Our Only Boast

In “The Guns Of Will Sonnett,” Will, portrayed by Walter Brennan, informed someone that one of his sons was a fast gun but that his grandson was even faster. And then he added, “And I’m better than both of ‘em—no brag, just fact.” That line . . . “no brag, just fact” . . . or a variation of it has become part of our American vernacular. People use it who have no idea about its origin. Some have even combined it with a line from Joe Friday so that it becomes, “No brag. Just the facts, Ma’am.” A 100 year-old man, residing in a nursing facility, boasted, “The secret to my long life is garlic,” to which his neighbor responded, “It’s not a secret.” We’re talking today, not about guns or garlic, but about boasting. In his letter to the Galatians Paul writes,

13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

The focus of our lesson is verse 14. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” But I’ve included in the reading verse 13 to provide the immediate context of this great statement. Paul speaks of “those who are circumcised.” He’s not referring to all Jews but to trouble-makers who had infiltrated the Galatian churches shortly after their founding. They were teaching that the newly converted Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved. The surgical rite, to them, was a token of the Jewish covenant with God and commitment to keeping all the Law of Moses. But these trouble-makers . . . “Judaizers” as they have been labeled . . . were not really concerned for the well-being of the Galatians. Back in verse 12 Paul said that they “want to impress people by means of the flesh,” and that they did so “to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.” (verse 12) Their motives were selfish. But, as Paul points out, they do not keep the Law themselves. The fact is, no one does. He goes on in verse 13, “They want you to be circumcised.” They want to make Jews of you since the rite was what distinguished a person as a Jew. But in so doing they also want to commit you to keeping all the Law, including the dietary restrictions, special days . . . not even to mention the traditions developed over the centuries. That was the fine print. They wanted to lead the Galatians into bondage. Well, notice why they wanted to do this . . . “that they may boast about your circumcision.” You are, to them, a prize . . . a trophy . . . a source of pride for themselves. They were obsessed with “ecclesiastical statistics.” (John Stott) As William Hendriksen wrote,

They would then be able to step up to their fellow-countrymen with an air of confidence, bragging, “Just think of it, we persuaded so many Galatians to become circumcised!” (New Testament Commentary)

This would avoid persecution from their fellow-Jews who complained that the sect of “Christians” weren’t circumcising their converts. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for this kind of misguided zeal. He said, “You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15) In other words, you do all you can to “convert” them and end up leading them into a deeper bondage. Yet, as has already been pointed out, they don’t “keep the law” themselves. In fact, no one does, as Paul points out in Romans 3 where he asserts, “All have sinned.” (Romans 3:23) Now, in contrast with the trouble-makers’ desire to boast in the Galatians’ circumcision, Paul writes, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Boasting Forbidden

Throughout the Bible there is a certain kind of boasting . . . most of it in fact . . . that is forbidden. We are naturally repulsed by the braggart. His brags are not attractive, but they are common. Paul regards it as forbidden of himself. He begins with, “May I.” He is contrasting himself with the trouble-makers who wanted to boast in the Gentiles’ circumcision. He was not interested in having them circumcised. In fact, when some in Jerusalem tried to force Titus, a Gentile convert, to submit to the ritual, Paul dug in his heels and refused. He said, “We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the gospel might be preserved for you.” (Galatians 2:3, 5) Nor was he interested in making Jews of them. God had already made it clear at Joppa and Caesarea that he accepted Gentiles as Gentiles. They didn’t have to become Jewish to be saved. (cf. Acts 10-11) Here Paul says, “May I never.” The Greek phrase he uses is emphatic. It’s the same phrase that he uses in Romans 6 in response to the question, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Such a question calls for an emphatic response. It combines a word for “no” and a form of the word “genesis.” In other words, “May it never even begin.” The King James Version reads, “God forbid.” But, may he never do what? “May I never boast.” Boasting, for Paul, is forbidden. Now don’t misunderstand. Some boasting is appropriate and perfectly acceptable. But a brief look at such “acceptable” boasting merely illustrates the point. Paul himself boasted in his weakness. He told the Corinthians, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:30) Such things included his “thorn in the flesh” that the Lord chose not to remove. He boasted in his suffering. In other words, he boasted in those things that showed his dependence on God. Oh yes, he also boasted in his converts . . . not as his own achievement but God’s. He told the Corinthians, “I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:31) Note the phrase, “In Christ Jesus our Lord.” He didn’t take the glory for the Corinthians’ faith or the changes that had taken place in their lives. He gave it to the Lord. Even when it came to his “visions and revelations” which he felt forced by his critics to share, he used the third person so as to avoid the appearance of boasting. (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:1ff) He does so because there is a boasting that is forbidden. In fact, it is “excluded” by the doctrine of justification by faith. After expounding on the Gospel of grace he asked the Romans, “Where, then, is the boasting?” And then he answered his own question. “It is excluded.” (Romans 3:27) We’re not to boast in our personal achievements . . . unless, of course, we give all the glory to God. As he says elsewhere, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Some in Corinth were “puffed up,” maybe because of the particular gift they possessed or their enormous tolerance. That’s a good metaphor for boasting . . . “puffed up” . . . like you’re bigger than you actually are . . . like the blowfish, also known as the puffer. As a defense mechanism he rapidly inflates himself with water to appear much larger than he actually is. That’s the braggart! The boasting that is forbidden has to do with things that exalt “me” . . . that puff me up. That’s pride, and it’s from “the flesh.” Salvation is at the top of the list of things about which we mustn’t boast. Paul says that it is “not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:9) The only thing we have to contribute to the forgiveness of our sins is our sins . . . and faith in Jesus as the Savior. No, not even our baptism is a reason to boast. It is not something we did anyway. It was done to us. Well, this brings us to the one exception to Paul’s own boasting.