Boasting in the Cross

Fashion trends fascinate me. Have you been intrigued by a few clothing items recently? As bizarre as some things are today, my generation has also worn some crazy things. Remember the '80s? Some of you are trying to put that out of your mind. The music, the jams with matching tank tops, British Knights sneakers, spandex shorts, hammer pants, Raiders football gear, tight rolled pants, overalls with one flap down. And what about those hairstyles? Guys wore mullets, and ladies were walking fire hazards with all that hairspray on those bangs!

My parents' days were not much better. My photo album contains pictures of leisure suits, waterfall haircuts, and later, very short coach's shorts. All of this is proof that we live in a fallen world!

Of all the strange things that people wear, what do you think the disciples would have considered the strangest? It would not be any of these items. It would have to be a cross. While a cross is a symbol of our faith, in the first century it was an instrument of death. Crucifixion was the most cruel and agonizing means of execution ever devised. It was designed and then refined by the Romans not just to kill, but also to degrade and humiliate. Imagine hanging whipped and naked on a cross with spikes in your arms and legs while everyone walked by and spat on 137you and cursed you. We don't have anything like this today, so we can't understand the horror and shock that wearing an accessory like a cross necklace would bring. In fact, crucifixion was so bad that the Romans would not execute any Roman citizen in this manner. So when it comes down to it, wearing a cross is like wearing a gold chain with a charm representing an electric chair, a gas chamber, or a lynch mob.

The Jews had despised the cross for centuries: "Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed" (Gal 3:13; cf. Deut 21:23). Consider then the strangeness of,

Paul says that we should not boast in anything except this instrument of torture. Or to say it positively, we should only boast in the cross. But it is not strange when you consider one particular crucified man who died on a cross. When you know the significance of Jesus' death, then you can agree with Paul's desire. Apart from the cross, we have none of the benefits of salvation.

This may be my favorite verse in the New Testament. Spurgeon said Galatians 6:14 "was the theme of [Paul's] ministry" ("Three Crosses"). Paul was radically cross-centered. He stands in contrast to the false teachers of Galatia, who were self-centered. Paul preached a Christ-given righteousness, accomplished through His finished work. The false teachers preached a works-based righteousness, accomplished through human performance. Paul is a "Christ-exalter," and the false teachers are "self-exalters." Let us consider how we too might live a Christ-exalting, cross-centered life.

A Cross-Centered Conclusion

A Cross-Centered Conclusion

Galatians 6:11

In these final verses, Paul touches on some of the major themes of the letter, and they center on this one big theme: the cross. Here, "the Galatians are reminded as to what is at stake in this controversy" (Schreiner, Galatians, 373). Indeed, Galatians is about a controversy. (Interestingly, virtually every letter in the NT is written because of a controversy!) The controversy in Galatians is about the nature of salvation. Paul is making one final plea that "Jesus paid it all." The false teachers 138thought that what Jesus did was not enough. So Paul pleads one more time with emotion, like a lawyer making his final appeal to a judge and jury, that they would realize that Christ's work is enough.

Before we go through these applications note verse 11. "Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting." I do not think that "large letters" refers to Paul having poor eyesight or means that his hands are deformed. Rather, the large letters signify the importance of what is described. Paul takes the reed pen from his scribe and writes the conclusion in bold script.

Elsewhere, Paul ends with his signature (1 Cor 16:21; Col 4:18; 2 Thess 3:17), but here he adds more than his signature. The closing comments are much longer than in his other letters (6:12-15). The benediction is different also; it is conditional (v. 16). The tone of verse 17 is different; it is sharp. Even though Paul gives a prayer wish, there are no personal greetings from others and no expression of praise or thanksgiving in the conclusion.

So the conclusion is very important. He writes passionately with big letters about what was big to him: the cross. Now let us consider six marks of a cross-centered life (with credit to Danny Akin for the outline).

Cross-Centered Contrasts

Cross-Centered Contrasts

Galatians 6:12-18

1: A Cross-Centered Life Is Humble Not Prideful (6:12-13)

Look at the false religion promoted by these false teachers. The false teachers were motivated by self-interest and their own agenda. Consider the expressions of pride noted by Paul here. Paul says that they were manipulators, who "compel." They were compromisers, who wanted to "avoid being persecuted." They were hypocrites, who "don't keep the law themselves." They were braggers, who loved to "boast."

The false teachers wanted to avoid persecution from Jewish opponents. These opponents apparently would not persecute them as long as they followed the law. In addition, they wanted the adulation of others. Paul's words remind us of Jesus' words to the Pharisees. He criticized them for not keeping the law themselves, for their self-centered motives, and for desiring the praise of others (Matt 23). So, here again is the question in the letter: Is true faith, true religion, about divine accomplishment or human achievement? If it is about human 139achievement, then praise the person; if it is about divine accomplishment, then praise Jesus.

For us, the application is clear. Either you glory in the flesh or you glory in the Christ. Pick one. Our culture is wrapped up with boasting. We exalt popularity, intellect, appearance, income, or job performance, just to name a few. Paul, however, says there is only one acceptable form of boast, only in "the cross." As he wrote to the Corinthians, "The one who boasts must boast in the Lord" (1 Cor 1:31).

The circumcision party is wrapped up in religious boasting. They were religious show-offs. This word "good impression" (euprosopein) is found nowhere else in the New Testament. Cole writes, "Paul's point was that the Jews wanted ecclesiastical statistics; so many circumcisions in a given year was certainly something to boast about" (in George, Galatians, 433). Sounds like the religious bragging at pastors' conferences! A cross-centered life is one that rejects the model of these false teachers.

Are you cultivating humility in your life and trying to crucify human pride? How can you do this? You must go to the cross. At the cross, our pride bubble gets popped. There is no room for boasting at Golgotha. We must crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit to cultivate humility and avoid the false teacher's pattern.

Edmund Clowney provides an excellent illustration of ministerial humility:

On one occasion I had tea with Martyn Lloyd-Jones in London, and decided to ask him a question that concerned me. "Dr. Lloyd-Jones," I said, "How can I tell whether I am preaching in the energy of the flesh or in the power of the Spirit?"

"That is very easy," Lloyd-Jones replied, as I shriveled. "If you are preaching in the energy of the flesh, you will feel exalted and lifted up. If you are preaching in the power of the Spirit, you will feel awe and humility." (Preaching Christ in All of Scripture, 55)

Do you feel exalted and lifted up or in awe and humility before Christ? How we must learn to rely on the Spirit in life and in ministry!

2: A Cross-Centered Life Boasts in the Cross Not Self (6:14a)

Paul says, I will not boast in myself; I will boast in someone and something else. He says, "But as for me, I will never boast about anything 140except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." When Paul says, "I will never," he uses that Greek expression me genoito, the strongest Greek negative he could use (cf. Rom 6:1-2). He is trying to find absolute language to emphasize this point: Do not ever boast in anything except the cross. To put it positively, only boast in the cross. Boast means to "glory in," "make much of," "be consumed with," or "be mastered by" something. It is deep. It comes from your center, from your soul. The psalmist says, "We boast in God all day long; we will praise Your name forever" (Ps 44:8). May it never be that we would ever make much of anything, or ever glory in anything, or be mastered by anything, except the cross!

Boasting in the cross implies that you place your confidence in Christ and His work for your salvation. You are not trusting in your religious acts. Cross-exalters rest everything in what Christ has done. Cross-exalters believe that Jesus lived the life we could not live and died the death we should have died. Those who boast in the cross simply say, "This is for my peace: Jesus died in my place." Boasting in the cross implies that God accepts you because of the work of Christ. You can say, "Because of the cross, the wrath of God will not be poured out on me. Because of the cross, I am united to Christ. Because of the cross, I am dead to this world and all its claims on my life. Because of the cross, I have become a new creation." So boast in the cross. Revel in it. Rejoice in it.

Boast only in the cross because every spiritual blessing you enjoy or will enjoy is due to the cross. Everything we enjoy as new creations is owing to the cross. Do you enjoy justification? Boast in the cross. Do you enjoy redemption? Boast in the cross. Do you enjoy adoption? Boast in the cross. Do you enjoy the Spirit? Boast in the cross.

3: A Cross-Centered Life Treasures Christ Not the World (6:14b)

The cross has a present power in our lives. The cross has the power to free us from the world's bondage. "The world" speaks of the system and nature of this age. Corruption, meaninglessness, hopelessness, futility, warped values, and despair are all aspects of this world. Paul says the believer and the world are dead to each other! The two have parted ways.

Our position in one sense, objectively, forensically, is this: we have been crucified already with Jesus. We belong to Him (5:24). The best way to understand this phrase in 14b is, "I have been crucified with Christ" (2:19). So we died. But we live. There is a new "I." The old self141 has died—the rebellious, enslaved, unbelieving self died. Now there is a new "I," a new creation.

Paul wants us to know that when Christ died, we died to the world, and now we live a new life in Him. It does not mean that the world does not affect us. The deathblow has been dealt at the cross, but the world still has a lingering influence. One day, though, when Christ returns, there will be no more corruption. Now the Christian life is about becoming what we are! We are dead to this world and alive to Christ. The world is not the believer's treasure, Christ is.

On account of the cross, the cares of this world do not have to crush us because we have a different perspective than the world. You know that if God will give you Christ, He will give all you need ultimately. The enticements of the world do not have to persuade us like they do the rest of society because we have new affections. Greed can be replaced by generosity; lust with purity; anxiety with truth; envy with love.

Paul says, "Live this out! Live as though this world has nothing for you and Christ is everything to you! Die to the enticements and cares of this world, and live as though Christ were your ultimate treasure. The motto for the Christian is: the world has nothing for us; Christ is everything to us. This is the daily power of the cross."

Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon called "Grand Glorying," writes these amazing words:

What means he by this? Why, he means that ever since he fell in love with Jesus Christ, he lost all love for the world! It seemed to him to be a poor, crucified, dying thing, and he turned away from it just as you would from a criminal whom you might see hanging in chains—and would desire to go anywhere rather than see the poor being. So Paul seemed to see the world on gallows—hung up there. "There," he said, "that is what I think of you and all your pomp, and all your power, and all your wealth, and all your fame! You are on the gallows, a malefactor, nailed up, crucified! I would not give a fig for you!" ... And now observe the other Cross. There is Paul on that. The world thinks as little of Paul as Paul does of the world. The world says, "Oh, the harebrained Paul! He was once sensible, but he has gone mad upon that stubborn notion about the Crucified one! The man is a fool." So the world crucifies him ... So is it with the world and the genuine Christian.

142Can you look at your idols—money, success, human praise, power, peer approval, wanting attention, ungodly romance—and say, "I would not give a fig for you"? See your idols for what they are: pathetic, crucified, dying things. They are not attractive to the person who sees them for what they are and sees Jesus for all He is.

Can you accept that you will be different from the world if you live out this verse? Others may deem you "crazy" or "foolish." So be it. Treasure Jesus, not the world. The cross gives us the power to do just that.

4: A Cross-Centered Life Values Spiritual Transformation Not External Ritual (6:15-16)

The cross has done for us what the flesh could not do. It has done what law-keeping could not do. Christ has made us new people through His work on the cross. Earlier Paul said that circumcision or uncircumcision does not accomplish anything, only "faith working through love" matters (5:6). In other words, he values internal change not external ritual. Now he says something similar:

This verse reflects what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, where he ties the cross to the new creation. In that letter he says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come" (2 Cor 5:17).

What does a new creation look like? Look at Galatians 2:19-20. These wonderful verses put boasting in the cross and a new creation together. A person who is united to Jesus Christ, who died on his behalf, is never the same person again! He has become a new creation!

Are you glad this is true? Are you glad that you are a new creation? Christianity is not about being a nice person, trying harder, or just being religious. It is about becoming a new person. And this new life is made possible by the cross.

As new creations in Christ, we are now fit for a new creation. The new creation has dawned with the coming of Christ. We live between the times of His comings. We will enjoy the blessing of the new creation because of the cross.

Circumcision or new creation? Paul says only the latter represents biblical Christianity. You may perform all sorts of religious rituals, but none of it matters if you have not become a new creation in Christ. Many 143people today think that there are only two ways to live. They believe that they can either be religious or irreligious. They think that they have to keep a set of rules, or they can live free of rules, like a hedonist. Most irreligious people think that when you are calling them to Christ, you are calling them to religion. But the gospel is something else. It is a third way. It is not about religious acts. It is not primarily a code of ethics. It is an explosion. It is about being united to Christ, who then works in His followers, empowering them to live differently.

5: A Cross-Centered Life Walks in Truth Not Error (6:16)

Paul says this new gospel community, called the church, walks by a "standard." The word "standard" is kanon, which means a measuring rod or carpenter's rule. It is the word we use for "canon of Scripture," the 66 books of the Bible. In this context, the standard is the message of the cross and new creation.

Timothy George summarizes this verse: "[Paul] invokes the peace and mercy of God upon those ... who remain faithful to the truth of the gospel Paul had originally preached among them" (Galatians, 439). Danny Akin says, "Once more this reminds us that theology matters; that theology is important; that good, sound gospel-centered theology is essential to both the health and life of the church. Ultimately this is something for which the whole church is responsible" ("The Cross and Faithful Ministry").

Indeed, Paul is passionate about his people walking in, not just affirming intellectually, the truth of the gospel. This is made evident in Paul's words about Peter "deviating from the truth of the gospel" (2:14).

His blessing of "peace ... and mercy" is the opposite of the "curse" he desired for those who taught false gospels, as mentioned in the beginning of the letter (1:8-9). We should also note that in the church we find peace when we walk in the gospel, and we can experience mercy and show mercy when we saturate ourselves with the gospel. Gospel-centered people should be a mercy-dispensing, peace-enjoying people. Paul refers to the "Israel of God" as the new community of faith. Peace and mercy may come to Gentile and Jew alike, as they embrace the gospel.

"Follow" is the same word in 5:25. Paul is urging us to keep in step with this teaching. Let me encourage you to walk according to the gospel, to walk according to the Spirit. Keep in step with the gospel, not the world.

6: A Cross-Centered Life Seeks to Please Christ Not Man (6:17-18)

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Paul concludes by first saying, "From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus." What does he mean by "let no one cause me trouble"? Paul basically means, "I will not allow myself to be troubled, harassed, or bothered by the agendas and rules of people, especially these false teachers." Instead, Paul lives for someone else: Jesus. He can say, "I am scarred by Him." His goal, as mentioned earlier, was to please God, not people (1:10).

The Scars (v. 17). The word for "scars" is stigmata—the spots or marks. Paul is referring to the wounds he received from following Jesus. He mentions "far worse beatings" (2 Cor 11:23-25). These scars were the scars of Jesus. The word stigmata was used for the branding of slaves; Paul was branded. He was Christ's slave. He was Christ's bondservant. As a Jew, he had the mark that the Judaizers were emphasizing, circumcision, but he says the real mark is suffering for Christ. Others wanted to boast in this ritual of circumcision; Paul could say, "Let me show you a physical mark of devotion: Look at my back!"

Unlike the Judaizers, he had not avoided persecution by preaching a false gospel (5:11). He was a faithful messenger, a scarred messenger.

In Luke the same verb "bear" is used of disciples who must bear their own cross (Luke 14:27). John uses the word for Jesus carrying His cross to His execution (John 19:17). If you are going to follow Jesus, you are going to bear some scars. You will bleed, if not in the body, then in the heart. Paul tells Timothy, "In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12). This does not mean we go looking for trouble; it simply means we should be ready and not surprised if we suffer for Christ's sake. Jesus never promises us that life will be easy and devoid of hardship, but He does promise that He will be with us! And He is worth it!

This passage shows us Paul's great love for the Savior. He not only bore the spiritual marks of a believer, he also bore literal scars for his obedience to Jesus. This verse reflects Christ's call to all of us:

Grace Be with You (v. 18). Notice the appropriate ending to this letter: Grace. He began with customary salutation of grace (1:3). He has spoken of being called by grace and the necessity of believing in the gospel of grace. The whole letter is about the grace of Jesus, God's unmerited favor on sinners. Christ dying for us, Christ justifying us, Christ redeeming us, Christ adopting us, the Spirit indwelling us, the church helping us—all of it is grace.

Now he says, "Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." Here is the sum and substance of a disciple: the marks of Jesus on your body and the grace of Jesus in your spirit.

The term "brothers" shows us how disciples are not alone. The grace of God revealed in the gospel of Jesus has not only changed our relationship with God; it has also changed our relationship with people. God forms a family through the gospel.

Now may grace be multiplied to us as we live cross-centered lives! Such a life is reflected well in this beloved hymn:

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour 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.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o'er His body on the tree;

Then I am dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

146Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

(Watts, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross")

Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. How does Paul speak of the hypocrisy of the false teachers in these verses? How does legalism lead to hypocrisy?
2. In what possessions, gifts, and opportunities are you tempted to boast? How does the message of the cross change your perspective?
3. What does it mean to boast in the cross? How can you boast in the cross practically every day?
4. Why might proclaiming the cross bring persecution?
5. How does Paul say the cross should affect our view of the world?
6. Do you think many people perceive Christianity as "being nice" instead of "becoming a new creation"? How does the latter change everything?
7. What does Paul mean by "follow this standard" (v. 16)? How does this relate to Paul's confrontation of Peter (2:14)?
8. How do "peace" and "mercy" relate to the gospel?
9. How is Christ's death on the cross unique and unrepeatable? How is it a pattern for His followers?
10. What role should the cross play in a gospel presentation? Be specific.

Works Cited

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