[Music] This is our third session on Galatians 6:4-18, and I said, I think a couple of sessions ago, that I would come back to the problem that Paul says here: Far be it from me to boast except in the cross, which means I [Music] boast only in the cross, right? I don't boast except in the cross. And I said I would come back to it because there are numerous places in Paul where he seems to boast in other things. How are we to think about that? So, Father, as we talk about this sentence, 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, as we focus on the issue of what does Paul mean by boasting in nothing except the cross, I don't think he's naive. I don't think he's the least mistaken. He's the authority here, not us. Grant us to learn from him so that we boast appropriately in the cross and appropriately in the other things that

Paul boasts in, I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. So, here's what I have in mind. In chapter five of Romans, he says we boast. I know it's translated rejoice, but I'm just going on the basis of the fact that this is the same Greek word for boast in Galatians and in Romans. We boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we boast in our sufferings. Or 2 Corinthians 12:9, But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Or Romans 15:17, In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. Or 1 Thessalonians 2:19, For what is our hope, joy, and crown of boasting before the Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? So, there you have what? One, two, three, at least four different things in which Paul boasts. So

what does he mean when he says here in Galatians 6:14, far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus, and he says something similar in 1 Corinthians 2, which creates a similar problem for our thinking. He said, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. So when he wrote First Corinthians, he dealt not just with Jesus Christ and him crucified; he dealt with divisions in the church, he dealt with sexual morality, he dealt with going to the law before unbelievers, he dealt with marriage and food offered to idols and Resurrection. What does he mean when he says, I don't know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, and then he deals with all kinds of issues? So both of those are the similar kind of problem, boasting only in Jesus, knowing only Christ crucified as he writes to the Corinthians. No, here's my suggested solution to the way Paul is thinking. I think Paul means when he

says far be it from me to boast except in the cross. He knows good and well that because of the Cross, because Christ died, many good things come to undeserving sinners, in which they should also exalt as the fruit of what the cross achieved, and thus in boasting in them for that reason also are boasting in the cross. Essentially, that's what I think he means. So, for example, in Romans 8:3, I'm going to give you three passages that show what I mean about the relationship between the cross and all the good things that come to believers who don't deserve any good things. Romans 8:3: God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. So, by sending the Son of God in human form, he condemned sin; that is, sin received its proper punishment in the flesh of Jesus when he was crucified on the cross. So, that verse one of Romans 8 says there is no

condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, no condemnation comes from God condemning our sin in the flesh of Jesus. He became a substitute for us on the cross and took our condemnation. That's the first step in realizing that everything a believer has, he has because of the Cross. Here's the second step: Romans 5:9. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, that is, his death, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. So, our right standing, our just standing, our being declared just or right before God is owing to the death of Jesus, the cross of Jesus, the blood of Jesus. So, if you take those two together here in Romans 8:3, condemnation is being removed, and here in Romans 5:9, justice or righteousness is being counted as ours. Therefore, God is totally 100% for us and not against us in Christ, which means all of his power, all of his wisdom, all of his love, all three of

which are infinite serve us. Here's the way he says it in Romans 8:32: He who did not spare his own son but gave him up. That's the death of Jesus, that's the cross. But gave him up for us all. How will he not? This is a rhetorical question, and we have to answer it. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? And the answer is he will. The logic is this: since he did the hardest thing imaginable, namely not sparing his own son but giving him up to the shame and pain of crucifixion for us, since he did that, he most certainly will graciously, with him, give us all things. That is, all things that we need to do his will and glorify him are all things that are ultimately good for us. Now, what those three passages, Romans 8:32, Romans 5:9, Romans 8:32, what those three passages do is provide an explanation or a foundation for the fact that the cross is, you could say, under or behind all good things that come to undeserving sinners.

Like us, therefore, when Paul says, far be it for me to boast except in the cross, can it not likely be, and I'm suggesting that it is, that what he means is not I won't boast in my sufferings, or I won't boast in my converts, or I won't boast in all the good that God has given me, but I will boast in it with a view to its foundation and provision in Christ crucified, so that every act of gratitude, every exaltation, every boast, every rejoicing in the Christian life is traced down to the root of the Cross. We would have nothing but hell without the cross; everything would lead to destruction rather than everything leading to Glory. So, I don't think Paul is doing double talk here or being naive here or being car here. I think he's being very profound and saying, Only the cross, only the cross is my hope for Glory; only the cross is the means by which I gain every good thing. [Music]

Did Paul Really Boast Only in the Cross? Galatians 6:14–18, Part 3

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