 
that system might say, you know, what's the big deal? What's your 
problem with that? Well, isn't the funny hats? It isn't the 
kneeling during certain times in the midst of the session. 
That's not necessarily a good thing. It is this doctrine of 
justification. It is the authority of Scripture. 
It is the abomination of the mass. That ought to provoke in 
our hearts a genuine desire to pronounce their error, to say 
that this is wrong, that this is damning, and if you follow 
that path and the dogma of Rome, you will end in hell. That's 
what Paul is highlighting here in terms of the Judaizing tendency, 
which is similar and duplicated by Rome and various other religious 
approaches. Notice in 2.16, again, he's highlighting 
the aloneness of faith. Knowing that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even 
we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by 
faith in Christ and not by works of the law. For by the works 
of the law, no flesh will be justified. You see, you can't 
miss this with Paul. It is simply irresponsible, it 
is simply not to see and appreciate the gracious character of salvation 
that God conveys to his people when you insist that there is 
a works element in order to be accepted with God. One of the 
heart, one of the hub or essence of the epistle is verse twenty-one. 
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness 
comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Galatians 3.10 
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, 
for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue 
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do 
them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God 
is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is 
not a faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. 
You see, there is a key to interpretation. You subscribe to law as the means 
of acceptance with God. It is all things. It's not your 
best shot. It's not you've tried hard. You 
did the best you could, and for that, God's going to accept you. 
God demands excellence. God demands perfection. God demands 
an obedience that is perpetual. You start to understand that, 
you will see the futility of legalism. You will see just how 
bad it is. God does not grade on a curve. 
God does not say, well, you're you, and you did. You gave it 
a sluggish try. Welcome in. Well done, good and 
faithful servant. He demands excellence. He demands 
perfection. What's he say in the prophet 
Samuel? What's reiterated to us in the 
book of Hebrews? I desire obedience rather than 
sacrifice. You see, someone has to obey. Someone has to do what God demands, 
and that's the glory of the cross. It was Jesus who paid it all. It was Jesus who in His life 
and who in His death satisfied the demands of God. And it's 
by virtue of grace through faith in Him that we receive everlasting 
life. So you see, throughout this epistle, 
the Apostle Paul has been condemning this approach to salvation. He gives that analogy or that 
lesson from Scripture by the two ladies, Hagar and Sarah. He represents or uses them to 
represent two covenants and our approach to God. Then notice 
in chapter five, verse three, he says, I testify again to every 
man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole 
law. So when these Judaizers came 
to the churches of southern Galatia and they said, look, you need 
to be circumcised in order to gain acceptance with God, they 
put themselves under obligation to fulfill the law completely. 
That's a bad place to be if you know anything about yourself. 
Isn't it? How many of you, as Christians, 
as redeemed men and women, keep the law perfectly for a minute? each and every day. Don't raise 
your hand, because we'll have to argue about that. Remember, 
the law is summarized in two main points. Love to God with 
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with 
all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. You really 
do that for one minute out of 24 hours? You're just so caught 
up in the glory of God that your love is going to Him. And anybody 
that gets in your view, you just do good to them. Brethren, we 
have tough times doing it for a minute. We have tough times 
doing it with people we really do love. Right? We really do love our wives and 
our children and our spouses. And sometimes it's a battle to 
treat them kindly and with dignity and with respect. You see, when 
you say, I am going to garner favor with God based on my performance, 
you are saying a mouthful. You are putting yourself under 
obligation. Notice what Paul says. I testify 
again to every man who becomes circumcised, that he is a debtor 
to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from 
Christ. You attempt to be justified by 
law. You have fallen from grace. Contrary 
to popular opinion, this is not a passage that teaches that a 
Christian can lose his salvation. Paul is not shifting into Arminian 
mode here and teaching that there is a genuine fall from grace, 
that you could be a converted man, have a lustful thought, 
get hit by a bus and end up in hell. That is not what this passage 
is teaching. He's talking about the two ways 
of approach to God. It is either through Christ and 
His cross, or it is through the law. If you opt for the law, 
you've fallen from grace. You have turned your back on 
God's provision in Jesus. You see, that's what Paul is 
dealing with in this epistle. So we go back to Galatians 6, 
12 and 13. These would compel you to be 
circumcised. They desire to have you circumcised. 
That is their goal. Notice, secondly, their motives. 
He's got three motives why they do this. If you follow the reading 
this morning in John chapter 10, remember that Jesus speaks 
about the hireling. He speaks about the motivation 
of the religious leaders in Israel. You say, wow, how could Jesus 
and Paul do this? Or maybe only Jesus and Paul 
can do this because they were special servants of God most 
high. How can we judge motives? Well, 
first, I think we need to be very careful. We need to be very 
careful. Especially in the area of sanctification 
with a brother or sister that just may not know better. Don't 
imagine that they are just abandoning the faith. They're horrific people 
and they need your anathema. Just relax. Don't always be so 
earnest to defend the faith in a matter that is a preference 
with a brother or sister. Paul is reading motives into 
the Judaizers because the proof is in the pudding. He knows their 
motives because of their conduct. And he says that their desire 
to compel you to be circumcised means that they want to do three 
things. The first is to make a good showing 
in the flesh. Verse 12a. As many as desire 
to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you 
to be circumcised. Now, flesh here, I don't believe 
we ought to take it in the ethical sense. I think it means rather 
the externals. They want to look good on the 
outside. They want to look good to men. It looks good to have numbers. 
It looks good to have adherence. It looks good when people are 
looking in that we have these external sort of in place. That 
is the extent of the legalist religion. What looks good on 
the outside. Remember, Jesus condemned this 
attitude. They're like whitewashed tubes. They look good on the outside, 
but on the inside they're full of dead man's bones. Well, they're 
like a cup that one takes time to clean the outside. You ever 
do this? You pull something out of the 
dishwasher? Perhaps this is a reason why we ought to hand wash dishes. 
You pull one out, the outside is crystal clear, and then you 
go to treat, and there's a hair in it, and there's some stuck 
on food, and there's something nasty or gross in it. That's 
how Jesus likens the legalist. You take pains to clean the outside. You stand on the street corners 
and announce your long prayers. You sound the trumpet when you 
drop your money into the box. You make sure that everybody 
sees the external, but inside you're full of dead men's bones, 
or inside you're like a filthy cop. That's what these Judaizers 
were all about. Bruce makes this observation. 
He says, whereas Paul was concerned about the spirit's inward work 
in his converts. Isn't that what Paul highlights 
in the fruits of the spirit? Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 
gentleness, faithfulness, self-control against such there is no love. 
Paul wants the inside cleaned up. Paul emphasizes the spiritual, 
not so the Judaizers of the legalist. They emphasize the external. 
Again, Bruce, whereas Paul was concerned about the Spirit's 
inward work in his converts so that Christ should be formed 
in them, the Judaizers' concern was for an external mark, a mark 
produced in the flesh of those whom they could win over to their 
side. John Gill says it this way, these 
were very desirous to carry a good face of things outwardly. of 
appearing outwardly righteous before men, and to be accounted 
so by them, and therefore did all they did to be seen of them 
and gain applause for them." This is a demarcation line between 
true and false religion. True isn't concerned only with 
externals. Now, obviously, you should have 
some concern for externals. The Judaizers of the false religion 
or legalism stops at the external. As long as the outside of the 
cup is clean, it doesn't matter what the inside looks like. As 
long as those tombs are whitewashed, we really don't care that they're 
filled with dead man's bones. See, the Judaizers wanted to 
make a good showing in the flesh. Paul knew that. Paul understood 
that. Paul condemns them for it. Secondly, 
A second motive was to avoid the persecution associated with 
the cross. These would compel you to be 
circumcised, verse 12b, only that they may not suffer persecution 
for the cross of Christ. See, they operated this way. If we preach grace alone through 
faith alone and Christ alone, If we say that it's not necessary 
to get circumcised in order to be accepted with God, we're going 
to have some problems with the Jews. We're going to have some 
problems with our countrymen. They're not going to like this, 
and they're going to persecute us for this. In fact, Paul even 
indicates this in verse 11 of chapter 5. And I'd rather, if 
I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? If I preach circumcision, then 
why am I being persecuted? What's the implication? I'm not 
preaching circumcision, and I am being persecuted. You preach 
of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ 
alone. You stand in the back of a Jewish synagogue, and you're 
going to have men come to you and say, Paul, do you understand 
that if you preach this doctrine, we will conclude that it's okay 
to go out and sin? You see, in Romans 6, Paul has 
to counter that. What shall we say then? Shall 
we continue in sin that grace may abound? Is Paul just making 
up things? I guarantee you Paul heard this 
in the back of the synagogue. Paul, do you realize sola fide? 
Not that they would have known Latin, but justification by faith 
alone will result in license. Men will give no care whatsoever 
to godly living. If you say that our acceptance 
with God is fully and wholly bound up with Jesus Christ, then 
you know what's going to happen? We're going to go out and sin 
so that grace may avow. Paul says, may it never be. He 
gets to the doctrine of sovereign grace and election and predestination 
in Romans chapter 9. He highlights Jacob and Esau, 
who before they did anything, when they were in the womb, God's 
purpose according to election might stand. And then he asks 
this question in Romans 9.14, what shall we say then? Is there 
unrighteousness in God? Why do you think he does that? 
Because when he preached predestination, when he preached sovereign grace, 
when he preached election, he would hear from people, well, 
That must mean there's unrighteousness in God, that he's arbitrary, 
that he's capricious. You see, Paul had been slandered 
viciously. Paul had been persecuted viciously. He highlights this in great detail 
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. The Judaizers saw this, the Judaizers 
understood this, and the Judaizers wanted nothing to do with it. 
You see, Sola Fide in the first century got you in prison. Sola 
Fide in the first century got you hurt. Sola Fide got you out 
in a night and a day shipwreck, or out in the deep rather. Sola 
Fide meant you had to run from your countrymen. You had to run 
from the Gentiles. Sola Fide, faith alone, meant 
serious persecution in the first century. So the Judaizers come 
along and they say, we don't want that. Starting to see a 
pattern, just externals and just what feels good. Give me that 
feel good religion. That's what the Judaizers were 
preaching. Religion that doesn't cost you anything. A religion 
that doesn't affect you. A religion that you can just 
sort of tack on. There's, you know, a myriad of 
applications to the religious ilk in our particular day. This 
idea that Jesus makes us a bit happier. That Jesus is reduced 
to the status of a beverage. Things go better with Jesus. 
No, Jesus came to die and rise again for sinners. The Judaizers 
courted the favor of men. The Judaizers did not want the 
danger associated with Christianity. And more than likely, brethren, 
it was persecution from their own countrymen. Turn over to 
First Thessalonians, chapter two, for a moment. First Thessalonians, 
chapter two. Verse 14, for you, brethren, 
became imitators of the churches of God, which are in Judea, who 
lives in Judea. Jewish people, unbelievers. I'm 
not saying they're persecutors because they're Jews. It's not 
an anti-Semitic statement. It is simply the truth. Unbelieving 
Israel was the first great persecutor of the Church of Christ, traced 
through the Book of Acts. All you have to do is read the 
Book of Acts. You'll see the primary enemy of the church at 
that particular time was the Jewish people. Later on, the 
Roman Empire got increasingly more hostile toward Christians, 
but in the early part of the church, it wasn't Rome, it wasn't 
the Empire. They had a pretty much whatever 
religion you wanted sort of a game, sort of an approach to things. 
You, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God, which 
are in Judea, in Christ Jesus. For you also, notice, suffered 
the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did 
from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their 
own prophets. and have persecuted us, and they 
do not please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to 
speak to the Gentiles, that they may be saved. So, as always, 
to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon 
them to the uttermost." What Paul is referring to with reference 
to the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost is the destruction 
of Jerusalem that would occur in A.D. 70. So he is saying that 
they have filled up the measure of their guilt. God will indeed 
bring vindication to his people. But the point of the passage 
is this unbelieving Jews persecuted the Christian church. So the 
Judaizers thought they found a way out. Well, we can imbibe 
Christ and imbibe the law of Moses and thereby navigate between 
the two groups. We'll be the moderates, right? We don't want to be those rank 
conservatives, and we don't want to be those liberals. We'll be 
the moderates. What happens when you're a moderate? 
You're neither conservative, and you're neither liberal. What 
happens when you're a Judaizer? You're not a Christian, and you're 
not a Jew. You've abandoned central tenets 
to try to navigate and protect yourself. So it's about externalism 
and it's about your own safety, is what Paul says. The persecution, 
or this persecution, the Judaizers want to avoid by striving for 
a compromise between the non-Christian Jewish position of Orthodox Judaism 
and the non-Jewish Christian position of Paul. The cross of 
Christ and the exclusivism it insists upon was an offense to 
the Jews, 1 Corinthians 1.23. It is a scandal. It is a stumbling 
block. They loathe it. They despise 
it because it excluded the principle of salvation by adherence to 
the Mosaic law. Brethren, that's what Paul says 
in Galatians 6, 12 and 13. They want to make a good showing 
in the flesh. They want to avoid the persecution associated with 
the cross. And then the third motive is to boast in the flesh, 
to boast in the flesh. Verse 13b, for not even those 
who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have 
you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. That's an 
interesting statement. The emphasis on numbers and adherence, 
the emphasis on their religious system. I don't want to sound 
crass and I don't want to sound carnal. I suspect it probably 
will. But this is to boast in foreskins. We've gotten 15 people 
to submit. We've got 20 people that have 
taken the plunge. We've got 30 adherents. They 
want to boast in the flesh. They want to boast in what happens 
outside of man. Their boast is not the cross 
where it ought to be. Again, what they are attempting, 
a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of this, excludes Jesus completely. Because if righteousness comes 
through the law, then Christ died in vain. If righteousness 
comes through circumcision, if righteousness comes through this 
particular external right, then Christ died in vain. They're 
boasting. Again, the application to our 
own generation, there is boasting, not in adherence to the cross, 
not in the cross as the ground of acceptance with God. We boast. We boast about how many people 
think the way we do. We boast how many people come 
to our churches. We boast with whatever it is 
that is not consistent with the cross. John Deal said their view 
in bringing persons to submit to circumcision was that they 
might have occasion to glory among the Jews. and to boast 
to them of the numbers of proselytes they brought, and of the service 
they did to Judaism, and so increase their fame and their glory among 
them." Those guys are pretty good. They figured it out. A 
bit of Jesus, a bit of Moses, and we have acceptance with God. 
And they would boast about that. They would parade that fact. 
They would glory in that. You see the sharp adversity? 
You see the sharp contrast set up between Paul and his opponents? Here's what these guys are boasting 
at. They're boasting in skin. Boasting in a rite. They're boasting 
in something that no man ought to boast in. That's when he says, 
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and 
I to the world. It brings into sharp focus the 
entire contents of the epistle. You follow these laws, it will 
end in your demise. You follow these laws and it 
will end in you boasting in circumcision. You follow these laws and it 
will end in you boasting in externals. You follow these laws and it 
will simply be so that you will not be persecuted. You follow 
Christ. You follow Jesus. You glory in 
the cross. The world is crucified to you 
and you to the world. You have everything. Everything 
is yours. You have that abundant life that 
Christ spoke of. with reference to his people. 
So, we've seen their goal, their motives. Thirdly, notice their 
inconsistency. Their inconsistency. For not 
even those, verse 13, who are circumcised keep the law. It's 
a bit of a question. Who are these? Is Paul talking 
about the people that submit to circumcision when the Judaizers 
preached? I think Paul's talking about 
the Judaizers themselves. I don't think he's talking about 
the pupils here. I think he's talking about the 
instructors. He's talking about those preaching circumcision 
as a means of acceptance with God. Notice what goes on. For not even those who are circumcised 
keep the law. That's their inconsistency. Just 
think for a moment, a guy comes up and says, look, you need to 
obey the law in order to be accepted with God. He goes out and he 
doesn't obey the law. Hypocrisy is a necessary byproduct 
of legalism. In a post fall world, Hypocrisy 
is a necessary byproduct in a post-fall world because we cannot obey 
the law perfectly. Everybody understand that? We cannot obey the law perfectly. And that's what God demands. Not even those who are circumcised 
keep the law. The ones who insist on circumcision 
for acceptance with God place themselves under the obligation 
to fulfill the entirety of the law. Galatians 5, 3. We've already seen that. I testify 
again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor 
to keep the whole law. As our confession of faith highlights, 
that obedience is to be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual. You see, those who desire, those 
who compel, those who want you to submit to this as a right 
of acceptance with God, they themselves don't even keep the 
law. Jesus spoke to this in Matthew 
23. He spoke to the multitudes and 
to his disciples, saying the scribes and the Pharisees sit 
in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell 
you to observe, not observe, do observe and do. In other words, 
when they preach to you the law, listen. What does he go on to 
say? Therefore, whatever they tell 
you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according 
to their words, for they say and do not do. This, my beloved 
brethren, is a necessary byproduct in legalism. Hypocrisy. If you go out and boast and say, 
look, to everybody in your workplace, I'm the best law keeper there 
is. It's going to take them about a second to say, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Maybe before you 
got up this morning, but from there it's been all downhill. 
All right? You ever seen that little sign, 
that little cute saying that says, you know, this, this, this, 
this, and then I got up. Everything went downhill. You 
can't do it. You see, by the deeds of the 
law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. We need to accept 
that as a given. That's axiomatic in Christianity. 
We've broken the law. The ones who insist on circumcision 
do not keep the law. The commitment to the law espoused 
by these men is a sham, as it must be in a post-fall world. It's a sham. Now, you might meet people that 
do a little better at things than others. You might meet people 
that do pay their taxes on time, that do cut their grass, that 
are upright, nice-standing citizens in the community. You know, Christian 
good work has to be rooted in a desire to please God. Most, 
well, non-Christians don't have that. So Paul indicts them. Paul highlights their inconsistency 
after having set forth their motives and setting forth their 
goal. That sets the stage for the contrast 
of verses 14 and following as he brings this particular epistle 
to a close. I hope that you will in fact 
appreciate what I cited from Ronald Fong at the outset. Before 
concluding his letter, Paul returns once more to the antithesis of 
cross and circumcision, setting them forth this time as representing 
respectively the true and the false ground of boasting, and 
thus carrying a stage further his polemic against the Judaizers 
and their way of legal observance. So in conclusion, the focus of 
legalism is all wrong. The focus of legalism is on the 
external. The focus of legalism is to keep 
the heat off of oneself. The focus of legalism is on boasting 
in the flesh, not in the cross, not in the finished work of Messiah. 
The legalist can't take the hymn book and sing praises to God 
for a salvation that is by grace alone, through faith alone, in 
Christ alone. He really ought to be consistent 
and write his own hymnal that praises him, that celebrates 
him, that affords congratulations to him for his wonderful law 
keeping. You see, Paul highlights the 
motivation here. What drives this? What causes 
a man to insist upon acceptance with God by a law? Well, these 
are the things. Secondly, the futility of legalism. The cross of Christ is set forth 
as the antithesis to legalism. These would compel you to be 
circumcised only that they may not suffer persecution. What? For the cross of Christ. The 
futility, brethren, it's either the cross of Christ or circumcision 
in the law. There's no take a little bit 
of this and a little bit of that. You mingle law, you mingle grace, 
you end up with neither. Please remember that. The Bible 
teaches law, gospel. The Bible teaches law, grace. 
The Bible does keep them separate. mingling them as the Judaizers 
do, or as the Romanists do, or as others do. It's not just them. 
When you mingle those two concepts, you end up with neither. You 
have an approach to God that isn't solely on law. You have 
an approach to God that isn't solely on grace. You've created 
this monster in an attempt to approach the throne of God. Thirdly, 
the folly of legalism. Legalism, as I said, is an impossibility 
in a post-fall world. That means after the fall. In Adam, we all die. Every single 
one of us. Man was created upright, according 
to Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7.29, but they have sought out many 
devices. The carnal mind, Paul says in 
Romans 8, is at enmity with God. It cannot please God. John 6, 
44. No one can come to me unless 
the Father who sent me draws him. You see, the picture is 
bleak. Romans 1, 18. For the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The picture that is presented 
to us concerning man in sin is a very dark one. It is a very 
bleak one. And by virtue of that reality 
in the post fall world that we live in, we can never, ever, 
ever earn our acceptance with God most high. And then fourthly, 
and finally, the contrast must be seen here, the opposition 
between circumcision and the cross. Do you love the way Paul 
uses the language, the cross of Christ? Christians know what that means, 
don't they? The cross of Christ. That's a world of theology, isn't 
it? The message of the cross, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, 
is foolishness to those who are perishing. That's shorthand. The cross stands for the redemptive 
plan of God. The cross is about the life and 
the death and the resurrection of Jesus. The cross is about 
him. It focuses upon his active obedience 
and his passive obedience and our acceptance with God, which 
is grounded upon and founded upon and based upon that. So 
you see, there's one of two ways to approach God. It is either 
in your own strength. in your own words, in your own 
law keeping. Now remember, it must be personal, 
it must be entire, it must be exact, and it must be perpetual. I hope that you will see your 
great need for Jesus. I hope that you will see how 
much you stand in need of the blood of Christ. As Christians, 
we ought to boast in the cross of Christ. As Christians, we 
ought to glory in the cross of Christ. As Christians, we ought 
to proclaim the cross of Christ. As Christians, we ought to delight 
in the cross of Christ. If you are not a Christian here 
tonight, the one way of hope for you is in the cross of Christ. Believe on Jesus. The Bible says, 
and you will be saved. Do not try to go out in your 
own strength, because you cannot, in a post-fallen world, render 
up personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. And brethren, 
in a pre-fallen world, Adam didn't do it either. It wasn't just the post-fall 
world we've got problems with, it was in the pre-fall world. 
You know how the Bible likens Jesus, or the Bible tells us 
that Jesus is the second Adam, the last Adam? The New Testament 
links Jesus with Adam, as it does link Jesus with Israel. 
Consider Jesus tempted in the wilderness, forty days without 
food. The devil, right upon him. Giving 
him temptation after temptation after temptation. And he withstands. He resists. He takes the sword 
of the Spirit. He takes Deuteronomy and he slashes 
at that devil. Where was Adam? He was in a garden 
paradise of all of the trees in the garden. You may freely 
eat. Enjoy yourself, Adam. Delight 
yourself, Adam, except for that one tree. The tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil. And he failed. He plunged the 
race into sin. So even in a pre-fall world, 
man did not engage in personal, entire, exact, and perpetual 
obedience. The take-home message? You need 
Jesus Christ. You need him to save you. You 
need him to wash you. You need him to cleanse you. 
You need him to do all that you are unable to do. Well, let us 
pray. Father, thank you for your Word 
and thank you for this last few verses in the book of Galatians. 
Thank you for these summaries. Thank you for the way that Paul 
sets forth his case once again as he demonstrates the difference 
in what men boast of. God, I pray that we as your people 
would glory in the cross and in that alone, that we would 
not glory in what we've accomplished or what we've done. For God, 
we confess our sin. We confess our unrighteousness. 
We confess our our lack of obedience to your holy law. We pray, Father, 
for those who do not know you, that you would reach down in 
mercy and in grace and save them. We pray of your will, by the 
word of truth, you would bring forth sinners, even tonight, 
and that you would do this for your glory's sake. Go with us 
now and watch over us. Again, we pray for all those 
traveling in the coming weeks. We pray that you would just provide 
mercies to them. We pray that you would watch 
over them. We pray that you would bring us together on the Lord's 
Day next week to celebrate and to rejoice in Christ our Lord 
and our Father. We just commit ourselves to you 
now and to your great grace. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.