29 THE BOOK OF GALATIANS – CHAPTER 6:14 - Message 29 – WHAT DID PAUL REALLY BOAST IN? PAUL AND BOASTING EXAMINED. WE OUGHT TO FOLLOW SUIT
This matter of boasting is a vexed problem in scripture and Paul had a lot to say about it. I want to examine how it affected the Apostle and then to look at general scriptures about boasting.
The verse we focus on today is the next one in Galatians as we are right at the end of the book.
[1]. THE EXCEPTION FOR BOASTING
{{Galatians 6:14 “May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”}}
When I was a young Christian, way back in those days it was stressed on us that we needed to memorise verses from scripture. We used to have Sunday School verses on small cards/tickets, memory verses, we would have to memorise for the following week. Additionally, there used to be key verses we would memorise as teens and adults. I remember making cards for myself and on one side would be the reference and on the other side would be the verse. I learned those on the tram and in lunch break.
These memory cards helped us become familiar with scripture. I am talking about the 1950s and 60s when the only bible version used was the AV/KJV and it was simple because we were all on the same page. When other translations arrived it seems verse memorisation declined.
The verses I selected to memorise were the “key ones” or some of the more familiar ones, and Galatians 6:14 was one of them. AV/KJV – {{“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.”}}
At face value it seems Paul is saying the only thing he would ever boast in is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, in the crucifixion of the Lord of glory - {{1 Corinthians 2:8 “the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”}} The preaching of the salvation message through the cross was paramount to Paul – {{1 Corinthians 1:23 “but WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,”}} {{2 Corinthians 4:5 “We do not preach ourselves but CHRIST JESUS AS LORD, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake,”}}
Before we go any further, I want to take a look at this word boasting. The word means to get glory from. This is how we see politicians using boasting. These false ones want the focus to be on them so they obtain the glory derived from how important they think they are. It can also mean to vaunt oneself, meaning to blow your own trumpet and announce your importance and impressiveness to the world.
[2]. LOOKING AT OUR VERSE IN MORE DETAIL
(a). The verse begins with this negative used in scripture to indicate what can NOT be. MAY IT NEVER BE! GOD FORBID THAT TO BE THE CASE! It was unthinkable to Paul that such a thing would happen. Paul shed himself of all glory, and all boasting, and all self-appraisement. It was monstrous that a Christian or a Christian leader would behave in any glory-seeking way. How different is it today when those who are seen to be in church leadership flaunt their robes and their jewellery and sit in acclaimed seats, and list all their degrees, and have men bow down to them. What evil has entered the churches!
(b). The cross was the only substance that Paul would glory in. The salvation Jesus procured, and the hope of all mankind in redemption, is the only aspect Paul would boast about. It means he believed it and took great delight in making it known. This is unlike the Pharisees who took delight in themselves and wanted to be noticed.
The cross stands as the greatest event in the whole history of the universe. There was once a physical creation when all was made. The cross is a spiritual creation when all is redeemed. The new heavens and earth will be a physical and spiritual creation of the utmost glory when all of creation is culminated. There is no salvation and no hope outside the cross of Christ.
(c). The cross is the dividing barrier in the world. You are on one side or the other and can not be in the middle. You belong to Christ or you are against Him – {{Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”}}. A person who has not been crucified at the cross can not claim to be a Christian. This is serious relationship. The cross separates a believer from the world. There are two systems and you belong to only one. Unless you are fully crucified with Christ at the cross then you don’t belong to Him.
What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? Crucifixion was dying so that the crucified one was no longer in this world. It meant an absolute separation. For a sinner it means as it were, putting yourself on that cross and dying to any claims the world has on you. This is one of the problems in Christian confession/profession these days. Some think they can bypass the cross and claim a Christian dress while caught up in the hype. There is no other way apart from the cross of Christ.
(d). The world has been crucified to me and I have been crucified to the world. There are two aspects. The first aspect is when there is a full surrender in confession for salvation. The cross has crucified you to the world. Then there must be the crucifixion of the world to you. This is ongoing because in our Christian walk, the world does not want to lie down and be dead. We are engaged in spiritual warfare.
[3]. THE CONTEXT FOR OUR KEY VERSE
{{Galatians 6:12-13 “Those who desire to make A GOOD SHOWING IN THE FLESH try to compel you to be circumcised, simply that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ, for those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, THAT THEY MAY BOAST IN YOUR FLESH.”}}
In writing about the false teachers, Paul is describing them and you see in the description that they are vain, puffed up and boastful. Note the parts I have highlighted in capital letters in the two verses. Their proud boasting was in their accomplishments. They were pulling people down that they may get glory from it.
Their boasting was in their own effort and that was diametrically opposed to what the cross stands for. Paul would have nothing to do with that boasting. Rather it is the work of the Lord on the cross, he would promote and boast only in that. The Apostle to the Gentiles would have rejected any acclaim to any vaunting position, as would have Peter to any pretentions of popery.
[4]. SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
(a). This is from Ellicott – [[“There is a stress upon the pronoun “I,” which, in the Greek, stands first, in emphatic contrast to the party who had been the subjects of the last verse (13). They make their boast in a mere external; but for me - far be it from me to make my boast in anything but the cross of Christ.”]] I can see Paul outlining the actions of the false legalisers and then saying, “BUT AS FOR ME!”
(b). Here is something to consider carefully from Macknight – [[“it inspires them with such principles, and leads them to such a course of life, as renders them, in the eyes of the world, as contemptible, and as unfit for their purposes, as if they were dead carcasses. All believers, therefore, after the apostle’s example, justly glory in the crucifixion of their Master, not only as it is the foundation of that assured hope of pardon which they entertain, but as it is an effectual principle of their sanctification.”]]
(c). The third and last observation I would like to make comes from Barnes who has written some good points – [[“That I should glory - That I should boast; or that I should rely on any thing else. Others glory in their conformity to the laws of Moses; others in their zeal, or their talents, or their learning, or their orthodoxy; others in their wealth, or their accomplishments; others in their family alliances, and their birth; but the supreme boast and glorying of a Christian is in the cross of Christ.”
In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ - In Jesus the crucified Messiah. It is a subject of rejoicing and glorying that we have such a Saviour. The world looked upon him with contempt; and the cross was a stumbling-block to the Jew, and nonsense to the Greek - 1 Corinthians 1:23. BUT TO THE CHRISTIAN, THAT CROSS IS THE SUBJECT OF GLORYING. IT IS SO BECAUSE:
(1). Of the love of him who suffered there;
(2). Of the purity and holiness of His character, for the innocent died there for the guilty;
(3). Of the honour there put on the Law of God by his dying to maintain it unsullied;
(4). Of the reconciliation there made for sin, accomplishing what could be done by no other oblation, and by no power of man;
(5). Of the pardon there procured for the guilty;
(6). Of the fact that through it we become dead to the world, and are made alive to God;
(7). Of the support and consolation which goes from that cross to sustain us in trial; and,
(8). Of the fact that it procured for us admission into heaven, a title to the world of glory. All is glory around the cross.”]] END OF QUOTE
[5]. WHAT WERE SOME LEGITIMATE POINTS OF BOASTING PAUL HAD?
(a). Paul penned these words – {{Romans 15:16-18 “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. THEREFORE in Christ Jesus I have found REASON FOR BOASTING IN THINGS PERTAINING TO GOD for I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,”}}. It was Christ’s work that was the cause of boasting. Great things God has done. It had nothing to do with Paul or his ability. Magnify the Lord. Lift up HIS name, never our own. Attention drawn to one’s self is pride and comes from an arrogant heart.
(b). This next verse is so important – {{1 Corinthians 9:16 “If I preach the gospel, I have NOTHING TO BOAST OF for I AM UNDER COMPULSION, for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”}}. Here you have a man of God in the Master’s service who is nothing more than an ambassador or a messenger proclaiming the task given to him. None of the message is the proclaimer’s achievements but what Another has achieved in the salvation of mankind. The Holy Spirit drives Paul onward under compulsion and if he does not go forth or obey, then woe be unto him! He was commissioned to preach the gospel and for that he was under the greatest obligation to do it.
(c). {{2 Corinthians 7:3-4 “I do not speak to condemn you for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. Great is my confidence in you. GREAT IS MY BOASTING ON YOUR BEHALF. I am filled with comfort. I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.”}}. Paul’s boasting was great – NOT IN WHAT HE HAD ACHIEVED IN THE CORINTHIANS - but in what the Lord had done in them. In spite of all the troubles and afflictions Satan put in Paul’s way, his joy was bursting forth in what the Lord had done.
(d). {{2 Corinthians 7:13 “For this reason we have been comforted and besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all,
2Cor. 7:14 for if in ANYTHING I HAVE BOASTED TO HIM ABOUT YOU, I was not put to shame, but as we spoke all things to you in truth, SO ALSO OUR BOASTING BEFORE TITUS PROVED TO BE THE TRUTH.”}}. This boasting is not grandstanding. It is confirming the work of the Lord in others. We (the messengers, the workers) are nothing, but the Lord is everything. Paul had been telling Titus what things the Lord had done, and boasting in the Corinthians testimony. Boasting here is giving glory to the Lord.
(e). Here is a more serious passage. It is sometimes called “the enforced boasting”. {{2 Corinthians 11:16-20 “Again I say, let no one think me foolish but if you do, receive me even as foolish, THAT I ALSO MAY BOAST A LITTLE. That which I am speaking, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as IN FOOLISHNESS, IN THIS CONFIDENCE OF BOASTING. SINCE MANY BOAST ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, I WILL BOAST ALSO, for you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly, for you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.”}}
The false teachers and corrupters of the faith were proud of their accomplishments in gaining converts. This applied mostly to the legalisers putting people under the Law of Moses. They were proud and boastful of their experiences but in reality, they were lightweights. In order to show their foolishness Paul resorted to boasting in the manner of these false ones, just to prove the point. He makes it clear that is not what he is. It was to show the foolishness and hypocrisy of the false teachers.
Paul then went on in the next few verses in his letter to outline the things that had happened to him, beatings, shipwrecks, etc. By contrast the false one are made to look fools. Paul does this
as a reprimand to the Corinthians for this was his assessment of them – {{for you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly, for you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.”}}
(f). Paul makes these statements about boasting in regards to his weaknesses. {{2 Corinthians 11:30 “If I have to boast, I WILL BOAST OF WHAT PERTAINS TO MY WEAKNESS.”}}. {{2 Corinthians 12:5-6 “On behalf of such a man will I boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, EXCEPT IN REGARD TO MY WEAKNESSES, for if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.”}}. {{2 Corinthians 12:9 “and He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,’ for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I WILL RATHER BOAST ABOUT MY WEAKNESSES, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”}}
(g). WEAKNESSES ARE WHAT PAUL WILL BOAST, ABOUT BUT WHAT ARE THESE WEAKNESSES?
All versions except the Catholic Douay, Youngs, Webster and the AV/KJV translate the word as “weaknesses”. Those 4 versions use “infirmities”. The Aramaic Version uses “sufferings”. The Greek is “weaknesses” with the associated meanings of feebleness, malady, and frailty.
[[Practically his boasting has been only of those afflictions which to others might sound like a record of disgraces, but which left on him the marks of the Lord Jesus. His hairbreadth escapes were to him, "marks of the protection of Heaven."]] Pulpit commentary.
[]. Gill has a clear explanation of what is generally accepted by writers - [[“(His weaknesses/infirmities) mean not his sins, for these cause shame; but his afflictions and sufferings for Christ, through which he was supported, and from which he was delivered by the power of Christ; and that was the reason he chose to glory of them; for though they rendered him mean and despicable in the eyes of the world, yet his bearing them with so much patience, courage, and pleasure, and his many singular deliverances out of them, served greatly to illustrate the power and grace of Christ, and at the same time proved him to be a true and faithful minister of the Gospel.”]]
[6]. TO END – SOME OF PAUL’S COMMENTS ABOUT BOASTING
{{Romans 1:30 “slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, BOASTFUL, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,”}} Boasting is a natural outcome of the fallen nature but it must mean arrogant godless boasting.
{{Romans 3:27 “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”}} The law of faith is the walk we have as Christians. It is not walking according to legalism when we can boast about how good we are, better than the taxgather next to me in the Temple. Faith connects with God, not with self-effort.
{{1 Corinthians 1:31 that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” This is why I think we must keep a “spy camera” on ourselves to keep check boasting does not escape from its chained pen.
{{2 Corinthians 10:17 “HE WHO BOASTS, LET HIM BOAST IN THE LORD,”}} This is as simple as it gets. Boast in the Lord and not in ourselves. We are weak and unstable and boasting will cause strife where there was harmony. It will start gossip and division.
{{Galatians 5:26 “LET US NOT BECOME BOASTFUL, challenging one another, envying one another.”}} Boasting will cause tensions and trouble for all. It will start to measure ourselves against others (challenges them), then cause a breakdown. It is an evil thing.
{{James 3:5 “so also, THE TONGUE is a small part of the body and yet IT BOASTS OF GREAT THINGS. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire.”}} The pride of a boasting tongue among God’s people will cause a fire of division and ill-feeling.
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