to participating in the Lord's Table. Galatians chapter 6, our focus will be verses 14 and 15, the object of Christian boasting. But I will read beginning in chapter 6 at verse 1. 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. 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. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we pray now again for the ministry of Your Spirit, that You would illumine our minds and our hearts and that You would feed our souls.
We are Your sheep and we need the Word of God, and we pray that You would supply it to us in abundance. We ask as well that as we participate in the supper tonight, the Lord Christ would be real and present in our minds and in our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for these means that you've ordained, for your glory and for our well-being. And may these things cause us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction: Occasion of Galatians
Well, just a bit of a reminder about the book of Galatians as a whole. It's one of the earliest letters in the New Testament, certainly the earliest letter. that the Apostle Paul had penned. Perhaps James was written a little bit earlier than Galatians, but Galatians is certainly right up there in the top two or three in terms of early letters. And basically what occasioned this was that after the first missionary journey, Paul visited several churches in Pisidian Antioch, in Iconium, Lystra, and in Derbe.
And then Paul, after he had departed from those churches or from those regions, subsequent to his visit, men would come to those churches and they would undo the very work that Paul had established. Specifically, they would do this by trying to attach obedience to the Mosaic law as a condition for salvation. In other words, the Apostle Paul went and he preached the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Belief on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
He details this right here in this epistle in Galatians chapter 2 for just one instance. Well, these men that came along after him, they were called Judaizers. And these Judaizers said, yes, it's good that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They weren't denying this.
We need to understand, there isn't really a strictly works righteousness taught in this section. It was a mingling of faith plus works. This is the air of Roman Catholicism. This is the air of several in our day.
They're not teaching strictly works. Well, we'll just work our way into heaven. Now that's certainly a position out there, but typically it doesn't find any truck whatsoever in the Church of Christ. It is this mingling, it is this supplementing, it is this adding to.
So the Judaizers came along and said, believe on the Lord Jesus, plus you need to obey the Mosaic Law, specifically the ceremonies of Moses, and very specifically, you need to be circumcised. You can't actually call yourself a child of God if you haven't first become Jewish, at least in those outward tokens, and then you can claim privilege and right and all that sort of thing. So Paul pens this letter. This explains why in chapter 1 at verse 6 he comes out of the gate swinging.
He doesn't spend time with a lengthy introduction. He doesn't spend time rehearsing or recounting his time with them. He gives them a brief greeting and then he gets right to the point in Galatians 1.6. 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.
But even if we or 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. This is the occasion when we seek or strive or attempt to add or mingle works plus faith in order to get saved. That is a denial of the Christian message.
That is a denial and a rejection of the grace of God. Paul indicates this again very clearly in chapter 2. Notice what he says in verse 20. He says, I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. And then notice verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." It is never legitimate, it is never appropriate, it is never the case whereby we can mingle some of our supposed good works with faith in Christ, and that earns us a salvation.
It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We simply cannot engage in entire, perpetual, and perfect obedience to the Law of God, which is absolutely necessary in order to garner favor from Him. So that's the occasion of the Epistle. These are Paul's sparring partners.
They are the Judaizers. They are men who have come along and sought to upbraid the work of the Apostle by adding works to faith. So back to chapter 6, we see this is the closing section, and in verses 14 and 15, very specifically, he sort of summarizes the entirety of the letter in these two blessed statements. 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.
Sermon Outline Announced
I want to look at four things in these two verses. First, the contrast between Paul and the Judaizers. Secondly, the object of boasting that is in view. Thirdly, the effect of the cross.
Paul spells that out. He says that the world had been crucified to him and he had been crucified to the world. And then fourthly, a theological summary is how I see verse 15 functioning.
Paul Contrasted with the Judaizers
But note first the contrast. He indicates something of the Judaizers' motivation. What drives these men? In fact, if you look back at Galatians 1, when he pronounces that condemnation, he says there are those who want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
How did they pervert the gospel of Christ? By adding works to faith in order to be justified. Notice what he says here in Galatians chapter 6, verse 12a. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised.
There is that fleshly desire perhaps in numbers. There is that fleshly desire perhaps in spreading our particular commitment. There is that fleshly desire in perhaps getting people to side with us in a particular cause. In this instance, it's the ceremonies of Moses.
In this instance, it's the law of circumcision. And they have this desire to make a good showing in the flesh. Again, the idea might be numbers. It might be the actual counting of how many people got circumcised as a result of their preaching and their teaching.
Not uncommon to what we see today. There's a lot of boasting in numbers. There's a lot of decisionism that is going on out there. And there's a lot of pastors or ministers or evangelists seeking to take credit for how many decisions they've gotten.
Now, if it's decisions in our day, I don't mean to be crass, but in the context, this is probably what's in view, it's foreskins. Counting, multiplying, and extolling how many people had been circumcised under their influence. It's a terrible thing. We ought not to let fleshly things, or making a good showing in the flesh, be that which drives us.
We ought to be a humble people. We ought to give glory to God. We ought to pursue His honor, and His praise, and His exaltation. These Judaizers sought to strip a little bit of the glory away from God unto themselves, and Paul highlights that.
He indicates that very clearly. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised. As well, these men chose this particular route to avoid persecution. Notice what it says, what he continues to say in verse 12.
Only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. You say, well how does that happen? Remember the context. Remember the historical situation.
It was Israel as a people. It was Judaism as a religion. Christ came and a bulk of the people rejected Him. They did not believe that He was the Messiah.
And then you had those who received Him and believed on Him and started to follow Him. What did those who reject him think of those who received him? They despised them. When you read the book of Acts, the first chief persecution that comes upon the Church of Jesus Christ is not via the Roman Empire.
It is unbelieving Israel that is chasing down the apostles, that is scourging the apostles, that is imprisoning the apostles. They didn't receive them favorably. They didn't say, well, that's good for you. It's just not good for us.
And so these Judaizers are trying to navigate sort of this middle position. If we say faith in Jesus, then we have it good with the believers. If we maintain circumcision, that will keep the Jews off our backs. The whole endgame, as far as these men were concerned, is that they themselves would not be persecuted.
Paul's Scars and the Cost of the Cross
There's a beautiful illustration, actually it's not a beautiful illustration, it's quite a grisly illustration of persecution in this letter that occurred to the Apostle Paul. Look at how he ends the particular letter. Verse 16, 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.
What does he mean there? Go back for just a moment to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. This is commentary. This is interpretation.
This is a passage we can lay side by side with the one in Galatians to see what Paul means. What does he mean? I bear in my body the marks or literally the brand marks of the Lord Jesus. Notice in 2nd Corinthians 11-12.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they... I'm sorry, 22.
Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more in labors more abundant in stripes above measure. What are stripes?
I think it was my children. No, it wasn't my children. It was somebody in our church. Maybe it was, it wasn't Mr.
Lutain, but he talks about my haircuts a lot. Somebody said I should get the Nike swoosh or get some sort of a, you know, when I get my hair buzzed, you know, get some stripe or, you know, eagle's wings or something on the side of my melon. You know, stripes in our context are not what stripes were in Paul's. Stripes in Paul's context were from a whip.
Stripes from Paul's contacts meant that they lifted his shirt off of him, and they took a scourge, and they opened up his back. So that when he says, from now on, let no one trouble me to the Galatians, for I bare in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, he's talking about those wounds. He's talking about those scars. He's talking about what he had received from following the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Judaizers didn't want that. You see, men who are false in their profession, men who are false in their religion, men who are seeking to boast in numbers or boast in money or gather praise, are not the kind of men that are going to suffer for the cause of Christ. It is those and those only who, by God's grace, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is those and those only who, by God's grace, heed His call, come and die.
It is those who, by God's grace, take up their cross daily and they follow Him. Notice what he goes on to say, "...and stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often." From the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes, minus one. Five times, on five occasions, he received 39 lashes with a whip. Do we ever ponder that?
Do we ever consider that? Do we ever contemplate that reality? This is the chief apostle to the Gentiles, the man, at least humanly speaking, we can direct our conversion back to. It is because Christ saved him and commissioned him to go to the Gentiles, the bulk of which is us.
We happen to be Gentiles. It is by God's grace, because of the missionary and apostolic labors of this man that we stand here redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Look at what he got from the Jews. Five times I received 40 stripes minus one.
This is stipulated in the law. You cannot exceed 40 lashes. You cannot exceed 40 lashes, so what would they do? Do it at 39.
We don't want to go over the number. Well, why don't we just give him 40? Go to 39 in case we have a miscount. We don't want to go over because God abominates that sort of thing. 39 strikes with a whip.
It's a lot on five occasions. He says, three times I was beaten with rods. Probably a reference to the Roman practice. Now, I don't believe that the Romans cared one whit about the law of Moses. convinced whatsoever that they had any threshold or any number or any particular target that they would keep in mind with reference to beating this man.
Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides the other things, besides all that, What comes upon me daily, my deep concern for the churches. You see, the Judaizers want no part of this. They want to avoid persecution.
They don't want to suffer persecution. They don't want to engage in the sorts of things that are indicative of the true man of God. There's a big contrast working in this section.
Paul's Religious Pedigree Counted Loss
And then, with reference to Paul, again, contrast. The Apostle Paul himself had been a very religiously accomplished man. We can go back to Philippians, or go forward to Philippians chapter 3 for just a moment. Philippians chapter 3, in verse 1.
For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. This is the same enemy, the same theological opponent. He's not talking about canines, he's not talking about your neighbor's dog, he's not talking about Fido next door that's going to put his teeth into your back.
Dogs, in this context, are men who come and tamper with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's actually a bit of a play on words because the Jews looked at the Gentiles as dogs. Paul, writing to a Gentile church that had come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, now refers to these Judaizers. Not Jews, not Israelites, but as these men who would come and twist and distort the gospel.
These are dogs, he says. Beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. You see, that's the end result. When someone gets circumcised in an attempt to garner favor with God, it's just mutilation.
That's all it is. There is no redemptive value whatsoever in going through this particular rite. Now notice what he goes on to say, for we are the circumcision. Talking again to a Gentile church, but in Christ they have been circumcised by Christ, that circumcision made without hands, in their hearts. who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so." You see, he's speaking here in the terminology of man. He says, if there's anybody that has ever lived that could endear himself to God by his works, it'd be Paul. You think you're good, is what he's saying? Here's what I've tallied up.
You think you've accomplished a lot religiously? Here's what I've done. He's not boasting like the Judaizers. He's boasting in a way that is an ad absurdum.
He is showing the absurdity of the situation. If it could be the case that someone could earn their salvation, it would be the man who had this sort of pedigree. Look at what he says. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh.
He says, "...I more so circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ." You see, the Judaizers couldn't say this. The Judaizers wanted to make a good showing in the flesh. The Judaizers wanted to boast about the number of converts that they had gotten.
The Judaizers wanted to make sure that they didn't suffer any persecution for the cause of Jesus Christ. You see the contrast. The Apostle Paul loses everything that at one time was valuable to him, because now he has Christ. The Judaizers want a bit of Christ, but they want to hold on to everything else.
That's not the way it works. He says, "...what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ, yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ." You see, sometimes people come to Christ and we say, what a big sacrifice you've made. Oh, I was the CEO of a big company, and because of my commitment to the Lord Jesus, I had to give all that up. We say, rah, rah, rah, isn't that wonderful?
You're such a sterling example of a believer. And I'm not suggesting that he's not a good example of a believer. But what does Paul say? I lost everything.
But instead of saying, look at me, I lost everything, I counted as rubbish on this side of the cross. I count it as dung. I count it as that which is fit and worthy to be thrown to the dogs. It has no allurement.
It has no sway over my heart anymore. This is radical conversion. This is coming to Christ. This is what it is to lay hold of Him by faith.
This is what it is to be that sort of disciple described by Jesus at the end of Matthew 16. Come and die! Not come and pick and choose and do a little bit and go a little bit and do a little bit. No, it's Christ or it's nothing.
This is the great lesson of our Bibles. He is altogether lovely. He is chief among 10,000. He is infinitely worthy of us to follow Him wherever He bids us go.
The Judaizers had nothing of that. Paul has all of that. There is a stark contrast. He boasted, he gloried still, but it wasn't in his accomplishments, it was in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Object of Christian Boasting
That brings us to the object of boasting back in Galatians 6. He says, but God forbid that I should boast. This on the heels of verse 13. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
They don't keep the law. Why, you say? Because it's impossible to keep the law. Does everybody get that?
Do you understand that God made man upright, but we've sought out many devices, and that we do not keep the law the way that we're supposed to? In the language of our confession of faith, law-keeping must be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Not just our confession, but the Bible teaches, if you want to approach God, in your own strength, in your own flesh, and by your own accomplishment, then your keeping of the law must be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Look at Galatians 5 verse 3 for just a moment.
I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You see, it's not just faith and circumcision. When you say yes to circumcision, when you take on that obligation of law-keeping as the means of accomplishment, then it is the entirety of the law. This is why Paul can say in verse 13, For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, They may have received the outward sign, they may have received the outward token, they may have that national badge of identification with the nation of Israel, but they don't keep the law.
There's nothing in them about that. And yet, all the while, they're boasting. All the while, they glory in the flesh. All the while, they are seeking to take credit for themselves.
This is the context of verse 14. But God forbid that I should boast. Paul says, I'm not going to do that. It's a great lesson here on humility.
You need to not boast. Now Paul boasts here in Christ. He also does boast of churches. He boasts of churches.
He says the churches of Macedonia gave liberally. They gave beyond their means. He is not against praising in a righteous way the people of God. Again, context.
Sometimes people say, well, no boasting and no praising others. Well, what do you men do with Proverbs 31? Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. If you brothers can't tell your wives that because you don't want to puff them up, get over it.
They might need a little bit of a bone in the arm, a shot in the arm once in a while. Paul boasted about the churches that were doing what they were supposed to be doing. That's not the context here so we'll focus on what he does say. 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.
Glorying in the Cross, Not Relics
Gill says, he gloried in Christ as crucified and in his cross, not in the wood of the cross. We studied a little bit this morning, we looked at a little bit some of the problems associated with Roman Catholicism. Certainly the papacy is one of the chief problems, but there is a commitment to relics and a commitment to pieces of objects and and a collection of these sorts of holy objects that somehow convey blessing or help or whatever to the people. It's not the relic.
It's not the piece of the cross as Gil says. But in the effects of his crucifixion In the peace, pardon, righteousness, life, salvation, and eternal joy which come through the death of the cross, he gloried in Christ as his wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That's what we should boast in.
God Designed the Gospel Against Self-Glory
I think that Gil has in the backdrop of his mind 1 Corinthians 1, you may turn there, just so you can see this God-sanctioned boasting. Do not be a man or woman who praises himself, especially in front of others. Be a man or a woman who praises God, who boasts of Christ and his accomplishment. Notice in 1 Corinthians 1.26, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise, according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised. God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. You see, God designed the gospel in such a way that self-congratulations are not an option. God designed the gospel in such a way that self-applause is not an option.
God designed the gospel in such a way that we are devoid of any credit or any contribution or any part in the salvation that we enjoy. This is his point. It is designed this way that no flesh should glory in his presence." Now notice what he goes on to say in verse 30, "...but of him you are in Christ Jesus." It's not of you that you are in Christ Jesus. It's not of your wisdom that you are in Christ Jesus.
It's not because of your works that you are in Christ Jesus. You've been sovereignly deposited into Christ Jesus by the work of God Most High. Talk about a text that teaches sovereign grace. Why are we in Christ?
Why are we celebrating the supper tonight? Why do we gather together on the Sabbath day to praise our God? Because of Him who put us in Christ. It's not because of us who accomplished a particular work or a good deed or a series of good deeds that commended ourselves to God, but of Him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that as it is written he who glories let him glory in the Lord.
You see, God calls us to boast. God calls us to glory. He just calls us to glory and boast in Him and in His beloved Son and not in ourselves.
Boasting in God Across Scripture
Turn back to the prophet Ezekiel for just a moment. This is a recurring theme, a recurring thought throughout scripture, that when God saves sinners, the glory, the praise, the honor, and the exaltation do not belong to the sinner that's saved. It belongs to the God who saved the sinner. Notice in Ezekiel 36 at verse 22, say to the House of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O House of Israel, remember 36 is the promise of the New Covenant, but for my holy name's sake. which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
And I will sanctify my great name which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes." Consistent with what Paul says, In contrast to the Judaizers who want to boast in the flesh, Paul says, God forbid, may it never be the case that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. On a real personal and practical level, Besides praising your wife for doing a good thing, and that's not boasting in your own flesh, we ought to really consider what Paul says. God forbid that I should boast. Yes, I am the best at such and such.
Wait a minute, maybe I ought not to boast in that. Let another man's lips praise you, and not your own, Solomon says. Don't be that guy either. Oh, aren't I excellent at this?
Aren't I wonderful at this? If you really are, everybody sees it. You don't need to congratulate yourself. This is a great means, a great text.
I'm pulling it way out of the context, but certainly there's an application here. Let us not glory in ourselves. God forbid it, Paul says. God forbid it that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Cross as Theological Shorthand
This refers to the atonement. The cross is theological shorthand for all that God and Christ has accomplished on the part of his people. Right in the book of Galatians we see several references to the atonement. Notice in chapter 1 at verse 3.
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. You see, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the atoning work.
It is the sacrificial work. It is the death at Calvary. It is substitutionary curse bearing. It is Him taking our place. and bearing the wrath and punishment and curse of God.
It is Him going into the grave on our behalf. It is Him rising again for our justification. That's what we ought to boast in. That's what we ought to glory in.
That's what we ought to rejoice in. Somebody says, what kind of a day are you having? Well, everything's pretty pathetic. but I'm glorying in my Lord." You see, this is the perspective we need to adopt. We saw on Wednesday night something of Naomi.
She certainly understood the sovereignty of God. She certainly understood that the bitter providences that she was made to taste were from the Lord. But several times along the way there were benefits and blessings and boons. God gave her a roof.
And instead of praising God for Ruth and glorying in the Lord, all she could say was, don't call me pleasant, but rather call me bitter. Again, her theology was straight in terms of God's sovereignty and the various issues that plagued her, but there is a weakness, at least on her behalf, in extolling the goodness of God, that he restores bread to the house of bread, that he gave her a Ruth to stand by her and to be her friend and companion. This woman needed to boast in the glory of our God. In Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16, again, Paul rehearsing the cross.
These are means, these are things, these are issues or items that we ought to consider so that we likewise will boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus. He delivers us from this present evil age. Galatians 1.4. Notice in Galatians 2.16, 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 the works of the law for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Is that a good thing to glory in the Lord concerning? Absolutely. Why are you accepted with God?
Because Jesus paid it all. Jesus went to the cross on my behalf. God forbid that I should boast in my accomplishments, but God forbid that I don't boast in my Savior's accomplishments. That's Paul's point. and Galatians 6.14.
It summarizes the entire difference or contrast between the Judaizers and between the Apostle. Notice in 3.13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, if we contemplate Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, perhaps we'll glorify and boast in Jesus, rather than complain and grumble and whine and moan all the time.
The Apostle is clear in Philippians 2.16, do all things without grumbling and disputing. How many times is grumbling and disputing the stuff that pours forth from our mouths? Again, Solomon says in the Proverbs, the heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. Brethren, perhaps we need to study, reflect upon the glory of the cross so that when our mouths open, glory comes to Him. instead of a rehearsal of just how bad everything is in our hearts and in our lives.
Again, I'm not minimizing the place where brothers communicate to brothers, pray for me, I'm struggling, I'm down, whatever. But as a general rule, if we dispute, grumble, and complain and whine, More than we boast in our Lord Jesus Christ, there's some problems in our souls. Galatians 4, 4 and 5, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. You see, when he says, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is speaking of the atonement and he is speaking of the efficacy of it.
It's not just out there, it is not just activated by anyone who has an interest, it is effectual by God's grace and it is applied to those whom the Father has chosen.
The Effect of the Cross
The effect of the cross, thirdly, Paul says, by whom the world has been crucified to me. by whom the world has been crucified to me. I no longer look at the world the way that I once did." This is true of the believer, isn't it? We no longer look at the world as we once did. We may struggle, there may be temptations, there may be a step backward from time to time, but there is a difference, a stark difference, between the way we once looked at this world and the way that we presently look at this world in Christ Jesus.
It's interesting, within the epistle we see the pleasures of the world condemned. chapter 5, verses 19 to 21, the works of the flesh, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You see, the believer looks at things differently now, doesn't he? The believer ought to be able to say, through whom the world has been crucified to me. It no longer holds out that allurement.
It no longer invites me to participate. I mean, it does, but by God's grace, I'm able to resist it. I'm no longer a lack of self-control loving man that just follows his lusts and his flesh wherever they bid him. You know, this goes in another direction as well.
It's easy to see worldliness in chapter 5 verses 19 to 21, isn't it? It's easy to see that. I mean, we read that and say, that's the world, isn't it? But isn't self-righteousness worldly?
Isn't an attempt to garner favor with God by our works worldly? It's a little more difficult to spot that because it comes under the guise of a piety. Well, I read the Bible, or I pray, or I go to church, or I attend a Bible study. I do all these things.
Worldliness is as worldly when it shows up in a suit and a tie holding a New King James Bible and a confession of faith. If it's opposed to Christ, if it's an attempt to work our way unto God, that's worldly. That's in opposition to Christ's Kingdom. In fact, Calvin explains it this way.
What is the meaning of the world? It is unquestionably contrasted with the new creature. Whatever is opposed to the spiritual kingdom of Christ is the world. Is works righteousness opposed to the spiritual kingdom of Christ?
Yes, it is. If you've listened to anything over the last 35 minutes, I hope you gather that and you would agree with that. An attempt to work our way into favor with God that He has not sanctioned, that He has not provided, that He has not decreed, that He has not put in place. Calvin goes on to say, because it belongs to the old man.
Or in a word, the world is the object and the aim of the old man. You see, it's not just those works of the flesh in 5.19-21. It's also the religious work of the flesh that seeks to gain a favor with God based on works.
Warning Against Religious Worldliness
Now may I just encourage the young people and the children that this might be something, and I'm not saying certainly, but this might be something that you need to pay close heed to, because you're brought up in the church. You have a New King James Bible. You have a Confession of Faith. You have the mechanical pencil.
You dress up on Sunday. You go through a certain degree of motions, and you might start to rely upon those things. That's worldly. That's in opposition to the spiritual kingdom of Christ.
The only one, the only thing, the only person you should rely on is not what you're doing, it is about what Christ has done. That's why whenever I stand up here, or Pastor Porter stands up here, That's why, hopefully, whenever your parents talk to you about the Scripture, they press upon you the claims of Christ, the necessity to flee to Christ, the absolute crucialness of being in Jesus. This is something. And again, I'm not saying it's going to happen.
But when you're brought up in an environment, your parents seek to put parameters and strictures in place, and they seek by the grace of God to direct you and to bring the law of God to bear upon you and cite Ephesians 6 to you. I mean, I hope you kids know Ephesians 6. I hope your parents say, children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. That's what your parents ought to do.
They ought to bring you up in the training and admonition of the Lord. but as well they ought to make sure they preach the gospel to you because that law is something that will ultimately crush you because you can't do it. Perfectly. Perpetually. Exactly.
You see, this is a peculiar sin that is symptomatic of religious people. It's every bit as worldly as the crack dealer that's downtown. It's every bit as worldly because it stands in opposition to the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. There's only one way to enter that spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
I hope you hear that to the place where you dream about it. Grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
That's everything. There might be another direction involved in this statement as well. God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me. In the sense that the Apostle has been dealing in covenantal categories, specifically in chapters three and four.
Might have the idea of the old world connected with the old man is now crucified. Paul and all believers are new creatures. and they're part of the new creation. Isn't this the teaching and the emphasis of the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 5.17? He says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Paul, based on the virtue of Christ's cross, The world as a system, the world as a whole has been crucified to Him. Why?
Because old man Paul has been crucified. He no longer sees things the same way. He no longer desires things the same way. He no longer wants the same things.
At one time that religious pedigree was very, very soothing to the Apostle. We read that in Philippians chapter 3. You think he just drummed that up? I'm sure he rehearsed that at some point in his unconverted life.
Are you taking offense with me? I'm a Jew. I'm circumcised the eighth day. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.
I'm an Israelite. It's under the law of the Pharisee. Those things were special to him. Those things were blessings to him.
Those things were accomplishments that he held dearly on to. Now he says, I count them rubbish. I count them donk. Old man Paul liked old things.
New man Paul, everything is new in Christ Jesus. He is now a part of the new creation. And then he says that he is crucified to the world. by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." I've said, he got five times the whip, 39 lashes. Who gave that to him?
Men at one time who would have prized the Apostle as a Benjamite, as a Pharisee. You don't whip Pharisees in first century Israel. You just don't do that. So as far as the world was concerned, one of their own was gone now.
As far as the world was concerned, one of their own had become a traitor. As far as the world was concerned, he is fit for whipping, he is fit for persecution, he is fit for imprisonment. You see what the cross of Christ cost Paul? Nothing.
Nothing in terms of things that are actually important. Rubbish. but something in terms of his own physical comforts, in terms of his own physical safety, in terms of his own physical security. It's a blessed statement and truly this is the trajectory of salvation. God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus by whom the world has been crucified to me.
We don't look at it the same way. they ought not to look at us the same way either. We are no longer on their team. We are no longer part and parcel of that system. We are no longer those committed to the works of the flesh in 519 to 521.
We are those who are no longer committed to this feeble approach to try to earn our favor with God Most High.
Theological Summary: New Creation
And then the theological summary in verse 15 deals well with the entirety of the context for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything." Isn't that a great statement? What do the Judaizers want? They want you to get circumcised. That's just strange to me, but I guess stranger things have happened.
What's he saying? For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. If you're in Christ, that external work in your body does not avail anything. It doesn't make you more saved.
It doesn't make you more favored by God. It doesn't get you closer to the throne. It's not like when we get to heaven, there's going to be, you know, all the people outside that are, you know, they're believers, or they're in Christ Jesus, because that's what he says, but they're uncircumcised, so they're far away from the throne. but the circumcised, they're going to be surrounding the throne right before the Lamb. That's not anything.
This is what Paul says. It doesn't matter whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised. He's talking spiritually. He's talking religiously.
He's not talking about benefits and physical and health and the medical profession and all that. You say, well I read an article that circumcision doesn't do that. That's not his point. Circumcision religiously, circumcision spiritually does not matter.
Uncircumcision, spiritually, doesn't matter. Still go to heaven. Gentiles, who by God's grace are in Christ Jesus, are going to go to heaven. What is absolutely imperative, what is of the utmost concern, is a new creation.
You see, the only way that world is crucified to you, the only way that you're crucified to it, is by the regenerating power of God Most High, effectively working by His Spirit, applying the benefits of Christ's cross work to you, and bringing you to that place where you say, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." So it's not the physical, it is rather the spiritual that God does.
Application: What Do You Boast In?
So brethren, in summary, everyone boasts about something. You might be good at something and you might take a bit of pleasure in saying, yeah, I'm good at that. Now, I'm just speaking generically. If somebody says you're good at something, don't say, oh, I'm not.
I'm terrible. That's not true either. If you're actually good at it, you can say thank you. You don't say, I'm a miserable worm and I'm really not good at baseball.
I just watched you hit five home runs in a game. That's good. No it isn't. I'm terrible.
There's a pseudo-piety involved there and that's not good. I'm the most miserable specimen on the face of the earth. That's boasting another way and that's not good either. But everyone does boast in something.
What are you boasting in? It's kind of similar to our studies in Matthew's Gospel. Who do men say? that I the Son of Man am?" We might rework that question a little bit in light of Galatians 6.14 and say, who do you boast in? What is it that is most precious in your life?
What is it that you prize above all other things? What is it that is chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely? Is it your accomplishments? Is it your religion?
Is it your ability? Is it your fun? Is it your friends? Or is it Christ?
You know, sometimes people boast about the weirdest things. Yeah, I did this and I'm really good. What? Or people boast because they're part of a particular social group.
Yeah, I hang out with the cool kids. I hang out with them. Who cares who you hang out with if it isn't Jesus Christ? God forbid that I should boast except.
There is one place that we, by God's grace, ought to boast in. Watts said it this way, when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but lost and loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood." John Calvin said, where a man's highest good exists, there is his glory.
Where a man's highest good exists, there is his glory. You don't have to wonder where Paul's glory is. You don't have to wonder what motivates Paul. You don't have to wonder what keeps Paul going in the face of great adversity, in the face of great persecution, in the face of great trial.
It is Christ. Everything hangs on Christ for Paul. May God give us that. May God so move us that this is true of us.
God forbid that I should boast except in this one. And if you're not a Christian, you'll never make this boast. If you're not a Christian, you will never express the glory of God in terms of Him receiving Lord. It's by grace, through faith in Christ.
I hope the kids and the young people don't feel like we're picking on you. It's not like kids and young people are the only sinners here, the adults are all fine. No, I don't think that for a moment. Let's think about it though.
You get reared in a home where there are some parameters and hedges. You get reared in a home where you're trotted off to church every Lord's Day. You've got to ask the hard questions. Who do I say the Son of Man is?
What is the object of my boast? What would your friends say? What would your friends say if they said, what does so-and-so boast in? Well, they boast in their social crowd.
They boast in their iPhone 6. They boast in their abilities with that latest game. Or they boast in their clothes. Who would boast in their clothes, man?
Us, the kind of generation that we live in. I've got whatever amount of dollar jeans. Who cares? If circumcision and uncircumcision avail nothing, neither do your trousers.
They certainly do not endear you to God one whit. Who do you boast in? Please come to the Lord Jesus Christ and boast in Him. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Holy Father and our glorious God, we thank you so much for Jesus. We thank you so much for the gospel. We thank you so much that he is the one that brings deliverance, that he is the one that bore the curse on the tree so that he might redeem us from that curse. We thank you that it's justification by faith alone and Christ alone.
For God, we confess and we know in our own strength in our own ability, in our own will, we would never come to you. If you had not sought us, we would have never sought you. So we give all glory and praise and honor to the triune God of our amazing salvation. We thank you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit And I pray the children and the young people and any adult here that perhaps is playing games or making a profession without having possession of Christ, I pray you would convict them and bring them to that place where they see their sin and they see Jesus as the only Savior.
And we ask this in his most blessed name. Amen.