Dance Lessons: Boasting Only in the Cross
Galatians 6:11-18
Professor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
07-05-2020
The End of the Letter
Let me start out this morning with a little quiz. I’m going to give you the last lines of famous books and see if you know them.
But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries, for supper. - Tale of Peter Rabbit
But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. - The House at Pooh’s Corner
Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I can never wish you a greater happiness than this!” - Little Women
“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” - Charlotte’s Web
“And how happy I am, now that I have become a real boy!” - The Adventures of Pinocchio
“Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.” - Gone with the Wind
All their life in this world, [and Narnia], and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter one of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever in which every chapter is better than the one before.” - The Last Battle, The Chronicles of Narnia
This morning, we come to the last lines of the book/letter of Galatians. We started this journey January 24 and I’ve preached twenty one sermons in this series. If you haven’t been able to watch them all, they are on my Facebook page and the Chenoa Baptist Church’s Facebook page.
In July, I’m going to be editing these manuscripts and hopefully will have them in book form in the fall.
The Law of the Harvest
Last week, we studied the law of the harvest - “a man reaps what he sows.” (Gal 6:7)
Paul elaborated this principle -
“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:8)
In chapter 5, Paul writes that we are “to crucify the the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24)
If we sow to the flesh, if we allow the sinful nature that doesn’t love God to have free rein, we will reap destruction, corruption, decay, and death.
But when we yield ourselves to the Spirit, when we are led by, walk in, keep in step with the Spirit then Paul says we reap eternal life.
Paul encourages us “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal 6:9-10)
I made the point that opportunities to do good are like bubbles - they are there and then they are gone. I prayed that we would be aware of the opportunities that God brings our way and that we would do good.
Monday morning, I talked to a church member who told me that she had already had a bubble opportunity. She was literally dancing with joy as she told me the story.
And remember those who dance are thought crazy by those who cannot hear the music!
Let me make a clarification from last week. She found her opportunity from a need shared on FaceBook. Let’’s use Facebook to make much of Jesus and watch for opportunities to do good to others.
This brings us to the last words of Galatians.
Turn with me to Galatians 6:11-18.
Prayer
Paul’s Personal Signature
Galatians was Paul’s first letter and so it’s hard to say that it deviated from any kind of norm but the ending is unique among his epistles.
There are no mention of travel plans
No final greeting
No prayer requests
No expression of joy
No doxology
And the final benediction is conditional
Paul begins:
“See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” (Gal 6:11)
It was not uncommon in the ancient near east for someone like Paul to use a secretary to take dictation the he was sending these letter to churches.
But at the end of his letters, Paul would take the pen from the scribe’s hand and write his own personal “sincerely yours,” as he did in 2 Thessalonians:
“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.” (2 Thessalonians 3:17)
Why did Paul write in such “large letters?” There are several theories.
Remember, that Paul ended up in the region of Galatia in the first place because of an illness that many commentators believe effected his eyesight.
In Galatians 4, Paul alludes to this:
“I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” (Gal 4:15)
So maybe he writes in large letters because he has trouble seeing what he is writing.
Another theory is that scribes would have written in very small, neat, cursive-like writing and Paul, not being a trained scribe, would have written in a more sloppy way with large Greek letters.
But the most likely reason that Paul wrote in such large letters is the same reason that we use ALL CAPS or BOLD when writing - to show that what he is writing in important!
One commentator wrote the the bold letters would have “arrested the eyes and riveted the mind.”
This was a letter that would have been read in the church in front of all the believers. I can just imagine the person reading it, stopping and turning the scroll around, so everyone could see Paul’s handwriting. It would have made for a powerful moment as the letter comes to a conclusion.
Paul’s enemies
“Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 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.” (Gal 6:12-13)
Let’s go back and review why Galatians was written. Paul and Barnabas had gone through the region of Galatia planting churches and the Gospel was exploding among the Gentiles.
They had learned that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Paul’s formula was “Jesus + Nothing = Everything.”
But a group of Jews from Jerusalem that we know as the Judaizers came to Galatia and told these baby Gentile Christians that Paul had watered down the Gospel so they would accept him.
Yes, Jesus died on the cross in our place for our sins to pay the penalty that we could pay. But, that wasn’t enough. It was Jesus + following the Mosaic law, dietary rules, and joining the covenant community by becoming circumcised. In other words, in order to become a real Christian these Gentiles had to become Jews first.
Paul writes the entire letter of Galatians to refute this absurd, racist notion. He wants to teach them to dance to another rhythm - not law but grace, mercy, joy, and most of all freedom.
And those who dance are thought crazy by those who can not hear the music.
These Judaizers were prideful. They wanted to “impress people.” The word “impress” is a combination of two Greek words that means “good face.” That was their motivation. They didn’t care about the Galatians Christians. They wanted to impress others. Nate Pickowicz writes that they just were trying to earn their “legalistic merit badge.” They were more interested in fame, honor, and prestige.
They were bullies. They were trying to compel the Galatians to be circumcised. The word compel carries with it the idea of manipulation. They were saying, “Listen, God will never really love you Gentiles as much as He loves us. But there is one sure fire way to make sure that He does accept you and that’s circumcision. Step right up!
They were cowards. Paul narrows down their heart posture by saying that the only reason they are so concerned about Gentiles being circumcised is they were trying to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
Who would persecute them?
Rome actually tolerated Judaism but considered Christianity dangerous because they claimed to worship a king named Jesus instead of the emperor. So if they threw their lot in and started teaching “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” they would be in trouble with the Romans.
But the Romans were not the real problem.
The Jews back in Jerusalem were not happy with these Gentiles becoming Christians without the law. The Judaizers needed to get them to at least follow the Mosaic law and be circumcised to appease their leaders in Jerusalem.
If they agreed with Paul, that the Law was no longer in effect and that Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection had inaugurated a whole new era of grace, they would have been several persecuted by the ones that sent them to Galatia in the first place.
As long as they straddled the line of Christianity and Judaism, they were safe. But Paul doesn’t mince words and considers them cowards.
They were hypocrites. Paul has made the case before in Galatians that it is impossible to keep the law. That was the point of the law. The law was designed to show us our inability to save ourselves or to be holy on our own. The law took us by the hand and led us to the cross.
In Galatians 5, Paul wrote:
“Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” (Gal 5:3)
Paul was a Pharisee and knew the impossibility of keeping the whole law.
Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders and it made Him irate:
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matt 23:1-4)
What was their real motive?
“To boast about your circumcision in the flesh”
In WWII, pilots would often put stickers on their planes indicating the number of kills they had.
We see this in our modern day on the football field. Often their helmets are covered with stickers indicating how many tackles they’ve had.
The Judaizers didn’t care about the inward spiritual growth of these baby Christians. They just wanted to brag with their friends back in Jerusalem about how many they had circumcised. These Galatians were projects not people.
Robert Cray, a blues artist I enjoy, has a line in a song that has the same sentiment - “she was just another notch on my guitar.”
Paul is going to contrast the Judaizers boasting with the boast that dominated his entire life.
Paul’s Boast
"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.” (Galatians 6:14)
Paul uses the strongest double negative in the Greek to begin this thought.
While the Judaizers are boasting about how many circumcisions they’ve performed. The entire theme of Paul’s ministry is encapsulated in this verse.
Paul could have easily won a “boasting contest” with these false teachers.
“If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Phil 3:4-9)
John Stott wrote:
“The truth is that we cannot boast in ourselves and the cross simultaneously. If we boast in ourselves and in our ability to save ourselves, we shall never boast in the cross and in the ability of Christ crucified to save us. We have to choose. Only if we have humbled ourselves as hell-deserving sinners shall we give up boasting of ourselves, fly to the cross for salvation and the spend the rest of the day glorying in the cross.
Let me just pause for a minute and try to help you understand how strange this was in the first century. Crucifixion was a terrible way to die. Romans perfected it but considered so abhorrent that Romans could not be executed that way and they didn’t speak of it polite company.
Two thousand years later, we have cleaned up the cross. Crosses are on our walls and around our necks. They are huge crosses on the side of the highway and crossed dot cemeteries.
Someone in Paul’s day would be horrified by our love of the cross.
Paul didn’t just love the cross, he boasted in it. This word boast can mean “joyously exalt, to glory in, to make much of, to be consumed by, to be obsessed with.”
It would be the modern day equivalent of glorying in the electric chair or the gas chamber.
It was a strange thing to boast in. Paul told the Christians at Colosse that the cross was a “stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.” (I Cor 1:23)
Jewish people considered anyone who was crucified, “hung on a tree,’ cursed. But Paul explained that:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:13-14)
Paul gloried in the cross because that where “he was crucified to the world and the world to him.”
In chapter two, Paul tells us what happened at the cross:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:20-21)
At the cross, the world lost its power over use. It is dead to us. We don’t need the validation of the world’s system. We don’t seek their praise.
Tim Keller writes:
“The Gospel changes what I fundamentally boast in - it changes the whole basis for my identity. Nothing in the whole world has any power over me - I am free at last to enjoy the world, for I do not need the world. I feel nether inferior or superior to anyone , and I am being made all over into something entirely new.”
Paul made this clear to the Corinthians:
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (I Cor 2:1-2)
We are going to come to back to cross at the end of the sermon but let me ask you this question - what are you boasting in?
Maxine went through 25 random FaceBook pages from people in our congregation. Out of 405 posts, this is how it broke down:
Food posts - 19
Patriotic posts - 20
Miscellaneous posts - 26
Support of local business - 31
Funny/Joke posts - 45
Encouraging posts - 52
Family Posts 67
Faith posts - 67
Politics posts - 78
Can I ask you, beg you, to decrease your political posts significantly and simply much of King Jesus?
Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song called “Much of You,”
I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You
The New Creation
Paul continues:
“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.” (Gal 6:15)
Salvation isn’t about what happens on the outside. It’s an inside out proposal.
Paul wrote earlier in Galatians:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:6)
Paul says its all about transformation:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor 5:17) ?
It’s the picture of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
Jesus called it being “born again.”
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3:1-2)
Jesus basically ignores this flattery and gets straight to the point:
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3)
Understandably, Nicodemus is absolutely absolutely baffled by this answer:
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4)
Nic missed the point. Jesus was not talking about physically being born again.
Nic needed a heart transplant.
Isaiah described outward religion:
“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (Isaiah 29:13)
Being born again isn’t like giving an old house a new coat of paint. It’s the total destruction of the old house and a new house built on that site.
Steven Lawson, one of my favorite preachers and authors writes:
“Being born again means that God implants divine life within our spiritually dear heart. It is the life-giving act of God, whereby He causes us to be birthed into his family. It means by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, we are dramatically transformed in the core of our being. We are born anew, wee are made alive to God. In the new birth, God gives us new life that only He can give.”
What does this lie look like? Lawson states that:
“The Holy Spirit assumes His royal residence within our innermost being. Our hearts come alive to God, and it immediately responses to Him. The Spirit causes us to walk in the path of righteousness. The rebirth produces a radical change of life. The old things have passed away, and our souls have been washed clean. Our new heart is made free from the dominating power of sin, and we have a new desire to pursue the things of God.”
we get a new heart from God.
The prophet Ezekiel wrote that
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezek 11:19)
we get a new heart to love God
we get as new heart to know God
we get a new heart to believe God
We get a new heart to praise God
We get a new heart to obey God
Have you been born again? Notice, I didn’t ask if you believed in God, or if you have ever had a fuzzy feeling in church, or if you attend church, or if you parents are born again.
This morning, where are you with Jesus?
If you follow this rule, if you are born again, the Israel of God, then Paul pronounces peace and mercy upon us.
One Last Shot
Paul them takes one last shot across the bow at the Judaizers:
“From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Gal 6:17)
Enough! Paul tells the Galatians that he is done with sleepless nights and high blood pressure. For the last time, salvation is Jesus + nothing = everything!
Then he says to the Judaizers, “You want to compare scars? You want to pull down your pants and show everyone what a good Jew you are. Well, let me take off my shirt and show you my back!
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (2 Cor 11:24-28)
Slaves, prisoners, and animals were all branded. Paul was branded with the ownership stamp of Jesus Christ Himself.
By the way, prosperity gospel preaching skip these verses. Paul, the most famous pastor of all time, certainly didn’t have a jet!
Grace Brothers
Paul ends the letter where he begins - grace! Even though he has been frustrated with them through the book, he still addressing them tenderly as brothers.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.” (Gal 6:18)
Notice he uses the full name:
Lord - He owns us, governs us, and we obey Him not out of fear but out of love.
Jesus - Yahweh saves - He is alone is our Savior
Christ - Anointed One. Our Chief Prophet, High Priest, and Soon-coming Eternal King.
The Cross-Centered Life
The cross is central to the book of Galatians. Paul told them in chapter 1 that on the cross
"…rescue[d] us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…” (Gal 1:4)
In chapter 2, Paul contrasts the law and the cross:
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:19-21)
He begins chapter 3 baffled by their defection:
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”(Gal 3:1)
Again, in chapter three, he explains how Jesus being crucified broke the power of the law and bring to pass the promise made to Abraham:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:13-14)
In chapter 4, he shows us how through the cross he redeems us and adopts us into His forever family:
"But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:4-7)
In chapter 5, Paul proclaims that our freedom was purchased on the cross:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)
And in chapter 6, Paul writes that the cross should be the dominant theme of our lives:
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which he world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6:14)
The whole letter is a contrast between circumcision (works-based salvation) and the cross-centered life (salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone).
Many people hate the cross because it so clearly shows us our sinfulness and that we cannot save ourselves.
But people try, boy do they try. They think if they can just have enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds, then they will earn their spot in heaven.
You can try to be good, but it will never be good enough. God expect perfection and you cannot hop high enough for His holiness.
We were hopeless and helpless. We deserved hell for our sins because the wages of sin is death.
God didn’t have to intervene. He didn’t owe us anything. But God…
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)
Instead of us paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus went to the cross, voluntarily, to pay for our sins. One the cross, God the Father poured out all of His wrath toward sin on the very body of His Son.
Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine
And bathed in its own blood
While the firm mark of wrath divine
His soul in anguish stood
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
In this, He provided a way of salvation for all who believe. Jesus told his friend Nicodemus:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
We usually just quote this verse but the next one is as just as important:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)
God wants to make you a new creation this morning. What does it take? Paul made it pretty simple:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 5:9-13)
Today is the day of salvation!
In the cross I Glory
Many centuries ago on the south coast of China, Portuguese settlers built an enormous cathedral overlooking a beautiful bay. They placed a huge bronze cross on the front wall of that cathedral that reached into the sky.
A typhoon swept the whole cathedral into the ocean. All except the front all with that huge cross.
In the 1800s, there was a ship wreck in that bay and one of the survivors hung onto wreckage trying to get his bearings. As he roads the waves up and down suddenly he saw that massive bronze cross in the distance.
His name was Sir John Bowring and he wrote these words after being rescued:
“In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o’er take me
Hope deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me:
Lo! It glows with peace and joy.
Ending Song: The Wondrous Cross
