Galatians 6:11-18: Boasting Only in the Cross

Galatians 6:11-18: Boasting Only in the Cross

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and today the next and final passage we come to is Galatians 6:11-18. It says,

11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. 17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re gathered around this text of Scripture today because we want to hear from you. And we want to hear from you because we want to know you more and love you more and be more conformed to your image. So, please, bless our efforts and glorify your name. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

The cross is, by far, the most widely recognized symbol of Christianity. In fact, it’s rather difficult to imagine anyone—in any developed nation, at least—who wouldn’t immediately recognize the cross and associate it with Christianity. Many churches have the symbol of the cross somewhere on their building—as we do on both the outside and inside of our building—and many people wear necklaces or other pieces of jewelry that display the cross. I even see pictures of many well-known celebrities in our society who live lives of notorious sin for some reason still wearing cross necklaces. I’ve always found that to be a bit puzzling, but I guess it just goes to show how popular the symbol of the cross is. 

Yet it’s important to remember that, in the ancient Roman Empire, the cross was a symbol of death. It represented crucifixion, which is one of the most painful and barbaric means of execution that’s ever been devised. Crucifixion was specifically designed to humiliate someone and subject them to as much suffering as possible before finally—after a period of prolonged agony—bringing about their death. It was unthinkably brutal and inhumane.  

So, wearing a cross necklace in ancient Roman society would have been like going around today wearing a necklace with an electric chair or some type of medieval torture device on it. To say the least, a cross necklace would have been considered quite strange. So, why is something as downright gruesome as a cross so popular today as a symbol of Christianity? And in addition to that, why does Paul say in our main passage in Galatians 6 that he “boasts” in the cross? After all we don’t typically view boasting in a positive manner. Yet Paul openly declares that he boasts in the cross. Why does he do that? These are some of the questions we’ll address as we walk through this passage of Galatians 6:11-18. 

And as we’ll see, it’s not just that Paul boasted in the cross but that all of us who are Christians should boast in the cross as well. In fact, that’s the main idea we encounter in this passage. To state in concisely, the main idea is that genuine Christian faith leads people to boast only in the cross. Again, genuine Christian faith leads people to boast only in the cross. 

Now, to remind you of the background here, some false teachers known as Judaizers had infiltrated the churches of Galatia and were teaching that it’s necessary to observe the Old Testament law in order to be made right with God and gain entrance into heaven. This included observing the food laws of the Old Testament, the various festivals required in the Old Testament, and—perhaps most importantly—the Old Testament ritual of circumcision. The Judaizers were claiming that all of these things are necessary in order for a person’s faith in Jesus to be valid. And if you’ve been with us on our journey through Galatians, you know that Paul’s been quite clear in his denunciation of the Judaizers and his insistence that their teachings aren’t just wrong but so wrong that they amount to a denial of the gospel message of Christianity. Those who advocate the teachings of the Judaizers aren’t just bad Christians or misguided Christians—they’re not Christians. And Paul’s explained in painstaking detail throughout his letter why exactly that’s the case. 

So, here in the conclusion of the letter, it shouldn’t come as any surprise to us that Paul takes aim at the Judaizers one last time. And he does so in a very memorable way. So, let’s walk through this passage and see what Paul says. 

First, in verse 11, he writes, “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.” Following the customs of his day, Paul wrote most of his letters not with his own hand but rather through a professional scribe, known as an amanuensis. Paul would dictate to the amanuensis what he wanted written, and the amanuensis would write it down. Yet Paul writes this final portion of his letter not through an amanuensis but with his own hand—probably in order to demonstrate the genuineness of the letter and also possibly to emphasize the importance of what he’s about to write.  

He then says in verses 12-13, 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 

So, in these verses, Paul identifies three ungodly motives of the Judaizers. First, they’re motivated by a desire to impress others. Paul describes them in verse 12 as “those who want to make a good showing in the flesh.” Now, when Paul speaks in this context of “the flesh,” he’s speaking of a human perspective and of human accomplishment. So, as “those who want to make a good showing in the flesh,” the Judaizers wanted everyone to see how religiously devoted they are and be impressed by the thoroughness of their adherence to Old Testament teaching. Their desire was to be esteemed and admired—especially by those who belonged to the Jewish religious establishment. So, basically, the Judaizers cared more about impressing people than they did about pleasing God. 

And unfortunately, from what I’ve observed, it seems that many people today—and probably even a strong majority of people—have that mentality as well. Some of you know that I do a lot of my work during the week at the Mt. Lebanon Galleria. I just find the Galleria to be a pleasant environment that’s nice to be in. Yet one thing I can’t help but notice as I’m in a public environment like that is that people care a lot about appearances. Now, I’ll readily admit that I’m not the most observant person by any means, but even I can tell that many of the people who shop at the Galleria put an extraordinary amount of time and energy into perfecting their personal appearance—from their hair to their nails to their makeup to their designer clothing. It’s like everything has to be perfect—and not just with them but with their kids as well. 

And of course, I’m not saying it’s wrong to give attention to our physical appearance. But seeing people day after day who give so much attention to their physical appearance is a reminder to me of just how much people in general in our society care about appearances. Because understand that this isn’t just limited to people who shop at the Galleria. Even if you do most of your clothes shopping on Amazon, it’s still very possible for you to care way too much about what others think of you. 

In fact, this is true even of many people who attend church on Sundays. Unfortunately, there are many churchgoers across our society who go out of their way to make it seem like they have it all together and to give others the impression that everything’s absolutely wonderful all the time in their lives and in their relationship with God. I mean, they might have the occasional prideful thought every now and then, but other than that, they don’t really have any significant sins in their lives—or so they might lead people to believe. In some cases, they may even go out of their way to impress others at church with how “spiritual” or religiously devoted they are. Yet, in that regard, they’re much like the Judaizers, who wanted to “make a good showing in the flesh.”

However, as we see in verse 12, that’s not all that was going on in the hearts of the Judaizers. Not only does Paul describe them as those “who want to make a good showing in the flesh,” he also says that the reason they advocate circumcision as a requirement for going to heaven is “in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” That’s the second ungodly motive of the Judaizers. Not only were they trying to impress others, they were also trying to avoid persecution. 

They knew that if they proclaimed the true gospel message—spoken of here as the message of “the cross of Christ”—they’d be persecuted by the Jewish religious authorities. In all likelihood, they’d also be rejected by their Jewish friends and family members and be treated as outcasts in Jewish society. This would also result in them facing severe financial and economic consequences as well. So, to avoid all of that, the Judaizers compromised key elements of the gospel. 

And that’s a danger we have to be aware of as well. In many cases, it’s simply not possible to be both faithful to God and popular in society—or even necessarily be treated well by society. Instead, we should expect that there will often be a price to pay for our faithfulness to God. The message of the cross is and will always be offensive to those who are in rebellion against God.

Then, finally, we see a third ungodly motive of the Judaizers, which basically boils down to their desire to obtain bragging rights. In verse 13, Paul states that “they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” The Judaizers desired to attract a following for themselves so that they’d be able to boast about how influential they were and how much they’d accomplished. Essentially, they wanted to “be somebody” and be regarded by others as notable teachers and leaders. 

However, as we move forward in this passage, we see that Paul has a much different mentality. In contrast to the Judaizers, who desired to “boast” in their own accomplishments, Paul says in verse 14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” And as I’ve already noted, that concept of boasting in the cross is central to Paul’s point in this passage. So, what does it mean to boast in the cross? 

Well, in contrast to the prideful manner in which people most often boast, the boasting of which Paul speaks in this verse is something quite different—because he’s boasting not in himself but in Jesus and in what Jesus accomplished on the cross. To boast in the cross means, first of all, to have confidence in the cross. Instead of being confident in his own moral accomplishments or religious observances—as if those things could ever make him right with God or merit God’s favor—Paul’s confidence was in what Jesus had accomplished on the cross. Paul understood that’s the only way he as a sinful person could ever be right with a holy God. 

Yet, even beyond that, to boast in the cross carries the idea not only of being confident in the cross but also of rejoicing and exulting in the cross. To boast in the cross is to glory in the cross. 

A helpful comparison might be when a parent—especially a brand-new parent—absolutely adores their new baby. They might post pictures of their baby on social media and probably talk about their baby quite frequently in conversations with others. It’s very apparent that they adore their baby. On some occasions, I’ve even heard a parent say of their child, “He’s my world,” or “She’s my world.” Now, to be clear, I’m not sure that’s a particularly good or biblical way to order your priorities. As much as you might love your children, hopefully there’s more to your world than just your children. Yet there are parents who occasionally say that their kids are their world. And that’s a great example of what it means to glory in something. 

It's also similar to the way in which Paul speaks of the cross in this verse. For Paul to boast in the cross essentially means that he glories in the cross and that the cross is more precious to him than everything else in this world put together. In a matter of speaking, the cross is his world. Whereas the Judaizers only knew how to glory in themselves and in their own accomplishments and earthly prestige, Paul says that he refuses to glory in anything except the cross. That’s what he means when he writes, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And the reason the cross was so precious to Paul is because Paul understood, first of all, the depths of his sin. It’s only when we understand how wretched we are as sinners before a holy God and how deserving we are of God’s wrath that we can properly appreciate the cross. It’s a lot like the stars. If you want to see the stars, you have to go out at night. And if you really want to see the stars in the fullness of their beauty, then you have to not only go out at night but also drive far out into the country, away from all artificial light. And it’s then, when the sky is the blackest, that you can see a dazzling array of stars shining in all their beauty. In a similar way, it’s only when we see the blackness of our sin and the wrath our sin deserves that we’re able to appreciate the beauty and glory of the cross. Until we recognize the depth and vileness of our sin that the cross saves us from, we’ll never be able to comprehend what makes the cross so glorious. 

In addition, not only did Paul understand the depth of his sin, he also understood what Jesus accomplished on the cross. By his death, Jesus atoned for our sins. Our sins cried out for God’s punishment, but Jesus bore that punishment so we wouldn’t have to. By dying on the cross, Jesus didn’t just set an example of selfless love and sacrifice—he actually accomplished something. He suffered in full the punishment that was necessary to atone for our sins. It’s as though we owed a massive debt to God’s justice and Jesus stepped in and paid that debt on our behalf. He was then raised from the dead with the result that everyone who puts their trust in him is forgiven of their sins and reconciled to God and given the free gift of eternal life. It's a message we call gospel. 

And this gospel message absolutely demolishes any basis for human pride—because it teaches us that salvation is received rather than achieved. That is, it’s a free gift that God gives us in his grace rather than something we achieve through our merit. As the esteemed theologian Jonathan Edwards once said, the only thing we can contribute to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary. This is why Paul says here in verse 14 that he doesn’t boast in himself or his own moral accomplishments or in anything “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And that’s the mentality of every true Christian. 

I appreciate the way Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV), where he writes, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Isn’t that a good question? “What do you have that you did not receive?” Then, the follow up: “And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Clearly, the degree to which we boast in ourselves is the degree to which we’ve misunderstood the gospel in a fundamental way. If we really understand the gospel, it leads to refuse to boast in anything except the cross. 

Not only that, there are two benefits of this mentality of boasting in the cross that I’d like to point out. First, boasting in the cross allows us to have an identity that’s stable. That’s the first benefit: an identity that’s stable. If you look around, there are all kinds of things in which people often try to find their identity. These include their job, material possessions, a romantic relationship, their children, the number of followers they have on social media, their commitment to a certain social or political cause, who they’re sexually attracted to, and a wide variety of other things. Yet all of these things are inherently unstable. For example, if you find your identity in a certain job and you lose your job, you’ve just lost your source of identity. Similarly, if you find your identity in a romantic relationship and the person you’re in love with leaves you, then what’s left to live for? Your entire sense of identity has just walked out the door with that person. 

Not only that, those who find their identity in the things of this world are often are often heavily dependent on receiving affirmation and validation from the people around them. That’s why people who identity as LBGT so often demand that their lifestyle and mentality be not just tolerated by others in society but celebrated. They, in some sense, have to demand that because their identity doesn’t stand on its own. It’s a paper-thin identity that’s entirely dependent on the affirmation and validation they receive from others. And make no mistake—it’s not just those who identify as LGBT who have that problem. Virtually everyone who finds their identity in the things of this world is heavily dependent on receiving affirmation and validation from others. 

Yet, as we look at what Paul says about himself here in verse 14, we see that he’s been freed from that mentality. As one who boasts or glories in the cross, Paul now has no concern about what the world thinks of him. Instead, he says that through the cross, “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

And of course, the reason Paul can say that is because he finds his identity not in what others think of him but rather in what God thinks of him. Paul knows that, because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross, God loves him and accepts him completely. And because Paul’s loved and accepted by God, he doesn’t feel a need to be constantly affirmed and validated by other people. 

And again, this is in stark contrast to the Judaizers, who—as we saw earlier—were driven by their craving for social validation. Their goal in life was, in the words of verse 12, “to make a good showing in the flesh.” Yet Paul knows that, through Jesus, he’s already perfectly loved and completely accepted by God—and therefore needs no affirmation or validation from the world. 

By the way, just to be clear: it’s not that those of us who are Christians shouldn’t care about the world. We should absolutely care about the world in the sense of loving the people around us and caring deeply about their welfare—especially when it comes to their eternal salvation. But our identity isn’t dependent on their affirmation or approval. And when you think about it, that actually helps us love them even more. The less we need other people, the more we’re able to love them. Because, when you need someone, your interactions with them are inevitably guided by your desire to get something from them—such as approval or affirmation. But when you don’t need them any longer because your identity’s found in Jesus, you’re now able to actually love the people around you and interact with them in a way that’s designed not to meet your needs but to promote their welfare. That’s why I say that the less we need other people, the more we’re able to love them.

In addition, not only does this mentality of boasting in the cross give us an identity that’s stable, it also gives us  a standing that’s secure. Because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf, we have a standing with God that’s unshakably secure. By contrast, if our salvation depended on us being good enough or performing well enough, we’d never be able have any real confidence about where we’ll spend eternity. 

Perhaps you’ve had the experience before of taking a very important test and anxiously awaiting the results. Maybe you took the SAT and had to wait with bated breath to see your score. Similarly, if it were up to us to earn eternal life through our own moral accomplishments, that would very much be the way we’d have to go through our lives. Throughout our entire lives, we’d be left with no choice but to wonder whether we’d been good enough or performed well enough for God to accept us. Instead of having joyful confidence in looking toward the future, we’d only be able to have anxiety as we restlessly awaited God’s verdict on our lives. Not only that, this anxiety would be heighted by the knowledge that—unlike the SAT—God doesn’t offer us a chance to retake the test if we don’t do so well the first time. 

Not only that, it gets even worse, because the Bible says quite clearly that there’s no way we can ever be good enough for God to accept us. James 2:10 tells us, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” You might compare it to a chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Likewise, if you, in your weakest moment, fail to keep the law perfectly, you’ve just become guilty in the eyes of God. 99.9% obedience isn’t sufficient to enter heaven. Only those who have perfect 100% obedience are qualified to be in the presence of a perfectly holy God in heaven. And of course, the only way we can have that kind of perfection is if the perfect righteousness of Jesus is imputed—or transferred—to us, as it is in the gospel. That’s why only those who trust in Jesus and are clothed with his righteousness can have confidence about where they’ll spend eternity. They’re then able to live for God not in order to gain a certain status but simply as an expression of love and gratitude. 

Then, moving forward in our main passage to verse 15, Paul states one more time what he’s been emphasizing throughout his letter. He writes, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” In other words, religious rituals and moral accomplishments are ultimately of no consequence when it comes to where a person spends eternity. The only thing that truly matters is “a new creation”—that is, whether someone has experienced the inward spiritual renewal associated with genuine faith. It’s not about what we try to do for God but rather about what God has done for us in making us into “a new creation” through Jesus Christ.

After that, Paul continues in verse 16, “And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” That phrase “the Israel of God,” by the way, most likely refers to ethnic Israelites who are believers in Jesus. In contrast to those who are merely Israelites through biological descent, these Israelite believers demonstrate that they’re a part of the Israel that’s truly “of God” through their faith in the promised Messiah Jesus. It’s these Israelites who are the true Israelites in God’s eyes. You can find more details about that in Galatians 3:7 and Romans 9:6-7. 

Paul then concludes his letter in verses 17-18. He says, 17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. In other words, unlike the Judaizers—who compromised the gospel in order to receive worldly accolades—Paul bears on his body the marks of his devotion to Jesus. 

Yet even though Paul certainly faced hardships for his commitment to boast only in the cross, I think it’s clear that he was quite convinced that it was absolutely worth it—and then some. Similarly, for us today, boasting in the cross may mean that we occasionally face certain hardships in our lives from those who are hostile to the cross. Yet, if we’ll be faithful to God in this life, we won’t be disappointed in eternity. 

Not only that, as we’ve already discussed, the mentality of boasting only in the cross has an enormous impact on how we’re able to go through our earthly lives. Because the fact is that you’re going to “boast” in something—in the sense of finding your value in something. As we said, it might be a job, a romantic relationship, or a wide variety of other things. Yet I really appreciate something Tim Keller has written. He says that “All of us need a sense of worth or value. So, everyone has a worshipful faith in something from which they must derive that value. But these things control us as we seek them, disappoint us if we find them, and devastate us if we lose them.” Isn’t that good? The earthly things in which we so often try to derive our sense of value “control us as we seek them, disappoint us if we find them, and devastate us if we lose them.” 

So, if you desire a certain job, let’s say, you’ll often neglect your family and work yourself to the point of exhaustion in order to get that job. Then, once you get it, you’ll likely discover that the job isn’t everything you thought it was going to be and doesn’t provide the level of satisfaction you thought it would provide. And if you lose your job—or when you inevitably retire from it one day—you’ll no longer have anything substantive to live for. That’s what Keller means when he says these things “control us as we seek them, disappoint us if we find them, and devastate us if we lose them.” 

However, if we follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and boast—or glory—only in the cross, we’ll discover that Jesus gives us a sense of value and a depth of joy that’s unshakably secure and unlike anything else in this world.