Boasting in the Cross: Lessons from Galatians Conclusion

Paul emphasizes boasting only in the cross of Christ, which transforms believers into a new creation and unites them in faith.

### The Conclusion of Galatians: Boasting in the Cross
* 📜 As we conclude our study of Galatians, Paul addresses two main issues: the **doctrinal misunderstanding of justification by faith alone** and the **practical implications for believers living in community**.
* 💬 Paul emphasizes the importance of **serving one another** and warns against behaviors that lead to division, urging believers not to become **conceited or provoke one another**.
* 🔍 He highlights the human tendency to **boast**, often stemming from **insecurity**, and discusses how true faith informs our **identity and relationships with others**.
* ✍ In his final words, Paul writes with large letters to emphasize his **personal investment in the message**, contrasting the external rituals of circumcision with the **internal transformation of being a new creation in Christ**.
* ⚖ Paul critiques the Judaizers for their motives, revealing that their insistence on circumcision is more about **avoiding persecution and boasting in outward appearances** than true faith.
* ✝ He boldly declares, "But far be it from me to boast except in the **cross of our Lord Jesus Christ**," stressing that the essence of Christianity lies in **divine grace rather than human effort**.
* 🌍 Paul concludes by affirming that true believers, marked by the **grace of Jesus**, will experience **peace and unity**, urging the Galatians to focus on the **inward transformation brought by the cross** rather than external rituals.
* 🙏 Ultimately, the message of Galatians reminds us to **center our lives on the gospel**, recognizing that our true **security and glory come from boasting in the cross alone**.

brothers and sisters, finally, we have come to the end of Galatians. We are at the last sermon on Galatians, and now that we have come to the end of this letter, we roughly see Paul has been addressing two key issues. First is a doctrinal issue: the Galatians are forgetting that they are justified by faith alone. We saw Paul painstakingly argued from many angles for this truth, and we have covered this intensely in the first four to five chapters. The second issue is a situational issue. From chapter 5 onwards, he began talking about how Believers should live in the community. They should serve one another, do good to everyone. There are also several warnings, if you remember, chapter 5:1-15. It says, If you bite and devour one another, watch out that you're not consumed by one another. And then, of course, verse 26, chapter 5:26, Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. And then, of chapter 6, verse

three bear one another's burden and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. And these two issues that Paul has been addressing in Galatians are not unrelated. The correct Doctrine, the correct faith, will rightly inform us on how we should see ourselves, see others, and our tendency is really to either feel inferior or Superior. And preacher covered that in that earlier sermon. The correct faith will also inform us how we can exercise our freedom in Christ and will lead us to rely on the Holy Spirit and bear its fruit. And all these things have great implications on how we would live together as a community of Believers. And to tie up these two issues together, Paul framed his conclusion interestingly with the notion of boasting. Now boasting is something we are all very familiar with. Okay, we are living in a world where boasting is everywhere. We see boasting everywhere in the news, social media, and we experience boasting almost all the time in everyday.

conversations. We either knowingly or unknowingly boast to others, or other people knowingly or unknowingly boast to us. Boasting has also become more sophisticated now. People do humble brag. You know what is humble brag? Humble brag means people highlight things about themselves while trying to sound modest or relatable. You know something like, I have so many friends asking me out for this long weekend. You know, not sure who I should join. You know, this is humble brag. Okay, but it's human nature to brag, to boast. Okay, and you don't have to teach young kids how to boast. They just naturally do it, you know, and it's cute when they complete a single simple puzzle and then go around boasting to the adults, Hey, I did this. I did this. When it's the adult who was helping them with their puzzle. But you know what? Those we boast so much, we also know that no one actually likes to listen to boasting. Okay, how many of you actually like to listen to people boast? But so what is at this root of all human

boasting. You know why do we do it, you know unknowingly, knowingly, but hate it when others do it, and psychologists actually say that at the root, right, it is insecurity. And I think since we all boast to some extent, we can affirm this to be true. There's also a very interesting perspective that we can glean from Galatians. The word conceited in chapter 5 verse 26 is translated from the Greek word called Kino Doos, okay. And this word is made of two parts, okay. The first one, Kino, means empty. Doos means glory. It gives us the word doxology, okay. That's where we get the word doxology, glory. So literally, literally, it means empty glory. And the old English translation, cus vain glory, okay. But no one understands the word anymore, so most new translations call it conceited. So from here, in a way, a coned person is one who is filled with empty glory, you know, and uh, but a person who is filled with empty glory knows about

this emptiness. So, there is this desperate desire for more glory, and perhaps this is the root of all boasting and insecurity that comes from this emptiness. Previously, in the earlier other sermons on Galatians, I talked about how this justification by faith, this doctrine, is not something we know in our mind as a concept, but it is something we can apply in our prayer life. I mentioned that we often try to justify ourselves, to validate ourselves with other things, other than our faith in Christ. But the reason why we fail to apply it in our lives is usually because we are still depending on other things to save us, to satisfy us, and to give us our identity. Last week, Pastor also listed down the areas how justification by faith can be applied to our different life situations and suffering, anxiety, or in facing accusation. But we don't—why don't we do it more often? Because we like to use our own rational thinking, we like to gratify our desires, we like to use our coping mechanisms instead of remembering justification by

faith and turning to the cross, and these things that we desire more than God, things that we fear more than God, fear losing more than God, and things that satisfy us more than God. All these things are actually revealed in the things that we boast. The question isn't whether we will boast, but in what and in whom we be boasting. So today, we will see what Paul will say about boasting to drive home his point, drive home his message in these final words. So verse 11, we see with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. Let me just give you a context, okay? Paul has now reached the end of his letter, and so far, we believe he has been dictating to a secretary or a scribe. Most commentators believe that this is the verse in Galatians where Paul took over the pen from the secretary or scribe, and then he finished off the letter himself, okay? Unusually large letters, which he drew attention to in this verse, and this practice of writing the final exhalation.

of blessings personally is Not Unusual. It's like a sign-off, okay? And you can see it in other episodes of Paul, and this is to give assurance to the reader that the letter is really from Paul, okay? And at the start of the letter, um, I think we talk about how Galatians started very differently from other Paul's letters. He skipped many formalities and, uh, many greetings and many Thanksgivings. He jumped straight into correcting the Galatians, and this tells us how anxious Paul was to address the problem in Galatia. And this ending is also very different if you compare it to other letters. He did not have any praise, he did not ask them to pray for him, he did not say, I hope to visit you one day, okay? And it is also longer than other endings of other letters. Instead, this letter, interestingly, it repeats and summarizes the main themes of the letter, and Paul really, really wants to emphasize both the central message of the letter and his own personal investment in this letter and why large

letters you know some people say may po Paul maybe have a very bad eyesight, and some people think that he is not used to writing in Greek. So, uh, he because he usually rely on a scribe to write it, so it's untidy and big. But most commentators actually think the large letters just simply means how much he wants to emphasize this, uh, this message, how heavily he pressed upon the pen, and how much he wanted the Galatians to get this message. He's eager to win them back, repeating his argument, eager sentences to summarize the themes of the letter. And so we must understand this is not a footnote, this is not the formality, this is not the appendix of his thesis. This is Paul pouring his heart and soul into the final section of the letter. And let's see what he says. Verse 12: It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who will 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, that they may boast in your flesh. So, in these three verses, Paul is stating the motivation of the Judaist or the circumcision group we encountered earlier in the passage, and why were they doing what they were doing, convincing the Gentile believers to be circumcised. And from the text, we see two reasons, okay? First, good showing in the flesh, okay? So that they will not be persecuted for the cross. Second, they want to boast in your flesh, okay? They do not keep the law themselves; they actually just want to boast in your flesh. Now, let's try to unpack this. These people, they want to make a good showing in the flesh so that they will not be persecuted, okay? And these people are the Judaizers. They are the Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and they believe Jesus has been crucified for their sins. And this belief in the crucified Messiah will have created a difference between them and

the Jews who did not believe in Jesus. So, these non-believing Jews, right, would think that, Hey, this Christ-believing Jesus, they are advocating a new and dangerous thinking. They have compromised their faith. Now they say, 'Don't need to circumcise, don't need to obey the law,' and they want to reject them from the synagogue. And so, these Judaism are actually being persecuted themselves by the non-believing Jews. And in order to avoid being persecuted, they need to show in the flesh outwardly that their new belief is not different. The Judis are saying, 'Hey, we are just a different denomination, different subset, or different sect of Judaism. There are many different branches anyway. You need never persecute them. Why do you persecute us?' They want to be able to say other people who believe in Jesus are also circumcised. 'We are similar.' Paul is saying that these Judaism are just trying to get you to be circumcised, the Galatians to be circumcised, so that they

can get out of their own trouble. And why did Paul say they do not keep the law and they Jews? You know what does Paul mean. There are two possible reasons, okay? First, they only keep what is convenient. Perhaps they have believed in Jesus. They know they have this freedom in Christ. They have actually stopped obeying some of the ritual laws of Judaism in their newfound freedom in Christ. In any case, most likely all the Jews keep the law to different extents and seem the circumcision is the only point, the outward thing that they can be seen that they believe will win the favor of unbelieving Jews. They just want to get the Gentiles to be circumcised to please these unbelieving Jews. The second point is they only keep what can be seen by others. Or we can understand from the perspective that Paul was actually a former Pharisee. Most religiously conservative groups of Jews in his time, Pharisees were known to be strict in following the Jewish laws and customs, and they think they keep the

law better than others, but to Paul, after knowing Christ, he knows that even the Pharisees' law-keeping, although there is something they like to boast about, is misguided. So, Matthew 23:23 says this: We always read this: 'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.' Mark 7:9 says, He said to them, 'You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition.' Matthew 23:4 and 5: They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds in order to be seen by others. And from this explanation, we can see why they are not really keeping the law. Okay, even they are keeping to the level of the Pharisees, it's all about being seen by

others and Paul pointed out to the Galatians. The Judaizers want to boast in your flesh. They only want to escape the persecution from the Jews, not because of the truth, not because they love you. And they want Galatians to be circumcised so that they can be proven worthy as people who brought many new circumcision to the Judaism religion. And this is a very Old Testament story that is very similar to what these Judaizers are doing. Do you remember in 1 Samuel 18, right? Saul, King Saul, wanted David to pay the price of 100 Philistine foreskins, okay, before he allowed King David, allowed David to marry his daughter. And so David, his men, went to obtain the foreskins and present to the king. So the Jews, in a way, they are also presenting Gentile foreskins as a prize for acceptance by the non-believing Jews. And these three verses bring us to an important question of the Christian faith: Is our Christian faith outward or inward?

faith in churches. Do we also have the tendency to boast about statistics sometimes? Church can boast about the flaw area of the church building, the attendance size, amount of offering collected, the number of people going through baptism. In order to boost the baptism number, do we just baptize anyone, everyone? You know, are our motives pure? We love the external outward things because it's quantifiable and, most importantly, it's boastable outward things you do, people see, and boast. But we must know that Christianity is fundamentally not a religion of external ceremonies, but something inward, something spiritual, something in the heart. Circumcision and baptism, there are things of the flesh, outward visible ceremonies performed by men, but the new creation is a birth of the spirit, an inward and invisible miracle performed by God. And throughout history, God's people have tended to repeat this same mistake. They have reduced the religion of the heart into a superficial outward show, and God has repeatedly sent His prophets to rebuke them and to recall them to a spiritual and inward religion.

and this is not to say the bodily and the external have no place in our faith, for what is in the heart needs to be expressed through the lips. What you believe that needs to be sung out, need to be said in prayers. Okay, what is inward and spiritual in religion needs to have some outward expression, and that's why we have the Lord's Supper, we have worship. But the true essence is the inward; the outward forms are valueless, okay, if inward reality is lacking. So, the next verse begins with a but where Paul highlights the contrast from the earlier verse, and he gives a very strong phrase, far be it from me, okay. So, in King James, it says God forbid. It's a very strong word. So, 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. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Here, Paul claims the only possible ground and

object of his own boasting was the cross of Lord Jesus Christ, and the use of the language here is to really stress the point. But if you read Paul's other letters, he does boast about other things. What did he boast about? He boasted about his own weaknesses. He boasted in the Lord, okay? And all these things, all these boastings, are actually also boasting in the cross, okay? But what does it mean, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world? The world here does not mean the physical world of time and space, but rather the world system that has its value and orientation in opposition to God. We can recall chapter 2, verse 2: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Living as a crucified Christian is to look to the Son of God. I live by faith that God loved me because of what he has

done on the cross. He has given himself for me. But this is something that the world system does not recognize. The world system is a system of self-salvation and self-satisfaction. It calls on people to save themselves and please themselves. Previously, we were desperately anxious to be in favor with the world system, but now we have seen ourselves as sinners and Christ crucified as our sin bearer. We do not care what the world thinks, says, or does to us because in Christ the world system died to me as a savior and a satisfier. I no longer need the world as a savior. I no longer need the world as a satisfier. And because we no longer need it, the world is crucified to me. At the same time, I am crucified with Christ. I'm crucified in the eyes of the world. The world system does not look to me to support me, support it, because it can take anything from me. To the world system, we are weak and foolish anyway.

because that's how they see Jesus in the first place. And this verse, that's why I emphasize this world, is not talking about the world in general. It's about the world system. It's not to say we should isolate from the world because we are also called to be the Salt and Light. It's to say we are free from the world system of self-Salvation and self-satisfaction. Philippians 3:7-9 says, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes from faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. So why did he boast in the cross? The next verse, verse 15, tells us, For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new

creation the conjunction four gives us the reason why Paul boast in the cross instead of the flesh. Because circumcision and uncircumcision means nothing. These are all things in the flesh. What's more important is the new creation that comes because of the Cross. So how do we understand this new creation that comes from the cross? Since Paul is Con concluding his letter, he's not really introducing something very new, but let's recall a few verses in Galatians to understand this new creation. New Creation first is about new status. We are now declared and counted righteous. We are Justified. We have a new status. We were cursed, now we are blessed. So Galatians 3: 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Curse is everyone who is hung hang on a tree. It is also new power. New Creation gives us new power. Chapter 3, verse 5. Does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? We also

have a new identity. Okay, new identity. Galatians 4:6: Because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying 'Abba, Father.' And there is a new way of life in this new creation. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. So, new creation is about a new life of faith working through love. And this new creation is the wonderful reason we boast in the cross and the reason we do not readily after knowing what a wonderful thing it is for the cross to bring us New Creation. The reason why we do not readily boast in it is because to boast in the cross is to tell very ugly truths about ourself. The ugly truth is we are sinners who cannot save ourself because if we can save ourself, Christ will not need to come and die on the cross. Nothing in history or in the whole universe is as humbling as the cross when we understand it correctly. And of course, naturally, humans do not like it. We prefer our own comfortable illusions.

okay, we prefer to steer clear of the Cross, even in the church. Humans can construct a Christianity without a cross, which relies on their own works and not on Jesus Christ for salvation. And we do not want to talk about the cross because it reminds us of our sin. We just want to tell jokes and a few good stories from the pit, and in our fellowship, we all want to pretend we are sinless people. We want to be careful not to hurt anyone's pride, and we see people with problems and struggling with sins. The church to find answers and comfort elsewhere, and because of the way we are doing this, they mistakenly think that the church is not a place for them, but nothing is further away from the truth than that thinking. The church is where Sinners hder and weep for their sins at the bottom of the Cross together, and then rejoice and praise God together for His abundant Mercy. On the other hand, if you think you are sinless, I think you can leave the church already. If not, people

might stop worshiping you, not who will be judged more, whether you being worshiped or those people who worship you at the same time. If there are sinless people who think they're sinless around the church, should really reflect. If there are people who, if as the church, should reflect whether they've been teaching and boasting about the cross or has it been boasting about human achievements. So, the cross for Paul is not something to escape, something to avoid, something not to think about, but it's the object of his boasting. And the truth is that we cannot boast in ourselves and boast in the cross simultaneously. We have to choose one. And this leads us to our second question: Is the essence of Christianity, is it human or Divine? In other words, is it fundamentally a matter of what we do for God and how much we know God or what he has done for us, how much he knows us? In their focus on circumcision, the Judaizers made a second mistake because circumcision, like I mentioned, was an outward and bodily ritual. It was

done by a human to another human. Their idea of Salvation was that the death of Christ was not enough. We still have to Merit favor and forgiveness of God by our own good works. So, their religion was a human religion. It begins with human work of circumcision and continued with more human work obedience to the law. But the Christian faith is not primarily about what we do, about what Jesus has done for us on the cross. It begins with God's grace and is empowered and sustained by God's grace to the end. A line in the hymn Rock of Ages sums this up um very nicely. It says in my hands no price I bring simply to Tha cross I cllean. And Jonathan Edwards also say this. You contribute nothing to your salvation except for the sin which which made it necessary. Therefore, we must realize that Christian faith is fundamentally about the Divine Redemption of God and not about our own works. And now that we have understood the text, it is indeed good and right to boast in the cross, but it is also not

human nature to do it, and if it's so easy, Paul would not be writing with such intensity to Galatians. And furthermore, I believe that today it is very easy for us to interpret, misinterpret the cross. And when we look at the cross today, we might think, Hey, it's not so difficult to boast in the cross. You know, I can wear it on my neck, I can wear a t-shirt with a cross, I can carry a tote bag. And some Believers even wear it as an accessory. But if you think about it, for today, the cross is not what it means in Paul's time. Today we see the cross on top of majestic, beautiful cathedrals and churches. We see crosses in the peace and serenity of trees, and we put it in our homes. I put it on our screen wallpaper as an object of devotion. Okay, we put it on our Bible. In movies, we see that it can repel vampires and ghosts. You know, every time we see the cross today in a modern setting, we think

of Peace, Holiness, Beauty, and power. But what about the first-century Roman Empire? When you talk about the cross, what do people think about the cross? It was an instrument of torture. It reminded people of shame, humiliation, disgust, pain, cruelty, and blood. It was a symbol of power and authority of the Roman rule. In fact, the Latin word Crux for cross was so despised that no one ever wanted to talk about the word. Now, no Romans would say Crux in their conversation. When they wanted to talk about the crucifixion, they would say hang him on the Unlucky tree. So, they gave a nice word to replace the word cross - unlucky tree. But the fact that the Messiah has been on the cross cannot be denied. It's a historical truth. It's too public. Everyone around the area knows about this thing. It's too difficult to hide. So, in our human tendency, perhaps for some early believers, is to deemphasize it. If people never talk to you about it, then don't

need to say you know just tell them about what Jesus has done, his miracles, you know, maybe they want to deemphasize it, to minimize it, but Paul is telling the Galatians, is not just declaring to the Galatians that he will not be minimizing it and not be silent about it. Instead, he is boasting in it, boasting in nothing except the cross. That means if people never ask him, he also want to tell them about the cross because that is his boast. And some translations say instead of boasting in the cross, glory in the cross. He is boasting in what the world in his day consider as shameful, disgusting, and cruel. And we can imagine how shocking it sounded to the Galatians. Of course, we are Christians, modern-day Christians. The cross is already a very respected symbol, but it would sound very shocking to the Galatians. And to boast in the cross is to make what Jesus did on the cross our pride, our glory, and our identity. To boast in the cross is to see its surpassing worth over all things in

the world and what happens when we do that. Just like I said, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. It tells us that when we actually do that, when we really boast in the cross, nothing in the world will face you. The world has no claim on you. The world cannot enslave you because it has nothing to give you that can scare you or tempt you. Neither does it have things that you desire, and you do not need the world to give you its approval or your identity. Your identity is found on the cross, and because you have the greatest blessing from the cross. But how does it change our life practically? Let's just recall the last time, right, that we were upset, angry, depressed, or anxious. Very likely, okay, think of the most recent incident you were upset, angry, depressed, or anxious. Okay, very likely, if you think about it, you were boasting in something else other than the cross, and these things that you were upset, angry, depressed, or anxious about is because the thing you were boasting in

secretly, not so secretly, knowingly, unknowingly, it's being threatened. You might be upset that you made a mistake in your project assignment or even your serving, and there were no major consequences, but you feel you cannot forgive yourself for making such an unnecessarily unnecessary mistake and cannot get over it. That's because you are boasting in your own reputation of being a careful person. You are boasting in your experience. You're boasting in your ability. And sometimes we can be very angry and defensive when people correct us or give us suggestions. That's because we are secretly boasting in our own knowledge and experience and dedication. And as well, we are thinking, How I work so hard, what do you know about this? You know, I'm, you're boasting in your hard work. And sometimes we could be depressed because we didn't get the promotion that we are after. But what is happening inside us is we are boasting about our self-importance. We are boasting about work performance. We are boasting in our job titles. And I know

Many relationships are broken between families because both parties refuse to acknowledge their faults. They are boasting in I'm right, what then this person is wrong, so this person should come and apologize to me. They're boasting in their righteousness, unrighteousness. But can we see also all this boasting? Behind all this boasting, do you also see the insecurities in all these things? We want to boast in the things that we are proud of, what we have, what we achieve, and how people see us. We want these things to define us, but these are the same things that will enslave us. And sometimes, by God's grace, we get a promotion we are after, and sometimes God thought it's better for us to wait. But without God, our emotions are always in the roller coaster because of what we gain, what we lose, what others say, and how others see us. So God is teaching us again and again the central message and shaping us as a people in His church to boast in the cross. It is something that has been accomplished not by us but by Jesus when He said it.

is finished. It can never be taken away from us. It has happened. It is finished. And this is the great blessing of the new creation. We have the forgiveness of sin. We have the present help of the Holy Spirit. And we have the eternal hope that we can look forward to. We have to choose, brothers and sisters, if only we have humbled ourselves as hell-deserving sinners. Shall we give up the boasting of ourselves, cling to the cross for salvation, and spend the rest of our days glorying in the cross? How do we truly boast in the cross out of our heart? You know, we cannot boast in something that we don't see as so great. Okay, so there's a way for us to, instead of minimizing the cross in our life, to maximize the cross. Okay, let me show you what it means from two diagrams from a book called Gospel-Centered Life. Okay, so this is the first diagram, and the Christian life begins when we repent as sinners. We put our faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But believing in

Jesus is not just to go to heaven in the future. It's not like an advanced decate to go deep heaven in the The Gospel. Not only saves us but also progressively sanctifies us. And to experience this Freedom we need to this Freedom Power and hope. We need to boast in the cross. We need to see the cross as bigger and bigger as we walk in this Faith. As we mature in our faith, our true awareness of God's holiness will increase. Okay, our awareness of our own sinfulness will also deepen correspondingly. If we have the right view of the gospel and we are assured that the cross is able big enough to bridge this Gap. And please take note in this diagram, it is not that we grow more and more sinful or God becomes more and more holy. It's our awareness, okay, our subjective subjective awareness of God's holiness and uh our own sinfulness. Okay, but if we have a distorted view of the Gospel, we just read more and more books about the knowledge of God's holiness but we fail

to see the depths of our scene. The bottom line, you know, becomes flat. Okay, maybe the top line is still going up. Sorry, still the original one. So the top line still becomes, is increasing, but the bottom line becomes flat. And the cross is not as big as what we see here. Or sometimes we may be fixated on discovering the depths of our scene. You know, we like to go in our prayer and then just repent, repent, keep thinking, What have I done wrong? What have I done wrong? But we have a small view of the power of the Cross to save us. So the Top Line becomes very flat. Okay, but the bottom line continues to go down. So the cross is also not as big as it needs to be, as it can be. And what is worse, the next slide is that instead of letting the Cross grow and boast in the cross, we start to believe we can reach the Holiness of God via our own moralism, through good works, and Obedience of the law, through

circumcision, and instead of recognizing the depths of our sin, we use our own guilt and shame, self-pity to cope with our sins, to minimize the power of the Cross to save us. We do not believe that God's grace is greater than our sin. Okay, this the hymn we sang, and we believe that we need to wallow in self-pity and live in guilt and shame forever to pay for the sin ourselves, and this is despising the cross. Religion, moralism, self-justification, legalism, pride, guilt, fear, shame, insecurity, despair, all these are human-centered. These are not of God. These are diminishing the cross, and when you diminish the cross, there's no reason for you to boast at the cross. Instead, in our walk with God, our appreciation of the Gospel should magnify our view of the Cross to fill this gap so that the cross is as big as it can be in our life. Life and performance and pain are to be replaced by worship and the boasting of the cross with a deep realization of the

grace that has been afforded to us. We pursue a life of holiness out of thankfulness, and this is how we need to magnify the cross in our life so that we can truly boast it, not just outwardly boast it, but in our heart. We really know how wonderful this cross is, and we will boast it in our everyday life. So, let's finish the passage with the last three verses, 16 to 18. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. And verse 16 tells us those who walk by this rule to boast in the cross and not in the flesh. They will receive peace and mercy from God, and they are the Israel of God. That means they are the true people of God, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. And how can the church be

assured of this God's mercy and blessing. How can the church experience peace and unity between its members? The answer is when we walk by this rule. On the other hand, it is often the neglect of this Rule. The Core teaching of the Bible, the boasting of the Cross, which is the main reason why some modern-day churches seem to be lacking the mercy and peace of God. When people in the church are boasting in their works, not in the cross. When people live by the flesh, not by the spirit. And to present a holy front. When people rather remain in shame and guilt rather than to recognize their own depravity and falling before the cross. When people present themselves to be holy and spiritual but they are actually living by the Flesh, and peace is impossible when true Israel departs from this god-given Rule. And next, Paul says to Galatians, Let no one cause me trouble. That is telling them to stop undermining his ministry. In chapter one, he already reminded them he was personally caught by Jesus to preach the

Gentiles, he went through a radical transformation, you know, from persecuting the church, okay, to laboring for the church. And he also emphasized he was not taught by other Apostles, but other Apostles acknowledged that he is indeed sent by God, and he did not need to seek the approval of Apostle Peter, and in fact opposed him in Chapter 2. But here he added one more point about his testimony. He says, I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. We know that Paul endured many persecutions and sufferings in his ministry, and perhaps here he could be referring to the stoning that he suffered in Lystra, which is one of the Roman provinces in Galatia, in Acts 14:19. And some of the recipients of Paul's letters may have been witnesses to this, okay, Chapter 14, Acts 14:19. But the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Peter, they too stoned Paul and dragged him out the

city, supposing that he was dead. He was stoned until he looked as though he was dead, and the wounds that his persecutors have inflicted on him, and the permanent scars that he may have left behind. These were the marks of Jesus, and the Greek of this mark is quite interesting. It's called stigmat. Okay, and this word is also used in outside the Bible as for the branding of a slave. You know, when you buy a slave, you want to brand a slave so that to show that he belongs to you. In chapter one, Paul introduced himself as a servant or a slave of Christ. Here, he signs off that he's a mark slave of Christ. He is almost saying to all those who are tempted to leave a mark on their body with circumcision, This is the real mark. If you want to prove your faith, not the circumcision that the Judaisers are asking them to leave. The real outward mark of a follower of Jesus is persecution. It is not circumcision. And finally, he concludes.

the letter with a benediction: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. We also notice that Paul begins the letter with grace, wishing grace upon them, but he also quickly expressed astonishment that Galatians have deserted God who caught them in the grace of Christ. So he ended on the same note of grace he begins with grace, he ended on grace. Indeed, the whole letter is dedicated to the theme of God's grace. The theme of God's grace is seen in the justification by faith alone, his unmerited favor to sinners. If the real outward mark of a follower of Jesus is persecution, not circumcision, the inward mark is the grace of our Jesus that is in the spirit. And this is Paul's, that's an inward mark, okay? This is Paul's life example, bearing the marks of Jesus on his body and the grace of Jesus in his spirit. And Paul desires his readers to have the same because they were his brothers and the last word of the epistle in the family.

of God. They were brothers. He considers that as his brother. So let me just do a quick summary of the whole book, okay? And if you remember, I think the first sermon preacher highlighted the four key themes in the book of Galatians: justification by faith alone, walking by the Spirit or living by the Spirit or life in the Spirit, freedom in Christ, and also unity and equality in Christ. Today, in Paul's conclusion, we did a broad sweep over the four tees. Justification by faith alone reminds us that our faith is inward, is divine. It's not by human effort. It's not by circumcision, okay? And through divine grace, inward divine grace, there is... We become a new creation, born out of the Spirit, and called to walk by the Spirit. We have a new identity. We have new status. We have new power. And this gives us New Freedom in Christ to serve and love God and His people, and enabling us to live together as a community united in Christ, equal. We are all equal in Christ, but we are marked by persecution. We are because we

are crucified to the world. We do not seek men's approval, and we do not compromise. That the Judases and the grace of God also marks us as a community, so as individuals or as a community. From our justification to our sanctification, whether it is the past, present, or future, we boast in nothing except the cross. It is our true security and our true glory. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank you for giving us your word in the book of Galatians. Lord, we are forgetful people and people who are easily anxious, afraid, and insecure. And so we boast, Lord, and though we often boast out of arrogant pride, we pray that you look upon us with the grace as we look upon children who boast innocently. And Lord, teach our hearts to truly see you as our Lord and Savior and realize that apart from you, we have no good thing. And Lord, thank you for giving us the reminders and assurance of who you are in the scriptures. Lord, we acknowledge

the limitation of time and the limitations of the speakers in the preaching of your word, and we pray that despite these limitations, the seeds of truth will be sown in the hearts of all the speakers and listeners, and the spirit will continue to work in us and illuminate us as we read your word and encounter the different things in our lives. Help us to center our lives on the heart of the gospel and be a people that is known for our grace and unity, and as a church community, help us to love one another, serve one another, and bear each other's burdens. Refine us and build us in this process so that we may become a community that brings glory to your name. We give you all the praise and glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Boasting In The Cross (Book of Galatians)

The Life Church and Missions

Paul addresses two key issues in Galatians: the doctrinal problem of justification by faith alone and the situational issue of how believers should live in community.

He warns against conceit and boasting, highlighting the root of human boasting as insecurity and a desperate desire for more glory.

Paul's conclusion emphasizes the importance of boasting in the right things and turning to faith in Christ for identity and fulfillment.

Paul's Unique Approach in the Letter to the Galatians

Paul's letter to the Galatians stands out with its abrupt start, skipping formalities and directly addressing the problem.

The ending is also unconventional, lacking praise or future plans, and emphasizes the main themes of the letter.

Paul highlights the motivations of the Judaizers, who sought to circumcise Gentile believers to avoid persecution and boast in their flesh, while also revealing their own inconsistent adherence to the law.

The Misguided Law-Keeping of the Pharisees

Paul critiques the Pharisees' law-keeping, highlighting their hypocrisy and misplaced priorities.

The Judaizers in Galatia are seen as seeking to boast in outward appearances, similar to King Saul's demand for David's foreskins.

Paul emphasizes that true Christian faith is inward and spiritual, with the cross of Jesus Christ as the only valid ground for boasting.

The world system promotes self-salvation and self-satisfaction, but through Christ's crucifixion, we are freed from its influence.

The new creation in Christ brings us a new status, power, identity, and way of life, making the cross the reason for our transformation.

Boasting in the cross confronts the uncomfortable truth of our sinfulness, but the church is a place for sinners to find mercy and support in their journey of faith.

The Significance of Boasting in the Cross

Boasting in the cross is a central theme in Paul's message, contrasting human achievements with God's divine redemption.

The Judaizers' focus on circumcision and human works for salvation misrepresents the essence of Christianity, which is rooted in God's grace.

The cross, once a symbol of shame and torture, is now a source of pride and identity for believers, challenging the cultural perception of its significance.

Boasting in the Cross: A Transformative Life

Boasting in the cross frees us from the world's claims and insecurities, providing our true identity and purpose.

Our emotional struggles often stem from boasting in our own achievements and reputation, rather than in the cross.

The Christian life involves repenting, putting faith in Jesus' sacrifice, and progressively growing in awareness of God's holiness and our own sinfulness, while maximizing the significance of the cross.

The Power of the Cross and Its Impact on Our Lives

The bottom line of our lives can become flat when we focus too much on our sins, diminishing the power of the Cross.

Instead of recognizing God's grace, we may try to reach holiness through our own efforts, leading to guilt and shame.

Boasting in the Cross and walking by its rule brings peace and mercy from God, while neglecting this rule can cause trouble and unrest in the church.

Paul identifies himself as a "mark slave" of Christ, emphasizing that the real outward mark of a follower is persecution, not circumcision.

The letter highlights the theme of God's grace, from justification by faith to the inward mark of grace in the spirit.

Paul's life example and desire for his readers to share in this grace reflect the unity and equality of believers in Christ, ultimately concluding with a prayer for the community to embody grace and love.