Imperishable Inheritance

Paul completes his monumental letter to the Galatians with a passionate plea to remember the very thing'and only thing'that justified them and that is the cross of Christ. I have preached this passage a couple times now to fellow believers at the end of an evangelistic effort to remember that everything that was accomplished was by the work of Jesus on the cross and not by our effort alone.

"See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand." (6:11)

Paul would often dictate his letters to others (cf. Rom 16:23), but this time Paul writes the following himself. He wants to emphasize the following point even more than any of his previous comments. What follows is going to be the very thesis of Paul's plea to the Galatians.

"Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ." (6:12)

The Judaizers that had come to the Galatians had ulterior motives. They not only wanted to impress others, but they also wanted to avoid persecution on behalf of Christ. These Judaizers were likely pressured from the Sanhedrin and other Jewish religious authorities to "get the Gentiles in order" by circumcising them and subscribing them to Judaism. In a vain attempt to escape standing up for the Gospel of free grace and receiving persecution they instead chose to demean what Christ accomplished on the cross by adding to Paul's Gospel. Remember when Paul attested to his persecution while standing up for the true Gospel: "But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted?" (5:11).

"For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh." (6:13)

Paul points out to the Galatian Christians that the Judaizers do not even follow the very law they were commanding the Galatian Christians to succumb to. They didn't care about the glory of Christ or even saving sinners; they just wanted to have the Galatians circumcised so they can boast in what they accomplished. The boasting that takes place must also be in Christ and His cross.

Think how often we see today in churches signs that read: "100 Converted At Easter Rally!" We see this all the time in the modern church. Now replace "converted" with "circumcised," and you'll see how un-Godly that can be! We must never boast in our ways or means to get sinners to hear the Gospel'but only in Christ.

"But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (6:14)

Paul verbally says what he has been alluding up to this point. We must never boast in our buildings, our mission programs, the kid's programs, but we must only boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is infinitely worthy of our praise and adoration, and all the redeemed will do just that for eternity (Rev 5:9, 7:9).

Paul says that he has been crucified in three different senses from this passage. Timothy George says: "In reality there is a triple crucifixion to be considered in this text: the crucified Christ, the crucified world, and the crucified Christians."¹ Christ Himself was crucified which is the object of the Christian's boast; the world with its secular standards, hopelessness, futility, and sin has been crucified; and finally the Christian is crucified to himself. Being crucified to yourself depicts what Paul described back in 5:24: "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Phillip Graham Ryken points out that this appears to be a strange thing to boast about:

"The cross should have been an embarrassment to the early church. What would people think when they discovered that the found of Christianity had been executed like a low-life criminal? But instead of denying this, or covering it up, Christians advertised it. The very thing that most people considered too obscene to whisper in polite company, Christians were broadcasting in the streets."²

"For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." (6:15)

If the Galatian Christians haven't yet understood Paul's message then he will reiterate it one last time. It doesn't matter whether they were circumcised, uncircumcised, leading Sunday school, be a leader in the church, or anything else that with our pride could take away from Christ's glory'the only thing that matters is that we are a new creation. Paul teaches this also to the Corinthians in his second epistle.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Cor 5:17)

Throughout redemptive history, God is in the business of making all things new (Rev 21:5). The fall cursed mankind, but Jesus has come to save His people that He foreknew from the foundation of the world (Rom 5:12-17; Eph 1:3-11). When we are joined to Christ everything before'and in the future'has been made clean and new. This once-for-all perfect act of obedience on the cross is given to the repentant sinner through no work of his own (Eph 2:8-10).

Since Christians are a new creation, we shouldn't live as though we are still the old creation. We must remember that even though we will continue to struggle with sin we must continue to bear fruit as Paul taught in chapter 5 and display a contrite heart over sin and an increase in holiness through sanctification.

And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God." (6:16)

For those that have become a new creation, Paul wishes a benediction upon them. He hopes that peace and mercy will be upon them. With a new creation we are released from the futility of our previous life.

Paul also proclaims that those that are a new creation are also a part of the "Israel of God." Israel was the name conferred upon Jacob after wrestling with the man in the river (Gen 32:28). The word means "God strives." Jacob strived with the man, and God strives for His people. The great news of Galatians (and the New Testament) is that now anyone can enjoy fellowship with God through His Son and His enabling Spirit, because "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (3:28). In Christ, we are Abraham's descendants by promise and part of the true Israel of God.³

"From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus." (6:17)

Paul had "battle scars" from his continual work in the Gospel mission, and he wants others to know to not cause him any more trouble. Paul wasn't referring to him actually having the same brand-marks of Jesus⁴ but that he had proof of affliction.

We should all be so lucky to say that we as well bear the brand-marks of Jesus. I heard a missionary speak, and he said to the women in the audience that they should be looking for a man that, instead of how good looking he is or other fleshly things, that they be missing teeth and have scars from the Gospel! He proclaimed that that is a man worth marrying!

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen." (6:18)

Paul ends his letter in a soft-spoken, loving tone. He wants to encourage them in their faith and remind them that the grace of Christ is sufficient. He hopes that grace would fall upon them. Those that he called "foolish" and "bewitched" he now calls "brethren."

May Christ be exalted in all that we say and do, and may we boast in nothing but His cross. Amen.

1. Timothy George, Galatians, New American Commentary 30 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 437. Quoted in Phillip Graham Ryken. Galatians (New Jersey: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2005) 276. [Back]
2. Ibid. pg. 274-5. [Back]
3. It's worthy to note that not all Christian theologians accept this interpretation. For instance, F.F. Bruce takes the stance that Paul is referring the eschatological fullness that Paul also worried about in Rom 11:26 (pg. 275). Other theologians take the interpretation that those 'who walk upon this rule' and 'the Israel of God' are two distinct groups with the latter being the Jewish remnant/Christians. Both of these interpretations fail on multiple accounts. Are Jewish Christians or those at the end of the age not to be new creations and have peace and mercy given to them? Also, Paul has defended ferociously throughout this whole letter that, in Christ, there is no separation between Jews and Gentiles. Why would he insert a separation right at the end that is aberrant to the thesis of the whole letter? [Back]
4. The word "brand-marks" is the Greek word στίγμα or stigmata. Unlike a popular conception that we take on the sufferings of Christ on the cross in a literal sense (nails through hands, whippings, etc.), it is more appropriate to interpret that Christians participate in their own persecution for God. [Back]