Glorying In The Cross | Galatians 6:11-18 | Pastor John Miller

as paul closes his letter to the galatians he comes back tonight to his favorite theme and that is the cross of jesus christ why is the cross so prominent in the book of galatians i don't know if you're new to the series tonight maybe you haven't caught up with us or maybe you haven't been going through the galatians study but one of the central if not the central theme of galatians is the cross of jesus christ and a lot of people wouldn't really know that or think about that but you go through galatians in almost every chapter paul has something to say about the cross of jesus christ and here's simply the reason why because false teachers who were known as judaizers they were jews who professed to be christians they were really false teachers and they come into this church in galatia and they were telling gentile non-jewish believers that you can't be a christian unless you are circumcised and become jewish and keep the law of moses and follow dietary rules and rituals and so they were judaizing the gentile believers and so the cross of christ was what it was at stake the finished work of jesus for our salvation so paul saw it for what it really was it was an attack against the cross and its sufficiency and its centrality in the gospel message you take away the cross of christ and you don't have the grace of god you have no saving power of god and so they were enemies of the cross of christ and so paul talks so much about it and i want to give you all seven references real quickly as i can rapid fire just give you the reference and the text but the first reference to the cross of christ in galatians was in chapter 1 verses 4 and 5. and if you can just write down the verses nothing else you can look them up and i know that you'll be encouraged by looking at them verse chapter 1 verse 4 and 5 it related to the cross and salvation the second reference was in chapter 2 verse 19 to 21 it was the cross and the christians experience and then the third reference to the cross in galatians in chapter 3 verses 1 to 3 paul used the cross as the central focus of his preaching and then the fourth reference to the cross in the book of galatians is in chapter 3 verse 10 to 14 and that is the cross and substitution that jesus took our place and paid for our sins on the cross and then the fifth reference to the cross in the book of galatians is the persecution that comes with standing in the cross chapter 5 verse 11 and we're going to get it tonight in chapter 6 and verse 12. and then the sixth reference to the cross is in chapter 5 verse 24 where the cross is tied into holy living and holiness and then the seventh which kind of interesting and biblical numerology is god's number of completion that the seventh reference is chapter 6 and verse 14. we'll cover this tonight that paul says we should be boasting and gloring in the cross now paul's method of writing letters was that he would dictate them to a nemanja she had a secretary an assistant that he would actually dictate the letter to so paul would speak and he would write so it was done by the holy spirit's inspiration now some people get confused they say well the bible is written by men it's not really the word of god this is how it works god superintended the human authors so the very words they wrote were the words of god so it's born out of a historical situation where paul says hey there's a bad scene in the galatian church the heretics have come in and and the gospel is at stake so i need to send them a letter so we had a secretary get out some papyrus and get a pen and then he started dictating the letter and it would all seem very natural just paul speaking but paul was an apostle called by god and the bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of god so that's what we call the doctrine of inspiration and the definition of it is that god superintended the human authors so that the very words they wrote were the words of god so god sovereignly made sure that what they said was exactly what he wanted them to say in peter's epistle he said that they were holy men carried along borne along by the holy spirit so it wasn't just dictation it wasn't like some voice coming into their head and you know they had to write it down but it was just a historical situation but god was watching over that and superintending them so each epistle has their own personality their own style when you read paul's epistle you can tell pauline or you can read john's letters and we know the way john wrote or luke or matthew when they wrote their gospels but god's hand was on their authorship so paul was dictating this to a secretary now why do i mention that it's because at this point in our text paul picks up the pin now normally paul would only sign his name at the end of the letter and he would dictate it but this time he actually writes it now we don't know if he wrote the whole letter to the galatians because of the importance of the subject or if he just began in verse 11 down to verse 18 needless to say that verse 11 to 18 of chapter 6 is an epilogue of the book of galatians so it's actually just a wrap up of the book of galatians one author that i read in his commentary referred to it as a resume i like that a resume on the book of galatians so paul takes all the themes of the book of galatians and he writes a short little resume in his epilogue as he wraps up the series but obviously he's writing look at verse 11 with me paul says you see how large a letter i have written unto you with my own hand notice that my own hand now it could be that paul wrote the entire book of galatians or more likely and this is where i would kind of lean toward that paul is actually writing from this point on that he takes the pin and he writes the epilogue to his letter to the galatians now when he says you see how large a letter i've written unto you with my known hand galatians is only six chapters so it's obvious he's not talking about the length of the letter it's a short letter it's not a first corinthians or second corinthians or romans so it's a shorter letter so what is paul referring to a large letter well he's probably referring to the font or the size of the print or the handwritten size of the letters that he actually wrote some other modern translations i think catch the just of this when it's translated c with how large letters i've written unto you with my own hand so most greek scholars believe that it's a reference not to the length of the epistle but the largeness of the letters and this would be consistent with what paul said earlier in chapter 5 4 15 where he said if it were possible you galatians you would pluck your own eyes out and give them to me now there's heart it's hard to understand why paul would make a statement like that unless paul had bad eyes and so paul was most likely a man that's eyes were starting to give out and those days didn't have a lot of modern medicine and things like that people would go blind quite readily so paul's eyesight was going bad and he said you would give me your own eyes because you loved me so much so it's very possible that paul was writing because his eyesight was bad in large letters but another theory and i like this as well is that paul was writing in large letters the epilogue because of the importance of what he was having to say so he's writing for emphasis and we might do that big capital letters you know an exclamation point and underline it and point arrows to it you know and happy faces around it so paul is writing and he wants to emphasize the importance of the doctrine by writing these large letters so it indicates the importance perhaps of paul's words in closing this epistle now there are three things that paul does by way of outlining this closing of galatians number one he summarizes the letter verse 11 to 16. number two he makes an appeal that's personal verse 17 and then verse 18 thirdly he pronounces a benediction or blessing on the believers there in galatia so let's look first at this verse 11 to verse 16 this resume or summary of the book of galatians follow with me in verse 11. he says you see how large a letter i've written unto you with my own hand as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh now he's referring to the false teachers which is the whole reason he wrote this letter and he says what they're trying to do is basically show off and display the circumcision of your flesh they constrain you they pressure you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of christ for neither they themselves verse 13 who are circumcised keep the law but they desire to have you circumcised that they may be glorying in your flesh but paul says god forbid that i should glory they glory in your flesh and in their flesh they're legalistic but god forbid that i should glory save in the cross of our lord jesus christ by whom the the world is crucified unto me and i into the world for in christ jesus is neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but the new creation or the new creature now as many as walk according to this rule that is the rule of the emphasis being on the new creation that you must be born again that's the only thing that really matters he says peace be on them and mercy is upon the israel of god so under this summary which is the better part of this epilogue paul is warning first of all verses 11 to 13 about the false teachers known as the judaizers and we won't spend much time on this or them but they were again jews professing to be christians that were actually distorting the cross and the gospel of grace they were basically saying which a lot of people say today that it's not enough to just believe in jesus you have to also do to be saved when the gospel says done it is finished christ paid it all on the cross these legalists say well you have to be baptized or you have to you know worship on a certain day you have to follow certain dietary laws you have to wear special clothes and do certain things and do these rights and rituals if you're going to be saved or go to heaven when the bible actually is very clear that we're saved by grace through faith and that it's not that is our salvation of our self it is the gift of god not of works lest any man should boast and i've said it all the way through the series on galatians i'll say it again salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone through faith alone nothing more through christ alone nothing more by the grace of god alone that's how a person is saved now true saving faith will not be alone it will produce in the truly born-again individual a life of holiness and godliness not perfection as long as you're in these sinful bodies but it will produce a change there will be fruit in a person's life if a person just says with their mouth i'm a christian i believe in jesus christ but their life does not show any evidence or indication of new life or conversion then you have to question whether or not they've really been born again i can't tell you how often people say to me i got a family member or my dad or my mom or my husband or my wife or my kid yeah they say they're saved but they don't show any indication that they love jesus they don't read the bible they want to go to church they never talk about christ there's no fruit in their life and you know it's kind of hard to believe that they've been born again those of you that have been born again you know that your life changed right things you used to love you now hate the things you used to hate you now love and your speech change i remember when i got saved one of the first things that changed was words that came out of my mouth because jesus said from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and so when i got a new heart and new words came out someone said if it's in the well it comes up in the bucket sometimes people slip and say a bad word in front oh pastor john i'm sorry i don't know where that came from i saw i know it came from it came from your heart if it's in the well it comes up in the bucket if it doesn't if it's not in the heart it won't come out the mouth so that's why we need a holy spirit to regenerate us and give us a new heart the bible actually says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but only that was just good to the use of edifying one another so it's a it's really an oxymoron to say i'm a christian and then vulgarity flows out of your mouth something's wrong with your heart you need to be a new creation in christ so he's dealing with these false teachers and he said they like to make a show in the flesh their whole focus is how many converts have we made to judaism and the identifying mark of their conversion is circumcision so they glory in their flesh and so they're trying to follow get people to follow after them and increase their numbers and their ranks you know the etymology of the word heretic actually means to divide and split so a heretic is someone who pulls people away from orthodox christianity they're always trying to prey on a true church to follow their false doctrine they don't go to colts to try to win them to their doctrine they go to true christian churches and try to pull them away so he's basically saying that they're basically showing off and trying to impress people and there are a lot of so-called ministers today that do the same thing that try to impress others by the size of their congregation and the size of their budget and their television ministry and whatnot and they pulling people after themselves but they're really just displaying their desire to glory in the flesh not preaching the cross of jesus christ that word constrain you really means that they pressure you no spiritual leader should ever resort to pressure tactics to try to pressure people into following the things of god's word but they pressure you to be circumcised and the only reason they do that at the end of verse 12 is that they don't want to be persecuted for the cross of christ the scriptures are very clear that the cross and the doctrine of the cross run counter to the flesh and to the popular views and opinions of man when you become a christian you become a follower of christ you deny yourself you take up your cross and you follow jesus christ the world's going to think you've lost your mind maybe you get saved at a young age and your parents wonder why are you going to church so much why would you go on wednesday night what's wrong with you only crazy people do that why would you want to be a missionary why would you want to give money to the church to to expand the work you know and you need to do this and you need to do that or people think you're crazy so taking a stand for the cross means that you will be opposed by the world to preach the crosses to crucify the flesh the world says i can do it i got my act together i'm strong i'm self-sufficient i can work my way to heaven i can pull myself up by my own bootstraps the crosses that all have sinned fallen short of the glory of god the bible says there's no one righteous knowing that one the cross says we come with nothing in our hands and we just receive what god gives to us freely you know sometimes it's humbling when people give you something it's kind of humbling to our pride well i i appreciate that but i can buy my own or i can work my own way or i i don't need help so you have to come as a dependent humble child seeing yourself as a destitute sinner before a holy god and you come with nothing in your hands to receive by faith and grace the work that jesus accomplished for you on the cross as we break the bread tonight drink the cup it's all about what jesus paid for us on the cross to purchase our salvation so he says in closing this section verse 13 for neither they themselves that is these legalists who who who want who who are circumcised keep the law so they boast in the law they get others to follow the law and put them under bondage to the law and yet they themselves do not keep the law so he's basically saying they're hypocrites but they desire to have you circumcise that they may glory in your flesh so their legalists glories in his flesh or his works or his own accomplish accomplishments doesn't glory in the cross then he closes in verse 14 to verse 16. he says but god forbid that i should glory except in one thing or one area the cross of our lord jesus christ and it's in the cross that the world is crucified unto me and i am crucified unto the world for in christ jesus neither circumcision avails anything or uncircumcision but the new creation or creature as many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy upon the israel of god now we could spend quite some time verse 14 to verse 16 but again we're in this section where he's summarizing the book of galatians and he comes back to his main central theme of the cross they glory in their works they glory in their flesh one of the marks of a true believer is that he has no confidence in the flesh he worships god in the spirit so the focus isn't look what i've done look what i've accomplished how awesome i am this is why a true christian is humble if you come a sinner and you're saved by grace you have nothing to glory in other than the work of jesus christ in your behalf but these legalists are glorying in their flesh so paul makes this fantastic statement that we're so familiar with god forbid it means perish the thought may it never happen i never want to turn away from the cross that i personally should glory in the cross so paul says god forbid that i should never glory in the cross i only want a glory in the cross not the flesh now notice it's the cross of our lord jesus christ and it has a twofold effect i am crucified to the world and the world is crucified unto me and he says when you become a christian circumcision verse 15 isn't what matters what matters is the new creature now you could change that concept today and say not what matters isn't your baptism what matters isn't your communion what matters isn't your rights or your rituals what matters is have you been born again verse 15 is one of the most marvelous statements in the whole book of galatians paul's saying what is really important is that you're born again people say why go to church group groovy duvy i've been baptized big deal that's wonderful i take communion i've gone through catechism i'm born in america i eat apple pie with cheese on it wow you're awesome are you a new creation have you been born again you know one of the most religious individuals if anyone could get to heaven by being good it was it was nicodemus john 3. and he came to jesus and he said what do i need to do to get into the kingdom of god jesus didn't say what do you mean you're a leader of the jews you're a pharisee you're a teacher of the jews you're just you've got it all together don't worry about it dude you're in jesus said you must be what born again literally the expression means born from above it's a spiritual rebirth so it's not about your religious affiliation your religious denomination it's not about your rights or rituals or what you've done or how good you've lived or i don't smoke and i don't chew and i don't hang out with those that do it's are you a new creation in christ have you been born again that's all that matters have you given have you gotten new life theological term for that is regeneration it means that you're made new and given new life by the holy spirit it's so very very important now those who walk according verse 16 to this rule then he wishes peace on them and mercy upon the israel of god i'm not sure what he means by the israel of god most likely he's talking about jews who are born again and saved maybe he's alluding to the fact that you don't have to be circumcised to become a christian spiritually you're the israel of god you're the chosen of god it could be he's talking about the gentiles being the church we're not really sure but needless to say he's talking about saved individuals he calls them here the israel of god now i want to focus for just a moment before we wrap up our study on the idea of gloring in the cross the word glory verse 14 means to boast it means to have joy in it means to trust in and it's that we revel in i like that concept we revel in the cross it means to take great pleasure in the cross some people wear a cross just because it's nice jewelry but they've never trusted the christ of the cross and been given new life or been born again to enter the kingdom of heaven but why should we glory in the cross let me answer that question if you're taking notes write these down first of all because it's the person of the cross that we glory in verse 14 it's the cross of our lord jesus christ so reason number one that we should glory in the cross and this list could be quite long is because of the person of the cross it's the lord jesus christ jesus christ is the second member of the godhead he left heaven came to earth took on humanity through the womb of the virgin mary that which was conceived in her womb was the work of the holy spirit and then he lived for 33 years as the god man then he voluntarily went to a cross and laid down his life as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins was buried and three days later he did what he rose again from the dead now no one else in history has ever done that no other religious leader came from heaven left the first person and the second person of the godhead was conceived in a virgin womb lived a sinless life died of substitutionary death and rose from the dead and then ascended back into heaven so jesus proved by his very life that he was the savior of the world he became our prophet our priest and our king so why would we glory in the cross because it's the son of god jesus christ the savior of the world that came to die on that cruel cross what makes the cross special is the fact that the son of god died for us on that cross the second reason we glory and the cross write it down is because of the purpose of the cross the purpose of the cross let me give you some of the purposes of the cross number one it is the ground of our salvation there's no way that we could be saved apart from the cross when jesus prayed in the garden of gethsemane if there's any other way for this cup to pass from me let it be but not my will but thine be done was no other way for god to redeem man other than jesus to die on the cross so it's the ground of our salvation and that salvation is described in these five words i want to give them to you and try not to carry on them the first is justification is found in the cross god declares us righteous that we're justified the second word is propitiation which is a forensic term a legal term it means to be pronounced righteous based on the finished work of christ on the cross it has the idea of satisfaction but it's not appeasement it's conveying the idea of penalty of the law that's been broken has been paid so the death of jesus christ wasn't just for sinful man it was for a holy god it was god's word so this is the death of jesus christ god word and we we don't often think about this but jesus died to satisfy the demands of a holy righteous god whose laws have been broken you see god can't just justify the unjust and maintain his righteousness and his justice that would be unfair so the law must be paid for and it was in the cross of jesus christ it's called propitiation the third word is imputation and that means god credits the righteousness of christ to our behalf and it's a banking term and then he takes our sin and places it on christ so there's a switch going on here so he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of god so he imputes and you can't understand the cross you can't understand salvation you can't understand the christian life unless you understand the doctrine of imputation god imputes puts to my account the righteousness of jesus christ and then the fourth word is reconciliation it means to bring back together when a husband and wife have been separated and they get back together they are reconciled so we're separated from god we're estranged from god so this is how it works god reconciles us we do not reconcile ourselves to god god reconciles us to him by paying the penalty on the cross so we are one with god and then the fifth word is the word redemption these are the words of the cross and the word redemption means to be purchased and to be set free so we're slaves to sin god sent his son to die for us on the cross to purchase us and to set us free redemption but let me give you the second purpose of the cross it's the ground it's the means of our sanctification so it's the ground of our salvation and it's the means of our sanctification look at verse 14. he says by whom the world is crucified unto me and i unto the world this is another aspect of the cross that we don't often think about when you become a christian the world dies to you all its glamour all its glitz all its glory lust of the flesh lust of the eyes the pride of life it just all dies to you and you die to it john says love not the world neither the things that are in the world things that are in the world lust of the flesh lust to the eyes and the pride of life they're not of the father but they're of the world this is why when you become a christian you know some of the things you used to do before you got saved aren't that exciting anymore the places you used to go the things you used to do i won't get too specific i don't want to freak anyone out i could give you my little list but i think it's suffice that you know what i'm talking about i'm trying to resist going into detail he says i don't need that anymore i don't want to do that why don't you come to the parties anymore why don't you get drunk with us anymore why don't you sleep around anymore why don't you do what you used to do you used to be such a fun guy i god's sake bomber you're a christian that's that's bad that's too bad what do you do for fun once you become a christian well the things you used to love you know hate and the things used to hate you i i started going back to church i couldn't believe i was in church reading my bible and liking it first church i went to was a little pentecostal church youngest person next to me i was 19 20 youngest person to me was like 65 and they got all excited a young person is here not only that a hippie young person and they were just all excited and i was excited and we're fellowship and we're praising the god i didn't care if there wasn't anyone look like me they were believers and we're in fellowship and i couldn't believe that i actually liked going to church i actually wanted to read my bible so i was dead to the world and the world was dead to me so now i want to live a life that pleases god a life of holiness how can we live in sin when it's sin that put jesus on the cross one of the many reasons for communion is to remind you that sin your sin my sin our sin put jesus on the cross so how can you eat the bread and drink the cup and then go out and sin willfully when it's sin that put jesus on the cross i love the old song by elizabeth kipling beneath the cross of jesus there's one stanza that says quote i take o cross thy shadow for my abiding place i ask no other sunshine in the sunshine of his face content to let the world go by to know no gain nor loss my sinful self my only shame and my glory all the cross but beautiful words i'm content to let the world go by to know no gain nor lost my sinful self my only shame my glory is all the cross that's what paul is saying in this text but thirdly notice the purpose of the cross or excuse me the third reason for the cross is that it's the subject of our proclamation it's the subject of our proclamation so it's the person of the cross that makes us boast in the cross it's the purpose of the cross and it's the proclamation of the cross that is the central theme and what we tell others about we preach christ crucified write down first corinthians 15 verse 3 and 4 for i delivered unto you first of all that which also i received how christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures christian preaching gospel preaching has christ in the center his person and work just because it's said it's christian preaching doesn't mean it's christian preaching it must be christ crucified that's christian preaching you must preach the cross of jesus christ he must be the center and the circumference of all true christian preaching jesus said in john 12 32 if i be lifted up from the earth i will do what draw all men to me jesus was referring to his crucifixion his death on the cross but it also is true that if he is preached crucified the spirit of god will draw people unto jesus christ so very important now in closing verse 17 and 18 paul's personal appeal is the second main division of this epilogue he says from henceforth let no man trouble me i love this for reason i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus christ it's almost like he's saying you legalist once and for all just leave me alone they were attacking paul they were opposing paul they were accusing paul of a lot of horrible things paul says i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus he's talking about the scars that he bore for preaching christ you know when paul's apostleship was questioned you know what he did to prove it took off his shirt he didn't show his muscles he showed his scarves the whippings and the beatings that he endured for the sake of christ the bible says all that live godly in christ jesus will suffer persecution so paul says look i bear in my body and it's possible that there's a play on words where the legalists were all about circumcising paul says i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus they're the scars that tie into his cross and the preaching of the cross the mark of the lord jesus is not some right or ritual that's just in the flesh but it's the work of god's spirit in the heart manifested by the preaching of the cross which brings me to opposition and persecution by the world and then he closes in verse 18 with his benediction he says brethren which is a generic term by the way which includes sister in as well so ladies don't be turned off by that he says the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit amen so be it now isn't it awesome that paul finishes this letter to the galatians which is all about the grace of god all about salvation by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone and he ends in on a note with benediction of prayer grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit amen not the law of moses be with you but the grace of jesus be with you the law came by moses but grace and truth came by jesus christ in ephesians 2 verse 8 and 9 by grace you have been what through faith and that not of yourselves and we go through ephesians on wednesday night we're going to go deep into that text that which is not of yourself is not referring to your faith it's referring to salvation your salvation is not of yourself it's not by works not by rights it's not by rituals that none of yourself it is a what gift of god not of works lest any man should boast there's our word if you could save yourself you got something to boast in your flesh but since we cannot save ourselves there's only one place for us to boast tonight and that's in the cross of jesus christ amen let's pray

Channel: Revival Christian Fellowship

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Length: 38min 59sec (2339 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 08 2021