An Exploration of Galatians: Paul Explains His Motives One More Time
An Exploration of Galatians: Paul Explains His Motives One More Time
Galatians 6:14-16; Galatians 2:20 - We are a new creation in Him, by boasting only in the Cross.
”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. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.“
Galatians 6:14-16 NASB1995
Paul reminds the Galatians before the end of the letter that he would never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is repeating the fundamental principle that is in Galatians 2:20:
”I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.“
Galatians 2:20 NASB1995
Through that cross, the world has been crucified to us and we to the world. These verses at the very end of this epistle are just as power-packed as anything else Paul has written in Galatians. I went out to research verse 14 and found that Precept Austin has a completely separate (and long) collection of commentaries for that verse. That’s nothing new for that comprehensive and amazing body of work by Bruce Hurt (in fact, many of the verses in this Epistle are expanded upon with more details).
So what does it mean to only boast in the cross of our Lord? Here is an Excerpt from a book (“Don’t Waste Your Life”) by John Piper that I found on Precept Austin that is a very good explanation and it reiterates the connection between Galatians 2:20 and Galatians 6:14:
Only boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. This is a single idea. A single goal for life. A single passion. Only boast in the cross. The word “boast” can be translated “exult in” or “rejoice in.” Only exult in the cross of Christ. Only rejoice in the cross of Christ....God’s will is that the cross always be magnified—that Christ crucified always be our boast and exultation and joy and praise—that Christ get glory and thanks and honor for every good thing in our lives and every bad thing that God turns for good...Boasting in the cross happens when you are on the cross. Is that not what Paul says? “The world has been crucified to me, and I [have been crucified] to the world.”
The world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world. Why? Because I have been crucified. We learn to boast in the cross and exult in the cross when we are on the cross. And until our selves are crucified there, our boast will be in ourselves. But what does this mean? When did this happen? When were we crucified? The Bible gives the answer in Galatians 2:19, 20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” When Christ died, we died.
The glorious meaning of the death of Christ is that when he died, all those who are his died in him. The death that he died for us all becomes our death when we are united to Christ by faith (Ro 6:5-note). But you say, “Aren’t I alive? I feel alive.” Well, here is a need for education. We must learn what happened to us. We must be taught these things. That is why Galatians 2:20 and Galatians 6:14 are in the Bible. God is teaching us what happened to us, so that we can know ourselves, and know his way of working with us, and exult in him and in his Son and in the cross as we ought...when you put your trust in Christ, your bondage to the world and its overpowering lure is broken. You are a corpse to the world, and the world is a corpse to you. Or to put it positively, according to verse Ga 6:15, you are a “new creation.” The old “you” is dead. A new “you” is alive. And the new you is the you of faith. And what faith does is boast not in the world, but in Christ, especially Christ crucified. This is how you become so cross-centered that you say with Paul, “I will not boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The world is no longer our treasure. It’s not the source of our life or our satisfaction or our joy. Christ is. (Don't Waste Your Life - Online) (Bolding added by Bruce Hurt).
We are not worshipping an execution device made of wooden cross-timbers. We are focused on our Lord, who in that moment of time on that Cross that stretches into eternity in all directions declared His and, if we believe, our victory over sin, death and the power of evil. This is our power over the world!
So we breathe, live, think, move, work, and age from birth until death in this world, this third planet from the sun. How can we be dead to the world and have the world be dead to us? I like this explanation from Enduring Word:
The world, in the sense Paul means it here, was not the global earth; nor was it the mass of humanity (which God Himself loves, John 3:16). Instead, it was the community of sinful humanity that is united in rebellion against God.
There is nothing more worldly than trying to make a good showing in the flesh. When we live for the glory that comes from fame, from riches, from status, or from power among men we are very alive to the world and the world is very alive to us.
Paul and the world could agree together on one thing: they didn’t like each other. “‘The world is crucified unto me,’ means that I condemn the world. ‘I am crucified unto the world,’ means that the world in turn condemns me.” (Martin Luther) “The world and I are well agreed. The world cares not a pin for me, and I care as little for the world.” (John Trapp)
“To live to serve men is one thing, to live to bless them is another; and this we will do, God helping us, making sacrifices for their good. But to fear men, to ask their leave to think, to ask their instructions as to what we shall speak, and how we shall say it – that is a baseness we cannot brook. By the grace of God, we have not so degraded ourselves, and never shall.” (Charles Spurgeon)
This is a wonderful explanation! Paul is seeing the world as truly the “flesh and the devil” (no pun intended, harking back to a B-grade apocalyptic Movie from 1959). The world wants us to make a good showing in the flesh, living for fame, riches, status, power, and pleasure. That means living to serve men. We should live to bless them, but not fear them.
Go back and read the last paragraph from the Enduring Word excerpt by Charles Spurgeon. If we fear men, we have to ask them for permission to think, to speak, and what to speak. This is our current culture in a nutshell. Many people are walking on eggshells around the perpetually angry, perpetually protesting and wildly influential “progressives” in our society, who hate God (or don’t believe in a God they also hate), hate our country, hate humanity, and especially hate God’s precepts and guidance for virtuous living.
People have lost their jobs or have been sued for defending Biblical principles and not wanting to compromise those principles. There really is a “cancel culture”. If you don’t believe this, go look at the court decisions and cases that are being brought forward by Alliance Defending Freedom (and also go look at the scurrilous opinion about that organization masquerading as “fact” on Wikipedia). Quite frankly, we live in a society today that is part “1984” and part “Brave New World”, with thought police and intense pressure to conform to what the government, media and entertainment spheres dictate, coupled with pleasures and distractions tossed at people constantly to keep them unwary and intoxicated. By the Grace of God, we should not degrade ourselves by caring one whit about the “world”.
In verse 15, Paul says that the state of circumcision or uncircumcision are really nothing, but that we are all a new creation through Christ that is beyond such legalisms. Here’s a very nice explanation of this from Enduring Word:
For the legalists among the Galatian Christians, circumcision was a big issue, because it was the initiation to living under the Mosaic Law. Even though it was important to the legalists, Paul knew that it didn’t matter at all (avails nothing). If you were circumcised, but not a new creation, you did not belong to Jesus. If you were uncircumcised, but were a new creation, you did belong to Jesus.
We don’t make ourselves a new creation; God does it in us. At root, Christianity is something God does in us, not something we do for God. This can simply define the difference between the systems of grace and law.
Finally, Paul tells us in verse 16 that those who walk by this rule of being a new creation will have peace and mercy upon them. So what is this “rule”? This comes from the Greek word κανών or kanon, with the following Biblical usages:
a rod or straight piece of rounded wood to which any thing is fastened to keep it straight
used for various purposes
a measuring rod, rule
a carpenter's line or measuring tape
the measure of a leap, as in the Olympic games
a definitely bounded or fixed space within the limits of which one's power of influence is confined
the province assigned one
one's sphere of activity
metaph. any rule or standard, a principle or law of investigating, judging, living, acting
So does this mean the “rule” that we walk in is a confusing cornucopia of legalisms? Of course not! The rule is revealed by God’s Word and is the path that we should follow, with our eyes focused on the Cross. We don’t make it up as we go but trust and believe God. The rule is the message of salvation by grace in faith alone through Christ alone. Very simple rule!
My next devotional examines the last two verses of Galatians 6 - 17 & 18. I will then have a devotional that summarizes what we have learned in this epistle. Steve and I agreed that I would then write another personal story of how God brought us into His green pastures through signs and wonders. Then I will dive into Psalm 22, just in time for the somber season ahead of Holy Week.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord, my prayer to you today comes through the words of the great old traditional hymn by Isaac Watts in 1707: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:
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?Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
AMEN!
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
The personal testimony of Bruce Hurt, creator of the Precept Austin commentaries, can be found Here.
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 2/11/2024 to review the lexicon for rule.