The Way of The World/The Way of The Cross
Galatians 6:11-18
11Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. 12As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
13For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 14But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
17From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. 18Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
The same crossroads that mankind had to choose from in Paul’s day are still with us today. The world is standing at the crossroads today, Will people choose the path of human justification and self-righteousness or will they take the path of God’s mercy and grace?
There is no other option. There is no other road, which of this two roads will man choose? The way of the cross, or the way of the world?
1st of all, the path of human justification and self-righteousness appears appealing to lost mankind. They seem to think that they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, they think they’ll just Dig in and get the job done by their own effort, that some how they can Atone for your their own sins, they seem to think that if they try really hard to do right that they’ll be alright. After a while they even have their own self-believing it.
Let me remind us that Appearances are not always as they seem. Many choose the road of human justification and self-righteousness.
Many find this path satisfying and pleasing for a while, but they eventually realize that the road that they chose leads to destruction, absolute emptiness, and heart breaking despair.
· But then there is the other fork in the road—the way of the cross. This path
does not gleam with the glitter of fame or accomplishment, or a rising self-esteem. This path is splattered with the blood, sweat, and tears of Another.
It appears to be the path of defeat and surrender, not victory and valor. On this path there is no room for pride or arrogance.
There are no class distinctions that walk this path. No self-satisfied soldiers who claim the victory. All of those who travel this path know their absolute spiritual bankruptcy, they are all too familiar with their depravity, and they are well acquainted with their moral degeneracy.
Those who travel the path of human justification believe that they can fill their emptiness with their own efforts.
Those who travel the path of mercy and grace know that they have no power and no hope of every filling their emptiness unless they drink of the Living Waters that flow from the Father’s fountain of mercy and grace.
One man said “Those two approaches to salvation are the only two that exist, the only two forms of religion that man has ever known.
There is grace/faith/Holy Ghost religion, known as Christianity, and there is law/works/flesh religion, which identifies all the rest.
God’s way is the way of grace, that works through man’s faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.
All other ways, no matter how seemingly different, are an attempt at salvation by fleshly works of the law.
It is as if, on the market shelf of world religions, there are hundreds of attractive packages, with a great range of shapes, sizes, labels, claims, and prices. But inside all of them is the same tasteless, nutritionless sawdust of works-righteousness.
*But there, standing alone, unattractive and repulsive to the natural man is the gospel, which alone contains real food.”
Paul’s letter was written to friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and he urged them to reject the path of human justification and self-righteousness, and continue on the path of mercy and grace, to walk in the Spirit.
11Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.
12As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
13For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
14But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world
In verse 11 Paul points out that he has written in large letters, with his own hand.
Some say that the large letters was a result of Paul having bad eyesight. Others say that Paul is pointing out that the writing, “his own hand,” which he writes in 11 is different than the writing of the one that he dictated to, and all of these are theories.
In verses 12-14 we notice that Paul once again addresses the group of false teachers, the Judaizers, who had slipped into the church to try and gain converts to their perverted, prideful ways. The false teachers wanted to make a good “outward” showing.
Religious pride is a bad disease to have.
The false teachers of Galatia were religiously prideful, Paul writes, 12As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, {put on a good front, present a good-looking face to win favor of men and avoid the loss of popularity, position, and prominence}
they constrain you to be circumcised; {They are trying to convince the people by saying it is absolutely necessary.} only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
{The legalists were not concerned for the Galatians, or for God, but only about their own comfort and reputation.}
The Judaizers identified themselves with the church but not with the cross and therefore not truly with Christ. They recognized Jesus as the Messiah and proclaimed allegiance to Him, but they had no part in Him because they refused to receive His finished work on the cross on their behalf.
Their trust was in their own human works, represented by circumcision, rather than in God’s provision of salvation by grace through the power of the cross of Christ. They wanted a Messiah to deliver them from their oppressors of that day, but not a Savior to deliver them from their sins. They could handle that by themselves, they thought.
The Judaizers are still among us. There are many in the Church house today who want nothing to do with the blood and gore of Calvary’s cross. They love gentle Jesus meek and mild, lying in a manger, and riding on the back of a donkey. They love His sayings and the fact that He welcomed all kinds of people, but they don’t want anything to do with the cross, the suffering, and the shame. They love Jesus the motivational speaker, but not the Suffering Savior.
Throughout history those who have identified with the cross have been persecuted. The cross was a symbol of guilt. It was the most horrible and painful means of death that a person could be forced to endure.
The cross was reserved for the state’s enemies, the most reviled of all people. The cross was equated with death, and yet for those who identified themselves with Jesus, the cross was the symbol of life. Life offered through the full and final sacrifice of God’s own Son for those who are truly guilty and unable to rid themselves of their guilt.
The Judaizers, like many people today, couldn’t deal with the thought that they were guilty. “Who me? Religious works make people feel better.
We’ve all heard it said; the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
In verse 13 we see another flaw in the character of the false teachers who were trying to lure the faithful from the foot of the cross.
Not only were they prideful but they were also hypocrites. Paul writes, 13For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
Not even those who are submitting to circumcision, the legalistic circumcision party. Keep the law. The legalists were insincere and inconsistent, pretending to be zealous for the law. They felt that merely observing circumcision would compensate for not observing the rest of the law.
They had a twofold selfish purpose in mind: (1) to escape persecution which comes with the cross of Christ; and (2) to brag and boast over the Galatians. That they may glory in your flesh. Get credit for proselytizing Gentiles or persuading Gentiles to be circumcised and adopt the legalistic system.
we see here the false teachers don’t practice what they preach. They hold up a high standard, they shine the light of righteousness on the sins of others, yet they choose the course of least resistance them selves.
The Judaizers were worshipping at the shrine of self; self-effort, self-righteousness, and self-justification.
Paul wanted the folks in the church at Galatia to know that things weren’t as they appeared.
Hypocrisy is rampant in our day, just as it was in the days of the Apostle Paul and Jesus.
In stark contrast to the Judaizers, Paul stands not as a perfect man, or a perfect picture of virtue, but as a sinner saved by grace.
This is why he writes in verse 14But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Paul will glory in the shame of the cross. That which is a shame and an embarrassment to so many in our society was Paul’s glory and the object of His praise.
Paul says that the world has been crucified to him and that he has been crucified to the world. Paul here is writing about the ways of the world, the fruit of the flesh, the manners and customs of those who live to please themselves and justify themselves. Paul is dead to that kind of thinking, that type of religion.
It is not that they have no influence on Paul any longer, but they have lost their power to hold him captive as they once did.
He considered everything he had ever done that he could pride himself in as nothing. He considered everything he had ever accomplished as nothing. It is not that what he had done was nothing, but in comparison to knowing Jesus—it was all worthless junk.
Our hope is not in our success, or the mark that we leave on society, the number of commendations we receive from our employer.
our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. This message is foolish to many in our society. It has always been foolishness to society.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18. 18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Why is the cross still an object of scorn? Jesus’ message is that our justification and salvation are all of God.
No person has ever been justified because of what they have done. No person has ever come to experience salvation because of who he or she is or what they have accomplished.
We were dead in our sins and yet God has made us alive in Christ.
