An Exploration of Galatians: The Grace of our Lord
Galatians 6:17-18 - We can endure through His Grace!
”From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.“
Galatians 6:17-18 NASB1995
We have reached the final two verses of Galatians!! This has been an amazing learning experience for me and I hope my readers have learned something, too. The letter was written, the seal was applied and Paul’s words were then borne by a brave courier to that collection of churches in Galatia that are being troubled by the legalists. Several copies were probably arduously created (by hand of course) and they were handled and secured by scribes and administrators like they were made of gold or diamonds to cement the foundation of the early church. God protected these words for many years until they could be safely gathered by a growing council of churches.
Paul ends this epistle with a very strange verse about not letting anyone cause trouble for him because he bears on his body the brand-marks of Jesus. Paul is honestly quite tired of the lies and threats of the Judaizers and their slander. Let’s examine the word “brand-marks”. This comes from the Greek word στίγμα or stigma and has the following Strong’s definition: a mark incised or punched (for recognition of ownership), i.e. (figuratively) scar of service:—mark. And, yes, this is the source of the word “stigmata”, signifying the marks that Jesus bore on His resurrected body.
When we look at Paul’s life, especially after his conversion, he can state with authority that he has taken many body blows for his belief in Jesus. Here is a partial list from a commentary by Biblical analyst John Butler on Precept Austin (links go to Biblia):
For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Paul's physical body bore evidence of his commitment to Christ. We note a few of the marks. His marks were not a tattoo of Jesus on his arm.
• Paul bore the marks of stonings. At Lystra he was stoned so badly that it was thought he was dead (Acts 14:19). That had to leave some ugly marks on his body. Why was he stoned. Because of his preaching Jesus Christ.
• Paul bore the marks of stripes. At Philippi Paul was beaten with "many stripes" (Acts 16:23). These stripes would leave long scars upon his body. Why the stripes? Because he preached Jesus Christ.
• Paul bore the marks of stocks. At Philippi he was thrown in prison and his feet put in stocks (Acts 26:24). This would leave marks on his feet and legs. Why was he put in stocks in prison? Because he preached Jesus Christ.
• Paul bore the marks of slander. "The word for "mark" is the Greek word from which we get the English word 'stigma.' One of the meanings of stigma is infamy and disgrace. These marks on Paul's body were not glory marks. They were marks that brought a disgrace to him. Paul received no honor from men to suffer for Christ. Rather every mark on the body for Christ was a disgrace to the person. But Paul bore those marks with honor.
Paul ends this epistle with a benediction about Grace of our Lord Jesus being with the Galatians through their Spirit. This is a nice summary of this last verse in Enduring Word:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit: Paul could wish nothing greater for the Galatians than this. If this were so, they would walk in a grace relationship with God instead of the legal, performance-based relationship that endangered them so. This is an appropriate end for the letter and prayer for all our lives.
“After the storm and stress and intensity of the letter comes the peace of the benediction. Paul has argued and rebuked and cajoled but his last word is GRACE, for him the only word that really mattered.” (William Barclay).
What a wonderful foundation for our freedom in Christ!
My next devotional will summarize what we learned exploring Galatians. Then I will have a personal devotional about some of the signs and wonders that Jesus did to bring us back to His pastures of forgiveness, grace and peace. That will be followed by a new series exploring Psalm 22.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Today I pray the benediction that Paul wrote in Galatians 6:18: “I pray that the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with me in Spirit”. I also thank you, Lord, for guiding my hand and my research in my deep dive into Galatians. 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.
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 2/12/2024 to review the lexicon for body-marks.
The personal testimony of Bruce Hurt, creator of the Precept Austin resource, can be found Here.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.