We have now reached the final chapter 6 of Galatians. Through Galatians, we have examined the earnest challenge of the Apostle Paul. Saying that we believe in Jesus but if that belief is not standing for the right reward, how dangerous it is. Paul challenged, rebuked, and appealed. Just participating in worship, church community, lifting hands, and fellowship is not a testimony of faith. A true testimony of faith is because of the right relationship with Jesus Christ, not just the right reward for the gospel. The correct testimony of faith is experiencing and knowing the grace of Jesus Christ, not just talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ in words, but experiencing the crucifixion, resurrection, and the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ coming into our hearts. Without the experience and correct knowledge of the grace of Jesus Christ, our life of faith may be nothing more than religious and cultural activities. We need to truly believe in the truth of this gospel we believe in.

We must look back on ourselves every year to approach the clear, certain, and correct recording that is right in front of us as an experience. Through the letter to the Galatians, Paul strongly appealed, challenged, and rebuked those who departed, utilizing all the truths he realized, quoting all the currents of the Old Testament, connecting Abraham and David to Jesus Christ. Why was the law given through Moses? It was to support God's promise. The law is to make us realize how sinful we are before God.

To make it clear that the ring itself cannot be worthy, it is important to realize that the promise of God is important. This promise of God creates faith in us and through that faith, those who live according to the promise of God in Jesus Christ are justified by God. The apostle Paul emphasized how easily this message could be distorted in the flow of the vain philosophy and trends of this age. Now, as he concludes the letter, he is finishing it with his own confession. Particularly, from chapter 6, verse 11 to verse 18, Paul's words show that until then, someone else had been writing down his dictation like a game, but from verse 11 onwards, he takes the pen himself to conclude boldly, in large letters, to finish this distortion. This is me finishing it myself.

Emphasizing it as a letter, he concludes with a confession of his faith. Through this confession, he makes a very important confession. Let's read his confession together in Chapter 6, Verse 14. However, I will never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. I will never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word boast was used by Apostle Paul in the New Testament, appearing 9 times, with 5 of them being used by him. It could be said that boast is a specialized term used by Apostle Paul. The word boast is difficult to translate accurately as it weakly reflects its original meaning because it also includes a negative connotation of boasting. Therefore, it was translated using the word boast as there is no closer equivalent word to use.

Originally, the word 운의 carries three meanings: making people you meet talk about it, making you happy just thinking about it and feel enthusiastic about life, and thirdly, boasting about being the center of life and supporting you. We can express these things like this: What are we boasting about? What makes us feel enthusiastic about life? What is making us speechless? What is at the center of our lives? The Apostle Paul called the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul said he only boasts in the cross, how shocking is that today in this era? In our time, it is difficult to feel this. In our era, the cross is considered a symbol of Christianity, and cross decorations are seen as virtual rewards and a pious design symbol. However, at the time of the Apostle Paul, it was still

During the Roman Empire era, it was a time when people hesitated to mention the word cross as it was associated with executions by crucifixion. In this era, our saints had a dream where the cross kept appearing. If the cross keeps appearing in a dream, wouldn't we think it's a dream filled with the Holy Spirit? Paul mentioned in his time that among the nightmares where the cross kept appearing, he had a nightmare that boasted about such a cross. Only those who realize the secret of the Gospel can confess this. Why did Apostle Paul say that our Lord Jesus despised the cross? He said it was because of three things about the cross. Firstly, he confesses that he did not see the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He emphasizes that not only Christ, not only Jesus, but Jesus Christ among us received the cross. This word among us implies a lot. The one who believes in Jesus Christ saves us easily. He is the King of kings and the Lord of all.

The Lord, who is our owner, came as the Messiah according to the promise to save us, and in history, He was anointed as Christ. He came as the Messiah and became a human being just like us, and as a substitute for us, he became the atoning sacrifice by dying for us. The meaning is in our Lord Jesus Christ. In these words, the cross is none other than the cross of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter how much we emphasize the cross, the clear truth is that through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, not a single sin can be forgiven, not a single lie can be accepted. The perfect justice of God is revealed. Why did our Lord Jesus Christ have to die on the cross? It is because he had to receive judgment in God's perfect justice. The pouring out of God's wrath, the righteous wrath of God, which must be poured out on all mankind, was taken by our Savior, our Christ.

Instead, because it is the death that takes on the responsibility, at the same time, it is the death where God's love, which can completely forgive any sin, no matter how heinous the crime, is poured out through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Can we say that the death of any person in this world can be combined with the complete justice and complete love of God and the philosophy and thoughts of any world? The world is 0 immigrants and love is love. The one who pours out love worries and shouts out love. The one who proclaims justice worries and shouts out love. Is there an event where justice and people from any place in my world become one while shouting out love? Is there an event where people are realized, and harmony and agreement among people are achieved while shouting out 02? Can the world be transformed through the event where the complete justice and complete love of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross are combined?

It is represented as an event of becoming one in the cross because it was the death of God's son, the death of God's only begotten son. The death of God's son is a more ordinary death than God's own death, pouring out all His perfection to judge and resolve this sin, and at the same time, granting complete forgiveness and love to all who believe in Him. This love that forgives all sins, no matter how small or unforgivable, is the abundant love of God that can forgive any sin. It is the event of becoming one because of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, enabling all who believe in Him to be renewed and live the life of eternal life. This is the message of salvation given to all people, the hope, the way, the truth, and the life. Secondly, Paul confesses that he has not received the new body.

It is because the cross nailed the script of the universe and not only that, but it also nailed the world. Many worlds were nailed to the cross together as the owner of the cross. Why did that happen? The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the death that nailed the world. What is in that world? The word world itself refers to two groups: the world created by people or the area where God is rejected, left, and not acknowledged, calling it the world. In the center and inside of that world, there is Satan. In the flow of this world controlled by Satan, people commit sins and drift along with the flow of the world, living as people who have left God. However, the cross of Christ also nailed that world to the cross. It means that there is the power in this gospel of the cross that can overcome the world. Behold, I have overcome the world.

Jesus Christ, whom you mentioned, is within us. How did He conquer the world? Did He conquer the world by force, political power, or economic power, gathering many people to overcome the world? Jesus Christ came as a humble and simple figure. He defeated the Emperor of the Roman Empire, who was worshipped as a god, and the emperor worship ceased. It was not due to worldly desires, political power, or the support of the people. It was solely through the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ. How does the church transform the world? It is not through worldly power, knowledge, or any combined force. The church cannot overcome the world through such means. When the church tried to change the world in that way, the world abandoned the church. When the church tries to influence the world with worldly ambitions and political power, it resembles the medieval church.

The worst condition among them deteriorated. At that time, emperors feared the pope and offered their crowns to the pope in the center, saying, Do not do this to the emperors. It was the final procedure for a king to become a king by taking off the king's crown and giving it to the pope. In this way, the authority of the church seemed higher than the authority of the state. However, spiritually, when the church was furthest away from the gospel, it was in its darkest era. With that power, the church started the Crusades, killed many people under the banner of the cross, rejoiced, handed them over for religious trials, and committed the most evil deeds in the world. It was when the church used the power and authority of this world that it was a terrifying time. The reason the church has existed historically until now is not because it had the power of the world, but because it had a lot of wealth.

The church does not dominate the world, nor does it have a lot of precedents. The church watches the good and evil deeds of the world and many 5-point students. However, educationally, it has disappeared so far, thinking about everything. Why does the church still exist? It's not because of our abilities and strengths, but because of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Despite that, the church has the gospel of the cross. The gospel of the cross is the power of God that nails the world to the cross. The church overcomes the world with the power of the cross. In the Middle Ages, the church had such power that in every village, the church became the highest building in the best location, and even by construction law, they couldn't build a building higher than the church's worship hall. The church was dominant in worldly terms.

It seemed to exist, but during the process, the ability of the gospel disappeared. What do the churches in Europe pride themselves on? They boast about old buildings and how many artworks and worship buildings are old. They boast about their past history. The only thing the church should be proud of is the gospel of the cross. It is because the spread of it is the only power that overcomes the world. Why did the early Christians overcome that persecution in the world? Did they win by gathering people in protests? No, it was because of the gospel of the cross. They won because of the power of the cross that overcame the world. That's why they boasted about the cross. Thirdly, because the world did not recognize the cross. Jesus' cross is not just His alone; it is the cross for all who believe in Him. So, it is your cross.

If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. The reluctance to say, I don't want to do this, is not about the mindset of not wanting to do something. It's not about a cross that speaks of something that didn't exist. When we carry our cross to death, believing in Jesus means believing in our own death. It's not about boasting of my righteousness or strength, but believing in Jesus means believing that my old self has died. If you say you believe in Jesus but your old self is still alive and active, then you don't believe in Jesus, you don't believe in the gospel. It's about still believing in yourself. Along with the death of Jesus, our old selves are crucified on the cross, believing in the gospel towards oneself and towards the world as dead on the cross. This is the gospel. Believing in Jesus is me.

I hope you clearly recognize the fact of human death. Yes, following a person's life, we live our lives following the new life in Christ and the Holy Spirit. At that time, we became proud of the cross. It is an error to consider the message of the cross in the world as a philosophy or as one of many thoughts of this era. When the Apostle Paul says he boasts only in the cross, he regrets that the saints of the church in Galatia are boasting in the flesh. Not boasting in the cross means denying Galatians 6:14. Boasting in the flesh does not mean living in sin and evil. It means living in the days of the flesh. It is not right to say that all people in the world are good people. People in the world say, Oh, that person is doing well, only boasting in the flesh. On the contrary, all people in the world are truly bad people. Praising a life where all people in the world are good is also boasting in the flesh.

Can we say such a thing? When we do not accept the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ, the most ethical, righteous, and hardest life to live is refusing our own death. Because we reject the truth of the cross that says our people must die, most people around us who do not believe in Jesus still strive to live a good and kind life. If we talk about the reasons for not believing and say that they believe in Jesus, there are many people who do a lot of bad things. They say, If I get cancer, should I just live kindly? Isn't the purpose of religion to live a good life? For this reason, living kindly and virtuously becomes the goal, seeking the gospel of the cross. However, even that becomes a reason for boasting in the flesh. Why is that so? Even if humans do good deeds, they become arrogant and boastful.

While doing work that is admired by many people, one can become distant from heaven due to immense pride and self-righteousness lurking beneath. Instead, we experience entering the gates of heaven when we are desperate in the deep agony of our sins and wickedness, and present ourselves before God. We realize that those who have lived the most self-righteously, boasting of their flesh, were the ones who did not grasp the gospel of the cross. They were among the Pharisees of their time, pursuing noble lives and refined morality and religious rituals. Even in our time, there are those who, corrupted and dwelling in sin, understand the gospel of the cross, but there are also those who, in their own way, live morally and purely, boasting of their flesh, while rejecting the gospel of the cross.

Those who sow in the flesh to decay from sin will reap eternal life from the Spirit, yes, the key is whether there is eternal life. What is important in verse 15 is being newly created. It is the issue of whether we can live the life of eternal life, not the death that speaks beyond the death prepared for us. Any news that does not go beyond death is not the gospel. Philosophizing before death without overcoming death is truly a life without true life. We believe in the power of the gospel of the cross that overcomes death. The apostle Paul boasted of the gospel of Christ Jesus and now concludes with verse 17, concluding with the confession of faith. The words of verse 17 will be as follows: From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. His body has many.

Traces were left behind. There are traces that boast of the gospel of the cross, overcoming numerous dangers and the pain of death. He even boasts about those traces. The word stigma, divided into hel and ra, is a word used in the Phileas society when marking a slave. So, through the word, I am stamped as a double image of Jesus Christ. I am stamped as a servant who boasts of the cross of Jesus Christ. Everyone has traces of life they want to erase and traces they want to cherish and boast about in their lives. The Apostle Paul wanted to hold onto all the traces belonging to his world and only boast about the traces of the cross of Jesus Christ. The reason is that those are truly eternal traces. There is a remarkable record about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, where He resuscitated His body.

There were traces. When I was in high school these days, when I look at the original text, Jesus' resurrection must have been a complete resurrection, but why are there traces left? I had doubts. There was a time when Jesus had oil, so how can we explain that there is a clear difference in the state of his body before carrying the cross? It's because the disciples didn't recognize it at first. It was only after a long walk that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized Jesus. Even Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener guarding the tomb at first. The risen Jesus also was not recognized by the disciples at first. That's why Peter said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water, wanting to confirm whether it was Jesus or not. When Jesus had supper at six o'clock, his flesh was different from others when many people were in need and crowds.

It wasn't that kind of appearance, as mentioned in Chapter 13 of this book. If we say it exactly as it is, it was an unimpressive appearance. When people look at us, they might think we look like those in the UK during Christmas. They might see us as resembling Jesus, but Jesus was not like that at all. His appearance was not impressive. Because Jesus' body, which had become glorious, was no longer there, there were times when he could not be recognized. His hands and side bore the marks of the funerals. He stood to prevent the soldiers from piercing his waist with a spear. Therefore, it was an unrecognizable, glorified Jesus. But through those marks, Jesus reveals himself, preserving only the marks of the cross forever. What does that mean? I believe that by showing only the marks to the little ones, we are not yet fully restored. We will still have the marks of Jesus' hands, feet, and waist in the eternal kingdom.

It is to leave that side to us all to become an eternal kingdom that remembers the cross, to transform Thomas, and to invite us all as saints who rejoice in those traces. Paul had those traces. Perhaps it could be traces due to physical pain. There are traces that proudly remain from the cross. Today, the Lord is inviting us. Among the selfish people who live boasting only the cross of the universe, what traces will we have? Some say that when we return to heaven, God will not seek decorations from us, but will seek wounds. Only Jesus Christ, the gospel of the cross, will seek traces in the dark. Because those traces will be remembered by God forever. Only boasting the gospel of the cross and boasting of Him in the dark.

We pray in the name of the Lord that we all, who love this land and leave traces behind, may become those who leave traces. Thank you, God the Father, for saving us through the gospel of Jesus Christ's cross. Please make us those who boast only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, bearing witness to the gospel, and allowing us to have traces without boasting. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

[이재훈 담임목사] 십자가 외에는 자랑할 것이 없습니다 (갈라디아서 6:1-18 )│2021.12.19

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