Taught 8/17/2008
Galatians 6:11-18
Grace ~ living for the glory of God!
Pray
The Letters (vs. 11)
Gal. 6:11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!
√ The letters
You may not know that Paul did not actually pen the letters we have here in our Bibles.
Rather, he dictated them to a scribe who wrote the letters for him (many believe that Barnabas, and later Luke filled this role.)
It wasn’t that Paul wasn’t able to write, rather, Bible students believe that his eyesight was so bad that for him to see what he was writing he had to use big letters!
You’ll remember earlier in the letter of Galatians that Paul made reference to the problems with his eyes (ref. Gal. 4:13-15).
Since his letters were dictated to a scribe, Paul would always sign off at the end of the letter to authenticate it by his signature and some benediction like…
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” ~ I Thess. 5:28
But, because he was so concerned for the spiritual welfare of his friends in Galatia he picked up the pen and personally wrote this whole last section of his letter…
“See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” ~ vs. 11
Paul was communicating in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want them to miss his final point concerning the emptiness of legalism…
…vs. the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.
√ Law and Grace
I think we can agree that what Paul has communicated in a very convincing way that Law and Grace cannot abide together!
They can’t be mixed because they are contrary to one another.
The bottom line is that they are two different worldviews and two completely different ways of living out our faith in God! So, the Galatians (and you and I) have to chose between…
Bondage and liberty ~ Gal. 5:1-12
Flesh and the Spirit ~ Gal. 5:13-26
Living for self vs. living for others ~ Gal. 6:1-10
To which he adds in this last section…
Living for the praise of men vs. living for the glory of God!
That is, Paul calls the Galatians to examine their motives of for abandoning Grace and embracing the Law.
Ap. Good works spoiled by bad motives
We all need to do a heart-check once in a while and ask ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing!
If it’s just to be seen by people and to pump up our ego then we’re not serving with the right motives.
Our desire to serve should be to honor God, to express our thanksgiving to Him and ultimately to bring Him glory!
Ex. Giving to get your name on a brick!
Like Ananias and Saphria!
The Legalist (vs. 12-13)
Gal. 6:12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
Gal. 6:13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
√ The legalist
You’ve probably heard someone say…
“If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all”
There are times when that’s probably good advise, but there are also times when we need to speak truthfully about people and it won’t always be nice!
Such was the case with the Judaizers!
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit has nothing nice to say about them at all!
Rather we find throughout his letter to the Galatians that he exposes their false doctrine, calls for their expulsion from the churches, pronounces a curse upon them…
…and now reveals the ungodliness of their character!
Paul writes that they are…
They’re boastful
Note that he describes their motives for “ministry”…
“As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh” ~ vs. 12a
“…that they may boast in your flesh.” ~ vs. 13b
That is, they weren’t concerned with winning lost people to Christ…
…they were only concerned with converting Christians to their false doctrines so that they could boast about them to their friends.
Their motive for ministry wasn’t for the cause of Christ or the good of the Church…
…it was purely to make a name for themselves.
Paul was able to see that clearly because he had once been a man like the Judaizers…
…but after coming to faith in Christ he had realized that everything that he had done before in the “name of God” was really for himself and that it counted for nothing before God.
Ap. For whose attention are you serving?
If it’s for the pastor, or for the recognition of the people in the congregation instead of God then your motive is wrong and you won’t benefit from your service.
They’re compromisers
That is, the reason that they pushed the concept of keeping the Law was so that they could avoid persecution…
“these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.” ~ vs. 12b
Paul’s point is that he along with the other apostles and disciples were constantly persecuted for preaching salvation by Grace alone!
Steven had been martyred by the legalists.
The church in Jerusalem was scattered by persecution from the legalists.
Paul and Barnabas had been beaten, arrested, imprisoned and chased from city to city by the legalists.
All because they preached the Gospel of Grace…
…that is, that Jews and Gentiles can be saved by simply trusting in Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross.
√ The Judaizers
The Judaizers played both sides of the fence by trying to make Christians believe that they too were believers…
…and by trying to convince those who were zealous for the Law that they still honored the Mosaic code.
The result was that they did not suffer persecution from the legalistic Jews who were offended by the Cross…
…because they didn’t preach the Cross!
The problem however is that by denying the power of the Cross to satisfy the Law…
…while they escaped persecution they were not able to enjoy the power of the Cross in their own experience!
Ex. The Cross
It’s hard for us to comprehend just how offensive the Cross was to the religious Jew and why it was easier for the Judaizers to deny it.
Today the Cross is sentimental to us as seen in the use of the image of the cross on flags, tee shirts, necklaces, and in art.
The railing on my mom’s house had crosses cut out in every vertical piece.
But in the 1st Century the Cross represented the lowest and most humiliating way of dying.
Ex. Electric chair
Gayle Erwin makes this point well by substituting your favorite hymn about the Cross with “electric chair”!
“Lift high the electric chair, the love of Christ proclaim, Till all the world adore his sacred name.”
“For thy blest electric chair which doth for us atone, creation's praises rise before thy throne.”
Kind of silly but it makes the point that just as we recoil at the thought of dying in an electric chair…
…so the people of the 1st Century flinched at the mention of the cross!
√ Paul identified with the Cross
Unlike the false teachers who denied the power of the Cross to satisfy the demands of the Law…
…when Paul became a believer he recognized that his salvation was found through identifying himself with the Cross and he was willing to accept whatever consequences came of it.
“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness…”
I Cor. 1:23
Paul’s point is that Judaizers preferred to preach circumcision and the keeping of the Law because the Cross wasn’t a popular message!
So, they compromised their message by leaving out the heart of the Gospel!
In Paul’s mind that made them compromisers who robbed both themselves and their audience of the power of Christ by denying the Cross.
Ap. Don’t leave out the Cross!
The Gospel message is powerless without the Cross!
They’re manipulators
Paul’s next accusation is that the legalists were manipulators!
“these would compel you to be circumcised” ~ vs. 12
The word “compel” or in some translations “constrain” carries the idea of force, or manipulation.
That is, the Judaizers crafted their messages to manipulate people’s fears, doubts and guilt…
…to get them to make an emotional response and accept their false doctrine that it was through keeping the Law that they would be saved.
But Paul never did that! Rather, Paul spoke the truth in love and humility never counting on his skill to deliver the message…
…rather trusting the message itself had the power to convict people of sin and bring them to faith in Christ.
Ap. Don’t listen to those who manipulate you!
They’re hypocrites
Lastly the Judaizers were hypocrites!
“For not even those who are circumcised keep the law”
vs. 13
Paul reminds the Galatians that these legalists who made such a big deal about keeping the Law didn’t really keep it themselves, they were like the religious leaders of whom Jesus said…
“for they say, and do not do.” ~ Matt. 23:3
His point isn’t that they should keep the Law, for he’s already demonstrated that none of us can…
…rather he is condemning their dishonesty for pretending that they keep the Law when in fact they didn’t.
Ex. Sabbatarians
They make a big deal about keeping the Sabbath and yet they break it every week!
Not supposed to kindle a fire on the Sabbath, yet when they drive to church on the Sabbath they’ve just broken that commandment because with every stoke of the piston in their car’s motor they’re kindling a fire!
So, Paul shows us that the legalist (in his day and ours) lives their life to receive the praise and glory of men…
…while the Spirit-led believer seeks to bring glory only to God.
The Lord (vs. 14-16)
Gal. 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Gal. 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
Gal. 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
√ The Lord
Did you notice that once again Paul brings up the Cross!?
Almost like he thought it was all he needed to be saved!
Of course that’s exactly what he believed and how he lived his life…
…placing all his hope in the perfect sacrifice that Jesus offered on the Cross!
The Judaizers boasted in circumcision and put their trust in their ability to keep the Law.
But Paul who once held that same theology now trusted totally in the Cross.
Why?
Because he knew…
He knew the Person of the Cross
The first reason that Paul trusted in the Cross is that he knew the Person on the Cross!
In fact, Paul mentions Jesus some 45 times in this letter…
…that’s 1 of every 3 verses!
From the moment that Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus he was captivated by His…
Love
Forgiveness
Power
…and perhaps most of all for His Grace!
His personal testimony was…
1Tim. 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
1Tim. 1:13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
1Tim. 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
1Tim. 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Paul understood that all his religion before he met Jesus didn’t bring him even one step toward heaven!
It wasn’t until he met Jesus and saw how great his sin was that he realized that he needed a Savior!
In spite of the fact that he himself had persecuted those whom Jesus loved…
…Paul found grace when he met Jesus and would from the point on serve Him with all his strength.
Ap. Do you know the Person of the Cross?
Christianity is relational, if you don’t know Jesus then you’re not a Christian!
He knew the Power of the Cross
Until Paul met Jesus he had given his life to the pursuit of God through the study and observance of the Law and the traditions of the Jews.
Yet, he never found the power to change the sin-nature that was in his heart!
As he wrote to the Romans in chapter 7 of that letter he found that the harder he tried not to think about sin…
…the more he wanted to sin!
But after he met Jesus and placed his trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross…
…then he found power over his flesh, his sin-nature, and his pride!
Ap. Lean fully on the power of the Cross!
He knew the Purpose of the Cross
For the better part of 1500 years the people of Israel had thought of themselves as the only chosen people of God.
They had entered into a covenant, a legal agreement, with God at Mount Sinai by which God promised to be their God…
…and they would be His people.
But, that was as Paul told us earlier in his letter only a temporary covenant to bring the Jewish people to Messiah.
Once Messiah came He would implement a new covenant by which anyone…
…Jew or Gentile could become a member of God’s family.
Though Paul had once been a racist himself he now understood that the purpose of the Cross was to save all people by making Jews and Gentiles…
√ The Cross
A new creation in Christ…
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” vs. 15
That is, in Christ there is no longer any racial distinction between Jews and Gentiles.
Rather all who trust in Jesus are made members of the same family through the work of Jesus on the Cross.
A new nation in Christ…
“And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
vs. 16
That is, everyone who trusts in Jesus becomes a citizen of the Kingdom, or as Paul writes here, the “Israel of God” that spiritual nation made up people from every tribe, tongue and nation.
That’s not to suggest that God is finished with the physical nation of Israel and the natural descendants of Abraham!
Paul makes it clear in Romans 9-11 that God has a plan for them!
Rather, through the Cross God created a new nation called the Church, which is made up of the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
The Least (vs. 17-18)
Gal. 6:17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Gal. 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
√ The least
While Paul considered himself to be the least of the apostles he wasn’t ashamed to point to his own experience as a Christian to show the difference between…
…his motives for ministry and those of the legalist by calling attention to marks on his body.
That is, the scars he bore as a result of preaching the Gospel message.
If you were to remove his shirt and look at his back you’d find the marks from…
5 times that he was scourged with a whip
3 times where he was beaten with a wooden rod
Bumps and contusions of broken bones from being stoned by an angry mob.
So, you could read vs.17 and 18…
“The Judaizers want you to become circumcised so that they can brag about the mark in your flesh…
…but I bear on my body the marks of Jesus Christ!”
The scars on his back were evidence that he loved the Galatians and was willing to risk his life to bring them the Good News of God’s Grace!
Ap. Leadership means suffering
Paul’s words remind us that Christians in his day as well as ours that it’s the Christian leader who has suffered that has something to offer!
The Judaizers in Paul’s day as well as ours aren’t willing to suffer for the sake of God’s people.
They want the people to suffer for them!
You can always tell a true shepherd by the “marks” on their body and soul!
Close
√ Grace ~ living for the glory of God
Did you notice that Paul ends his letter the same way he began it?
“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” ~ Gal. 1:3
“Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” ~ Gal. 6:18
The Christian life is all about Grace! Not the Law of Moses but the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!