Boasting In the Most
Text: Gal. 6:11-18
Introduction
1. Illustration: George W. Truett, a well-known Texas preacher, was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy oilman. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area. Pointing to the oil wells and punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine." Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That’s all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They’re all mine." Then pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine." He paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. Truett, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?"
2. We all boast about something, the question becomes how important is what you are boasting about?
3. According to Paul, we can boast...
a. In Self
b. In The Cross
4. Let's all stand as we read Galatians 6:11-18
Proposition: The only thing worth boasting about is the cross.
Transition: The first option is...
I. Boasting In Self (11-13).
A. So They Can Boast About It
1. You can tell what's in a person's heart by how they talk about themselves.
a. Some people would rather talk about others.
b. Some people can only talk about themselves.
2. As Paul concludes his letter to the Galatians he points out that the Judaizers were all about themselves.
3. Paul wants to show the Galatians how he regards them by saying, "NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING."
a. Up to this point, Paul had probably dictated the letter to a scribe. Then he took the pen and closed the letter in his own handwriting.
b. Paul did this in other letters as well, to add emphasis to his words and to validate that the letter was genuine.
c. Paul pointed out his large letters, perhaps because the contrast in the original letter was obvious.
d. Paul’s scribe, if trained in writing, would have written in well-formed Greek characters. Paul, a preacher and not a scribe, had a less precise writing style (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 795).
e. In doing so Paul adds a personal touch to the end of his letter, and it shows Paul's affection for the Galatian church.
4. Now Paul gets to the heart of this section of the letter, namely the character of the Judaizers. He says, "Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save."
a. Those who were trying to force the Galatian believers to be circumcised were only doing it because they didn’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.
b. That is the bottom line here; they were concerned about themselves.
c. To accept that the Cross alone can save includes accepting certain beliefs: that people are sinners under God’s curse, that a personal sacrifice was required, that only the death of Christ on the cross could secure people’s salvation, and that people can do nothing to obtain that salvation but to accept Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf.
d. People don’t want to be told they are sinners who can do nothing but accept someone else’s help.
e. Human nature would much prefer to earn salvation, if only to be able to have pride along with the accomplishment.
f. To preach anything else would incur persecution, as Paul would learn over and over again (Barton, 795).
g. They were not willing to pay the price of persecution in order to be identified with Jesus Christ.
h. They would use His name and attend His church only if there was no offense to those around them.
i. Most of such offense could be avoided if they denied the meaning of Christ's death (MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, 197).
j. They wanted to look good in the eyes of others and didn't want to be face persecution for preaching the truth.
5. Paul further illustrates the Judaizers lack of character by indicating, "even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples."
a. For the Judaizers to “sell” Judaism to the Christians meant selling them a worthless product.
b. The Judaizers compelled the believers to be circumcised, as they had been, thereby bringing them under the law with them.
c. Yet the Judaizers themselves did not and could not really keep the whole law.
d. If the Jews themselves couldn’t keep the law, how futile it was to compel new Christians to accept circumcision that would bind them to that same law.
e. Here Paul digs the knife even deeper: their goal in it all was to be able to return to Jerusalem and claim a prize, to claim that they had been successful and so gain the praise of the Jewish nationalists.
f. They gloried in their statistics—statistics carefully kept about the number of converts they could count as their own (McKnight, 301).
g. Again, they didn't care about the Galatians for anything else than a prize that made them look good.
B. How Important Are You?
1. Illustration: Dr. Samuel Brengle (Salvation Army) said, "The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. IT could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, he used it. The moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. O that I may never lose sight of this."
2. People of character are more concerned with others then they are about themselves.
a. Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT)
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
b. Those who want to be like Jesus will think of others for than self.
c. They will put other people's needs before their own.
d. They will be willing to sacrifice so that others needs will be met.
e. They will do this because that's what Jesus did!
3. People of character are willing to lay down their rights for the benefit of others.
a. John 15:12-13 (NLT)
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
b. Jesus commands us to put others first.
c. Jesus commands us to look to the needs of others before our own needs.
d. Jesus commands us to sacrifice for others.
e. People of character follow the direction of Jesus.
f. They look at others more than self.
Transition: Rather than boast about ourselves, we should be...
II. Boasting In The Cross (14-18).
A. Anything Except The Cross
1. If there is anything that is the polar opposite of self it is the cross.
a. By going to the cross Jesus was willing to give up everything, including his rights as the Son of God.
b. By going to the cross Jesus was willing to face ridicule and shame.
c. By going to the cross Jesus was willing to lay down his life so that others could live.
2. It was for these reasons that Paul says, "As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died."
a. To boast with puffed-up pride would be sinful arrogance.
b. While the Judaizers sought to please people, escape persecution, and boast in statistics, Paul’s boasting was never of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
c. Paul could boast about the Cross because of what the Cross had accomplished in his life.
d. For Paul, it was as though his interest in this world had died and vice versa. Paul had no need of the earthly and selfish motives and ambitions (Barton, 795).
e. Paul knew that he had died to the world and that the world had died to him through the cross.
f. The world was connected to the law of Moses, and therefore the entire enterprise was done with.
g. All that remains is Christ and glorying in the instrument that sets one free: the cross. Paul's entire goal was to glory in the cross of Christ, and so he would gladly accept persecution (McKnight, 301).
h. By definition, the English word boasting is an expression of pride, which was the furthest thing from Paul's intent.
i. The Greek term carries the basic meaning of praise, and whether it represents a sin or a virtue depends on whether self or God is being praised.
j. The praise of the Judaizers was of themselves for their work in subverting some of the Galatians back into Jewish legalism.
k. Paul's praise, on the other hand, was in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (MacArthur, 205).
3. For Paul the real issue with anyone has nothing to do with outward signs, but rather has more to do with inner signs. In Paul's mind it is all about transformation.
4. Listen carefully to what Paul said, "It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation."
a. Paul, a circumcised Jew, knew that his circumcision counted for nothing as a means to salvation.
b. Neither was uncircumcision a detriment to salvation. Neither of these outward markings makes any difference to God regarding salvation.
c. The cross of Christ made such distinctions valueless and put all people on equal ground.
d. When Jews or Gentiles become believers, they are changed into new and different people.
e. That is what counts; the only thing that matters is being born again.
f. How do we know if we have been changed? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and what he accomplished on the cross, being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, and living by his transforming power (Barton, 795).
g. This transformation doesn't take place as a result of an outward ritual; this transformation only occurs when we come to grips with the cross.
B. Only The Cross
1. Illustration: In The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: "The cross is laid on every Christian. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death–we give over our lives to death. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
2. The antithesis of self is the cross.
a. Philippians 2:8 (NLT)
he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
b. The cross is about humility, seeing others needs as more important than our own.
c. The cross is about obedience, seeing God's will as more important than our will.
d. The cross is about willingness to be vulnerable, to be accused of something you didn't do and remain silent.
3. The Cross is about letting God boast about you.
a. Philippians 2:9-11 (NLT)
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
b. Jesus was willing to face the disgrace of the cross.
c. Jesus was willing to face the pain of the cross.
d. Jesus was willing to face the humility of the cross.
e. Consequently, the Father elevated Jesus to the highest place.
f. The Father elevated Jesus to a place of honor.
g. If we boast in the cross of Christ, we will be lifted up.
h. If we boast in the cross of Christ, we will be honored.
i. If we boast in the cross of Christ, we will be transformed into the image of Jesus!
Transition: What are you boasting in this morning, yourself or the cross?
Conclusion
1. According to Paul, we can boast...
a. In Self
b. In The Cross
2. If we boast in self that is all we will get.
3. If we boast in the cross we will get what Jesus won for us.
4. Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
hoping, trusting ever,
till I reach the golden strand
just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.
