Gal 6:11–14 — The Cross of Christ, Our Glory

Exposition

We come now to the last paragraph of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. He has masterfully set forth the truths of the gospel. He has explained that we are not under the law, that we are free from the law as a covenant by which we could be justified or condemned. We are now under Christ. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law and brought us into the wonderful reality of our adoption as sons. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us and he has adopted us as his sons and heirs.

And now he comes to this final paragraph where he, in effect, takes over the writing of the letter. And you might be thinking, wait a minute, isn’t he the one writing this letter? Actually, no. Most of the time, Paul would dictate his letters to a secretary, someone who was trained and knew how to do the nice calligraphy and to write things in a good way. And he would dictate his letters to a secretary who would write it down. You see this in some of his other letters, for example, in Romans. If you get to the very, very end of Romans in chapter 16, you find out that there’s a secretary there who’s writing the letter. His name is Tertius. He says, I, Tertius, am the one who’s writing this, literally writing it down by hand.

Of course, Paul was writing it in the sense that he’s the author, but the literal writing was done by a secretary. And so up until this point, Paul has been dictating this letter to a secretary, but now he grabs the parchment, he grabs the papyrus, and he takes the stylus, and he says, I want to write this last closing paragraph myself.

Galatians 6:11: Written with Paul’s Own Hand

He says in verse 11, see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand, not using someone else’s hand to do the writing. Must be important. If he’s that eager to take over the literal writing of the letter, he’s wanting to make an impression upon his audience.

He wants to make an impression upon these Christians in the churches of Galatia, in Asia Minor, these baby Christians who have just come to know the Lord, but who are being tempted to follow the false doctrines of the Judaizers. Who are teaching that we’re not saved and justified by faith alone in Christ alone, but rather we are justified by being circumcised as a symbol of committing oneself to keeping the law. And Paul says here, I am writing this with my own hand because I want to impress upon you this urgent call not to be circumcised, not to listen to the false gospel of the Judaizers, but to follow me in proclaiming salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.

Galatians 6:12–13: Boasting in the Flesh

And he says in verse 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. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. That is that they may glory in your flesh.

Paul uses a key word here, and that’s the word force in verse 12. They’re trying to force you to be circumcised. He has used that same word force a couple of other times earlier in the letter in chapter two. What does that mean, to force someone to be circumcised?

it’s not like literally at the edge of the sword, you better do this, but rather in the sense of trying to compel them on pain of loss of salvation. He says, Paul says that they are trying to force them to be circumcised because they’re saying, the Judaizers are saying to these baby Christians in Galatia that unless they do it, unless they’re circumcised, they will not be saved.

They will not inherit eternal life. We can tell that that’s what the Judaizers were teaching because if you go to the parallel passage in the book of Acts, in Acts 15, remember that whole story where the apostles gathered together to decide, what do we do about the Gentiles who are coming to the Lord? Should they be circumcised? We’re told at the very beginning of Acts 15 verse 1 that there were some Jewish believers in Christ who were Judaizers who believed that circumcision was necessary for the Gentiles in order for them to be saved. They said, quote, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And so that’s what Paul is referring to here when he uses this word force. They want to make a good showing in the flesh, those who would try to force you, try to compel you upon this threat that it is necessary for salvation. Remember Paul also tells a story, this is in Galatians 2, he tells a story about something similar that happened in the church of Antioch. Where for a long time, both the Jewish believers and the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcised and who were not observing all of the Mosaic laws about clean and unclean and so on, they were enjoying fellowship together in the church. They were enjoying table fellowship with one another. But then Paul says, certain men came from Jerusalem, these Judaizers, and they put pressure upon the Jewish Christians to stop enjoying table fellowship with the unclean Gentiles.

Again, that is another example of attempting to force, attempting to compel, because what they were saying was, we won’t have fellowship with you Gentile Christians, we won’t view you as fellow believers, as Christians, unless you get circumcised, unless you commit yourself to keeping the entire Mosaic law.

This is the essence of legalism, is it not? The essence of legalism is this hard edge of saying, you have to do this in order for me to treat you as a fellow believer. Unless you do this, you will not be saved. Now, of course, we do believe that you must believe in Christ in order to be saved, but if you add to that that you must be circumcised and keep the Mosaic law with all of its regulations and ceremonies, then you are distorting the gospel, you’re changing the gospel, and saying that we are saved not by faith alone in Christ, but by the works of the law. So here, at the end, Paul has taken over, he’s taken the stylus, he’s taken the pen, as it were, and he is writing this final appeal to the Galatian Christians.

And the interesting thing about this appeal is that he is revealing the true motives of the Judaizers. They don’t say all of this. They don’t say this is what we’re doing. They come across as sounding very biblical. Look, circumcision is found in scripture. Just read Genesis 17. God commanded Abraham to circumcise his sons. And so they argue that it’s a biblical practice. But what Paul points out here as he takes over the stylus, as he writes this last part in his own hand, is the real reason why that they’re trying to do this is not because they’re just trying to be biblical. It’s because they are trying to make a good showing in the flesh. In order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.”

Probably what that’s referring to is the fact that these Judaizers came from Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is the hub of Judaism. It’s like the, it’s the capital city of the Jewish religion. And although there is a remnant of Jewish believers in Jesus, there is a Christian Jewish church in Jerusalem, the majority of the city is unbelieving Jews, Jews who are simply, who reject Jesus as the Messiah and who are simply trying to keep the law. For salvation. And these Judaizers who profess to believe in Christ, they are putting pressure upon the Gentiles to be circumcised and to be law keepers because they’re afraid of the pressure that they’re getting from the other Jews in Jerusalem, the unbelieving Jews, who are saying, how can you, Jewish Christians, how can you have fellowship with unclean Gentiles? And so they’re feeling the pressure of being persecuted for the cross of Christ. That’s why they’re trying to force these Gentile Christians up in Asia Minor to be circumcised.

And then Paul says in verse 13, for even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law. They claim, oh, you have to keep the law, the law, the law. That’s the important thing to do. But in reality, that’s not what they’re doing. They themselves don’t even keep the law.

They’re just simply desiring to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh, so that they can go back to their compatriots in Jerusalem and say, see, we did it. We got them to be circumcised. We have these people who are no longer listening to Paul and his teaching, and they’ve adopted our view of the necessity of circumcision and law-keeping for salvation. Paul is revealing the true motives of these men.

Their true motives is they want to look good in the eyes of others. They’re trying to avoid being persecuted by their fellow Jews. Isn’t it interesting that legalists, this is a thing you see. Legalists make a big show of enforcing the rules upon other people, but they themselves are not really keeping those rules. What they’re really interested in is getting you to keep the rules so that they can boast in your flesh, so they can boast in their followers who are listening to them and to their legalistic teaching.

Galatians 6:14: Glorying in the Cross

Paul then says in verse 14, but far be it from me to boast. And that word boast there, it’s the same word that was used back in verse 13, where it says that they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh. It could also be translated as glory, to glory in something, to take great pride in something. They are trying to get you to be circumcised, that they may boast or glory in your flesh in having followers that agree with them. But he says, verse 14, Paul says, but far be it for me to boast, far be it for me to glory in anything except in this one thing, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

We see such a contrast here, don’t we, between the ministry aims and goals of the Judaizers and the ministry aims and goals of the Apostle Paul. The Judaizers, the false teachers, their ministry aim and ministry goal is to look good in the eyes of their fellow Jews and to be able to boast that they’ve secured more followers for their legalistic agenda. Paul’s motive in his ministry, Paul’s passion is not to boast in anything, not to glory in anything of the flesh. He cares nothing about the opinion of the majority of Jews living in Jerusalem. He cares nothing about the opinion of those that are these legalists who are teaching a false gospel. He says, my only boast, my only glory is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a paradoxical thing to say because the cross is not a very glorious thing.

if you really think about it, if you think back in your mind to the cross of Christ, the crucifixion narrative in the four gospels, all of the four gospels give us in great detail the shame in which Jesus was He was stripped naked. He was whipped to a pulp. He was given a crown of thorns to mock him. He was nailed to a cross. It was a shameful thing. It was a time of, there was no glory there, at least outwardly. It was being spit upon, being rejected, being trampled. And being killed and rejected by men.

But Paul says, my boast, my glory is not in anything earthly or fleshly, not in having great influence and followers, having a platform, that’d be the modern term for it. Not having a platform, boasting in people’s flesh. My boast, my glory is in nothing but the shameful cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, shameful in the eyes of men. But from the eyes of faith, we see that it is the glorious power of God.

Paul is not trying to look good in the eyes of others. He’s not trying to avoid being persecuted. He willingly embraces the shame of the cross. And as a result, this means that he is dead to the world. What does he mean by that? He says, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. What does he mean when he says he’s been crucified to the world, he’s dead to the world?

it’s somewhat like when you think about your own personal existence, we exist in the context of social relationships, whether it’s family or church or society or work, but we exist in relation to the world around us. And we’re always very conscious of what other people are thinking and of making sure that we fit in and that we’re not too far off from what the rest of the herd is doing. We’re concerned about the applause of men and the honors that man would give to us. Or at least we’re afraid of the shame that can come if we do anything that is too out of line with what the world around us is expecting.

And so to be dead to that, to be crucified to that means that it’s as if you’re dead, as if you don’t even care anymore. You’re completely dead to all of that manipulation and to that shame and the way in which the world tries to get us to behave in line with its earthly values.

He has been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to him. He’s dead and he’s gone to heaven. His true reality, the place where he is living and his mindset is focused upon heaven where Christ is. He’s not thinking about all of the political manipulations and pressures of the world around us. What a wonderful description this is of Paul’s own piety, Paul’s own Christ-focused, cross-focused life.

And whenever Paul does this, this is very common in Paul’s writings, whenever he turns to the first person and he says, I. I have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to me. I boast in the cross. You always have to remember that he’s doing this to set an example.

He’s describing his own Christ-centered and cross-focused life and he’s setting that before these Galatian Christians that they might follow him, that they might imitate him, that they might live the same way that he lives, that they might know that they too are dead to the world and that they are living only for Christ.

Doctrine

The main point that we can derive from this passage, and this verse here, verse 14, is such a crucial verse. The main point we can derive from it is that those who take pride in fleshly legalism, are boasting only in the flesh. But we as Christians, in contrast with that, we glory and we boast in the cross of Christ. There’s been many hymns that have been written that are essentially expounding this one verse. In the cross of Christ I glory is a famous one. Even sermons, many famous sermons have been preached on this one verse here. And this is such a wonderful passage. This is a wonderful key verse.

It reminds me of Galatians 2.20, doesn’t it?

The Cross Magnifies the Grace of God

Another case where Paul turns to the first person singular, I, and he says, I have been crucified with Christ, and yet it is no longer I who live, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. In contrast with those who take pride in fleshly legalism, we as Christians glory in the cross of Christ. Why do we glory in the cross? Why do we boast in the cross? Why is the cross so meaningful to us in contrast with all the other things that the world is pursuing? Number one, because the cross magnifies the grace of God. And how does it magnify the grace of God?

it magnifies the grace of God by exposing our inability, by exposing our sinfulness, our spiritual bankruptcy. It proves that all of our half-baked works and our attempts to be right with God by our own righteousness, it is nothing but filthy rags in the sight of God.

If our problem, which is fundamentally sin, if our sin problem was something that could be fixed simply by working harder to keep the law and to be righteous, Christ would not have need to come and die. Instead, it would have just been another publication of the law. Maybe Christ could have come and just said, let me remind you what the law says, and so just work harder at doing it. And maybe he could have provided an example for us to follow, but that’s not what Jesus does. He does teach the requirements of God’s law, but he goes to the cross.

The fact that he has to go to the cross for us in order to save us from our sins shows us that our attempts to be right with God, our attempts to secure God’s favor by our works are utterly useless and bankrupt in the sight of God. We glory in the cross because it exposes our sin, but not because we want to simply revel in our shame, but it exposes our sin because then it turns around and reveals the grace of God, the power of God in his grace. He is the one who saves us by his intervention, by his work. The cross magnifies the grace of God. We boast in the cross, we glory in the cross also because it magnifies the justice of God.

The Cross Magnifies the Justice of God

Why did Christ have to become a man and become obedient to God and obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross? It was in order to satisfy the demands of God’s perfect justice. God is a God of perfect justice and holiness. He can’t just simply sweep sin under the rug and just say, I’ll just be a compassionate heavenly father who just simply winks at your sin. No, he’s a God of justice and holiness. And so the cross of Christ is meaningful to us. It is our greatest joy. It is the pride of our heart because we see in the cross the justice of God being completely and perfectly satisfied.

Sometimes in theology we refer to this as the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. And all these words get added up and it’s somewhat complicated. Penal means having to do with punishment. Substitutionary means that Christ is the one who’s our substitute, who takes the punishment in our place. And I think that’s a good way to talk about it, but I prefer another term. It’s the older term that goes back to, you even see it in the Belgic Confession, for example, but the older term for it is not penal substitutionary atonement.

It’s simply the satisfaction of Christ. And satisfaction doesn’t have to do with enjoyment, like I’m satisfied. It has to do with satisfying the justice of God. The satisfaction of Christ. He, by his obedience and death, satisfied the demands of God’s holy law. The term satisfaction is helpful as well because it also highlights both the active and the passive obedience of Christ. The active obedience in perfectly keeping the law in our place, and the passive obedience in suffering the judgment that we deserved for our sins. The satisfaction of Christ, it magnifies the justice of God. So we boast in the cross because it magnifies the grace of God. We boast in the cross because it magnifies the justice of God. But also, thirdly, because it demonstrates the love of God.

Does it not? That he who was totally without sin, who did not need to do this, he did not need to become a man and obey God in our place. He did not need to go to the cross He was perfectly innocent. He did not deserve one ounce of that shame and suffering, but he, out of love for us, took upon himself our sin and gave us his righteousness.

The Cross Demonstrates the Love of God

The cross of Christ is our glory because it demonstrates the love of God, that he would stoop so low to rescue us, that he would endure the pains of hell so that we would never have to He endured the pain and the anguish of hell itself. He absorbed it in our place out of his love for us to redeem us and to save us. What a glorious Savior we have.

This is why Paul says, but far be it from me to boast in anything except this one thing, the cross, the precious death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul refers to the work of Christ using these very simple key words like the death of Christ or the cross of Christ or the blood of Christ, he’s referring to the same thing. Those are all interchangeable terms. And they not only focus upon the literal moment of death at the end, they focus upon his entire life of satisfying God’s justice by his active and passive obedience.

And we see this in Philippians 2.8 where Paul says, he became obedient to the point of death. His climactic offering of himself on the cross in death was the climax of an entire life of obedience that he was submitting to in obedience to God and to the law of God in order to redeem us and to save us. So blood, cross, death, all of it, those are just simple words by Jesus. By synecdoche, meaning by picking one part for the whole and just looking at the entire work of Christ, his entire life to the point of death on the cross.

Application: The Theology of Glory and the Theology of the Cross

Paul is glorying in this wonderful work of Christ for us. This is Paul’s theology of the cross, a theology of boasting in the cross. Which is very different from the theology of the legalists who have a theology not of the cross, but a theology of glory. I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but Martin Luther is known for this very clear distinction between the theology of glory and the theology of the cross. And this is one of the key passages where Martin Luther got that distinction from. He’s not just inventing it himself, he’s looking at Paul and he’s drawing it out from Paul’s epistles and letters and showing us this idea of this contrast between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. A theology of glory is based upon human confidence in the flesh and in ourselves. Confidence that by our own reason or by our own wisdom or by our own moral accomplishments, we can climb up to God and gain God’s favor.

The Theology of Glory

The theology of glory looks at visible outward success as proof. It’s very similar to the health and wealth and prosperity gospel. They teach that God wants to bless you with physical and financial blessings, and if you’re a true believer, if you really believe, God will bless you. Meanwhile, if you’re suffering, if you are going through some difficult times financially, that’s a sign that God has rejected you. And that you are not living in that full power of faith. That’s a theology of glory. It looks upon outward things. It looks upon that which we can see. It looks upon the flesh and this world.

The Theology of the Cross

It preaches works righteousness and it views suffering and weakness as signs of God’s disfavor rather than as actually in the mystery and paradox of grace as the very moment and place of God’s power and grace. The theology of the cross, by contrast, which is Paul’s theology here, boasting in the cross, glorying in the cross, looks not at human achievement, but looks at God’s hidden work in ways that go contrary to human expectation.

Even in that moment of the deepest degradation and shame of the crucifixion of Christ, God was at work. Even though it seemed as if God was absent, God was most clearly present. God was most clearly at work in that very moment. By faith, we bank on the promises of God, even though everything around us seems to contradict it. Even though our experience, even though what we’re going through in this life seems to go against it, yet we cling to the promises of God by faith, not by sight.

A theologian of glory despises weakness and suffering because when someone is suffering and they’re experiencing weakness, that makes them realize how incapable and how weak they are and it forces them to look to God. But a theologian of the cross embraces the cross with its shame, with its suffering, with its weakness because that is the very place where God’s grace is shining out the most powerfully. A theologian of glory says if I work hard, if I simply get my life in order, if I follow Jordan Peterson’s rules for life, if I just simply work really hard and get myself together and advance my career, If I use my God-given wisdom and virtue, I can get right with God. I can get God’s favor that way. A theologian of the cross says, I am powerless. A theologian of the cross says, I’m a sinner. I don’t even know what to do. I’m a mess.

But the theologian of the cross rejoices in Christ because there in that moment of weakness and total reliance upon God, we are then brought out from ourselves, brought out from reliance upon ourselves to trust in the Lord and to bank upon his promises. We receive righteousness not by effort, not by discipline, not by trying to do the right thing. We receive righteousness by faith as a gift, the righteousness of Christ given to us through his cross.

Luke 23:39–43: A Parable

As I was reflecting on this contrast between these two theologies, the theology of glory and the theology of the cross, I was reminded of this wonderful passage in the crucifixion narrative according to Luke, Luke’s account of it. Luke’s account of the crucifixion of Christ is in Luke chapter 23. And he mentions in verse 32 that after Christ was brought out, led out to the place of Calvary, to the place where they crucified him, he says there were two others who were criminals who were led away to be put to death with him. It says, and this is Luke 23 verse 33, and when they came to the place that is called the skull, where there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. I think there’s a parable here.

Isn’t there a parable to be seen of the theology of glory versus the theology of the cross and these two criminals hanging by Jesus’ right and left side? One of the criminals, verse 39, who were hanged railed at him, that is at Jesus saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other one, the other criminal rebuked the first criminal, saying, do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed justly, we’re getting what we deserve, because we’re criminals, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, then he turns to Jesus, and he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

The First Criminal: A Theologian of Glory

The first criminal is a theologian of glory. He demands that Christ would prove himself to be the Christ, to be the Messiah, by escaping the suffering of the cross, coming down off the cross and delivering everybody. His vision of Messiahship is a vision that does not include suffering. It’s simply a Messiah of glory. Furthermore, he’s not concerned about repentance. He’s not concerned about owning his own sinfulness and crying out to the Lord for mercy. He’s only interested in being delivered from an earthly death and avoiding the shame of being executed as a criminal.

He would acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, but only on the condition that the Messiah would display his triumph now, according to human expectations, with victory over these earthly sufferings that are happening. For this man, the cross of Christ looks like a defeat. For this man, the only way that he will believe is if he receives visible outward evidence of it and he recoils from the scandal of a crucified Messiah. But the second criminal is a theologian of the cross.

The Second Criminal: A Theologian of the Cross

He has a very different attitude. He rebukes the theologian of glory. He says, don’t you fear God? Don’t you realize you’re under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we’re just getting what we deserve. But this man was totally innocent. He did nothing wrong.

And then in humility, he admits his own guilt and he cries out to Jesus and says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He sees himself in truth and honesty that he is a sinner. He doesn’t justify himself. And he also perceives, amazingly, by faith, he perceives the true kingship of Jesus precisely in this moment when Jesus is the most vulnerable and the most weak. By faith, he sees God revealed in the crucified one. According to sight, Jesus has no earthly glory, no visible triumph, but according to faith, in the eyes of the criminal who trusts in Jesus, he sees a king who’s about to enter into his glorious kingdom. And he’s saying, remember me when you do.

Christ’s Response: The Gospel Confirmed

And the Lord Jesus responds to the humble cry of faith of the second criminal and says, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. The theology of glory is rebuked by Jesus simply by the fact that Jesus doesn’t even answer him. He just is silent to the theologian of glory. But to the second criminal, the theologian of the cross, Jesus acknowledges his faith, and Jesus says, you will, you will see that glory. Very soon, actually, right within a few hours when they die, and he goes into the glory of heaven, and he already begins to receive his glory.

What a wonderful passage we have here in Galatians 6, verse 16. May we have that same heart, that same genuine faith that acknowledges our need of Christ and that looks to him alone, renouncing our own earthly wisdom and our own righteousness and trusting in Christ alone.