Galatians 6 verses 11 to 18
Ye
see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.
As
many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh,
they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ.
For
neither they themselves who are circumcised keep
the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
But
God forbid that I should glory, save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me
and I unto the world.
For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature.
And
as many walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy and upon the
Israel of God.
From
henceforth let no man 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.
It was Paul’s custom, after dictating a
letter, to take the pen and write his own farewell. His standard signature was “The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you”. But so concerned
is Paul that the Galatians get the message of this letter that he takes the pen
and writes an entire concluding paragraph with his own hand – “Look at the
large letters I write with my own hand!”
Why did Paul write this paragraph and why did
he use such large letters? The Holy Spirit
inspired him to add these closing words to give one
more contrast, between the legalists and the Spirit-led Christians to show that
the Spirit-led believer lives for the glory of God, not the praise of man. And he wrote in large letters for emphasis: “DON’T
MISS THIS!”
Some Bible students believe that Paul’s
thorn in the flesh was some kind of eye trouble. This would mean that he would have to write
in large letters so that he himself would be able to read what he had
written. Whether or not that is true,
Paul is making it clear that he has something important to write in conclusion,
that he is not simply going to end the letter in some conventional manner. If he did have eye trouble, his willingness
to write this closing paragraph with his own hand would certainly appeal to the
hearts of his readers.
He has shown them that the believer living
under law and the believer living under grace are diametrically opposed to each
other. It is not just a matter of “different
doctrine” but a matter of 2 different ways of life. They had to choose between bondage or liberty
(chapter 5 verses 1 to 12), the flesh or the Spirit (chapter 5 verses 13 to 26)
and living for self or living for others (chapter 6 verses 1 to 10).
Now he presents a fourth
contrast: living for the praise of men or the glory of God. He is dealing with motive and there is
no greater need in our churches today than for an examination of the motives
for our ministries. We know what we are
doing, but do we know why we are doing it? A good work is spoiled by a bad motive.
Paul approaches this delicate subject in an
interesting way. The legalists wanted to
subject the Galatian believers to circumcision, so Paul takes this up and
relates it to the work of the Christ on the cross and also to his own
ministry. In this paragraph Paul
presents 3 “marked men” – the legalist (verses 12 and 13), the Lord Jesus
Christ (verses 14 to 16) and the apostle Paul himself (verses 17 and 18).
The legalist
Paul does not have anything good to say
about the legalist. He describes him and
his kind in 4 ways.
First, they are braggarts (a person
who boasts about their achievements).
Their main purpose was not to win people to Christ or even to help the
believers grow in grace. Their chief
purpose was to win more converts so they could brag about them. They wanted to “make a fine impression outwardly”
even though they did no good inwardly.
Their work was not done for the good of the church or for the glory of
God, it was done for their own glory. While
it is certainly not wrong to want to win people to Christ, or to see the work
of the Lord increase, it is definitely wrong to want these blessings for the glory
of man. We want to see more people
sharing in our ministries, not so that we can count people, but because people
count. But we must be careful not to “use
people” to further our own selfish programs for our own glorification.
Second, they are compromisers. Why did they preach and practice circumcision
and all that went with it? To escape
persecution. Because Paul preached the
grace of God and salvation apart from the works of the law, he was persecuted. The Judaizers tried to make the Christians
think that they, too were Christians and they tried to make the followers of
the Mosaic law think that they, too, obeyed the law. Consequently, they escaped being persecuted by
the legalistic group for their identification with the cross of Christ and its
devastating effect on the law. We today
are prone to look at the cross (and crucifixion) in a sentimental way. We wear crosses on our lapels or on chains
around our necks. But to the
first-century citizen, the cross was not a beautiful piece of jewellery; it was
the lowest form of death and the ultimate humiliation. The proper Roman citizen would never mention
the cross in polite conversation. It stood
for rejection and shame. When Paul
trusted Christ, he identified himself with the cross and took the consequences. To the Jew the cross was a stumbling block
and to the Gentile it was foolishness. The legalists, emphasizing circumcision
rather than crucifixion, won many converts.
Thers was a popular religion because it avoided the shame of the cross.
Third, they are persuaders. The word constrain carries with it the idea
of strong persuasion and even force. It
is translated “compel” in Galatians 2 verse 14. While it does not mean “to
force against one’s will” it is still a strong word. It indicates that the Judaizers were great
persuaders; they had a “sales talk” that convinced the Galatian believers that
legalism was the way for them. Whenever
Paul presented the Word, it was in truth and sincerity, and he used no
oratorical tricks or debater’s skills.
Fourth, they are hypocrites. “They want you to submit to the law, but they
themselves do not obey the law.” The
legalists belonged to the same group as the Pharisees about whom Jesus said, “They
say and do not”. Of course, Paul is not suggesting that the Judaizers should
keep the law, because the law is neither possible nor necessary. Rather, he is condemning them for their
dishonesty; they had no intention of keeping the law, even if they could. Their reverence for the law was only a mask
to cover their real goal: winning more converts to their cause. They wanted to report more statistics and get
more glory.
Jesus Christ
Paul keeps coming back to the cross. “If righteousness comes by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain” (chapter 2 verse 21).
The wounds of Calvary, certainly make Christ a “marked Man” for those
wounds mean liberty to those who will trust him. The Judaizers boasted in circumcision; but
Paul boasted in a crucified and risen Saviour. He gloried in the cross. Certainly, this does not mean that he gloried
in the brutality or suffering of the cross.
He was not looking at the cross as a piece of wood on which a criminal
died. He was looking at the cross of
Christ and glorying in it. Why would
Paul glory in the cross?
First, he knew the Person of the cross. Jesus Christ is mentioned 45 times in the Galatian
letter, which means that one-third of the verses contain some reference to
him. The Person of Jesus Christ
captivated Paul and it was Christ who made the cross glorious to him. In his early years as a Jewish rabbi, Paul
had much to glory in but after he met Christ, all his self-glory turned to mere
refuse. The legalists did not glory in
the cross of Christ because they did not glory in Christ. It was Moses – and themselves
who got the glory. They did not really
know the Person of the cross.
Second, he knew the power of the cross. To Saul, the learned Jewish rabbi, a doctrine
of sacrifice on a cross was utterly preposterous. That the Messiah would come, he had no doubt,
but that he would come to die – and to die on a cursed cross – well there was
no place for this in Saul’s theology.
The cross in that day was the ultimate example of weakness and
shame. Yet Saul of Tarsus experienced
the power of the cross and became Paul the Apostle. The cross ceased to be a stumbling block to
him and became, instead the very foundation stone of his message: “Christ died
for our sins.” For Paul, the cross
meant liberty: from self, the flesh and the world. In the death and resurrection of Christ the
power of God is released to give believers deliverance and victory. It is no longer we who live; it is Christ who
lives in us and through us. As we yield
to him, we have victory over the world and the flesh. There is certainly no power in the law to
give a man victory over self, the flesh and the law. Quite the contrary, the law appeals to the
human ego (“I can do something to please God”) and encourages the flesh to
work. And the world does not care if we
are “religious” just so long as the cross is left out. In fact, the world approves of religion –
apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, the legalist inflates the ego, flatters the flesh, and pleases the
world; the true Christian crucifies all three.
Third, he knew the purpose of the cross. It was to bring into the world a new “people
of God”. For centuries the nation of
Israel had been the people of God and the law had been their way of life. All of this was preparation for the coming of
Jesus Christ. Now that Christ had come
and finished his great work of redemption, God had set aside the nation of
Israel and brought into the world a “new creation” and a new nation, “the
Israel of God.” This does not mean that
God is finished with the nation of Israel. Today, God is calling out from both
Jews and Gentiles “a people for his name” and in Christ there are no racial or
national distinctions. Paul clearly
teaches, however, that there is a future in God’s plan for the Jewish nation.
One purpose of the cross was to bring in a
new creation. This “new creation” is the Church, the body of Christ. The “old creation” was headed by Adam and it
ended in failure. The new creation is
headed by Christ and it is going to succeed.
To the Romans, Paul explained the doctrine
of the two Adams – Adam and Christ. The
first Adam disobeyed God and brought into the world sin, death and
judgment. The last Adam obeyed God and
brought life, righteousness and salvation.
Adam committed one sin and plunged all of creation into judgement. Christ performed one act of obedience in his
death on the cross and paid for all the sins of the world. Because of Adam’s sin, death reigns in this
world. Because of Christ’s victory, we
can “reign in life” through Jesus Christ.
In other words, the believer belongs to a “new creation”, a spiritual
creation, that knows nothing of the defects and limitations of the “old
creation”.
Another purpose of the cross was to create
a new nation, “the Israel of God”. This
is one of many names for the Church found in the New Testament. Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “The kingdom
of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof” (Matthew 21 verse 43). Peter
identifies that nation as the family of God: “But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation” (1 Peter 2 verse 9). This does not mean that the Church has
permanently replaced the nation of Israel in the program of God, but only that
the Church is “the people of God” on earth today just as Israel was in
centuries past.
What a rebuke to the Judaizers. They wanted to take the Church back into Old
Testament law, when that law could not even be kept by the nation of
Israel! That nation was set aside to
make way for God’s new people the Church!
Believers today may not be “Abraham’s
children” in the flesh, but they are “Abraham’s seed” through faith in Jesus
Christ. They have experienced a
circumcision of the heart that is far more effective than physical
circumcision. For this reason, neither
circumcision nor the lack of it is of any consequence to God.
The Apostle Paul
There was a time when Paul was proud of his
mark of circumcision but after he became a believer, he became a “marked man”
in a different way. He now gloried in
the scars he had received and in the suffering he had endured in the service of
Jesus Christ.
The contrast with the legalists is plain to
see: “The Judaizers want to mark your flesh and brag about you, but I bear in
my body the brands of the Lord Jesus Christ – for his glory.” What a rebuke! “If you religious celebrities have any scars
to show for the glory of Christ, then let them be shown. Otherwise – stop bothering me!”
Paul is not claiming that he bore the 5
wounds of Calvary on his body. Rather he
is affirming that he has suffered for Christ’s sake (something the legalist
never did) and he had on his body the scars to prove it. 2 Corinthians 11 verses 18 – 33 show that in
many ways and in many places Paul suffered physically for Christ.
In Paul’s day it was not unusual for the
follower of some heathen god or goddess to be branded with the mark of that
idol. He was proud of his god and wanted
others to know it. In the same way Paul
was “branded” for Jesus Christ. It was
not a temporary mark that could be removed, but a permanent mark that he would
take to his grave. Nor did he receive
his brands in an easy way: he had to suffer repeatedly to become a marked man
for Christ.
It was also the practice in that day to
brand slaves, so that everyone would know who the owner was. Paul was the slave of Jesus Christ and he
wore his mark to prove it.
It is worth noting that sin brands a person.
It may mark his mind, his personality, even his body. Few people are proud of the sin marks they
bear and conversion does not change them.
How much better it is to love Christ and live for him and be “branded
for his glory.
Believers today need to remember that it is
the Christian leader who has suffered for Christ who has something to
offer. The Judaizers in Paul’s day knew
nothing of suffering. They may have been
persecuted in some small way for belonging to a religious group, but this is
far different from “the fellowship of his sufferings.”
Beware of that religious leader who lives
in his ivory tower and knows nothing of battling against the world, the flesh,
and the devil, who has no “marks” to show for his obedience to Christ. Paul was no armchair general; he was out in
the front lines, waging war against sin and taking his share of suffering.
So Paul comes to the end of his letter; and
he closes just the way he began: GRACE!
Not “the law of Moses” but THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
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