Glory In The Cross

Galatians 6:11-18

Crucifixion was the most painful and the most degrading form of capital punishment to have ever been used.

It is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross, that is governing principle of all our salvation!

It was the Cross by which Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind!

It is the Cross that is also become the symbol of the sacrifice of each of us in the service to Our Lord Jesus.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Just as the Lord Jesus was a living sacrifice we must also become living sacrifices for our Lord!

It is the Cross that is the symbol of denying our own flesh and walking in God’s Holy Spirit!

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

It is the Cross that is the symbol of our own salvation, so if we are to have any glory then let our own glory be in the Cross by which our Saviour caused the death of all our sin!

It was the Cross that broke down the partition between our sinful selves and our Holy God so our prayers can reach into Heaven!

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

It is the Cross that represents our complete surrender to God!

Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

SO, as we come to the end of this great book of the Bible and the foundation of the early Church, let us glory in the cross that Jesus bore in our names!

*****Gal 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.

We should not forget, men whose intent was to destroy the Church had made their rounds through all the churches in Galatia.

They had taught a false version of Judaism rather than the truth of Christianity.

The Apostle Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit had written this great book of the New Testament.

Understanding the Book of Galatians means we must have a clear understanding of the message of the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

The “Gospel” is the “Good News” of salvation.

The “Gospel” is not preached for us to consider if it is true because it’s truth cannot be denied.

The “Gospel” is preached so that we can immediately accept it’s message and be saved from “all” our sins!

Evidence teaches us that Paul dictated his epistles to a scribe on most occasions, one reason is that Paul was in prison when many of his epistles were written.

Another reason may have been that Paul’s eyesight was failing him.

This was probably not the case in this letter at least in these last few scriptures.

These final words of Scripture to the Galatians were so important that Paul took the pen and wrote in his own hands.

Some 15 times the Lord Jesus used the phrase “He that hath ears let him hear”.

In a sense this is exactly what the Apostle Paul is doing here.

By using large letters Paul wanted these Galatians to know without a doubt that it was Paul who had written to them and not someone impersonating him, as some had!

By using large letters Paul wanted to emphasize the importance of this great Book of the Bible!

The lesson we can learn from Paul is, that we need to give the utmost attention to what is said in these Scriptures!

Paul said it’s all about the Cross!

*****Gal 6:12 As 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.

To the Jew, his sign of faith was in his circumcision.

To the Christian it is something entirely different!

Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

These false teachers hated the “Gospel” and they hated the Apostle Paul.

These false teachers were all about religion and not about the truth.

These false teachers made legalism necessary for salvation, a lie from Hell.

These false teachers saw a means to fill their pockets and avoid the persecution of the Jews.

Those like Paul who preached the truth were ridiculed, mocked, abused, and rejected by society and beaten or killed.

Those that preached salvation as the free gift of God, through the cross of Jesus, were thought to be destroying religion by destroying the Laws of Moses.

It was easy to say you preached the truth and avoid persecution by just adding legalism to the truth of God.

These false teachers sought to make a good showing by boasting how many of these Galatians had been circumcised.

Remember the Jew were circumcised on the 8th day after their birth.

These men of Galatia were grown men. This was a mockery in itself!

It took real courage to stand for the truth of God and preach the truth and it still does today!

Something these false teachers did not have was courage, they were only full of deceit.

These false teachers sought recognition by the growth of their false ministry.

As we can see there are many of these false teachers still around today, who do not glory in the cross but only in their own false doctrine.

How do they get away with it?

People are easily impressed with numbers added to congregations.

People are easily impressed with magnificent worship centers.

SO, What is the truth?

Being impressed will not get you saved!

Paul told the Philippians, who struggled with this same false doctrine, let me impress you:

Php 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Paul said these false teachers only glory in your flesh, or in your pocketbooks!

Paul said, I have spent my life doing these things of legalism and they did not get me one step closer to God!

Paul all these things that are counted as gain to the Jew are just losses in serving Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

It was a big deal to go back to Jerusalem and boast how many Christians had converted to Judaism.

And today it is a big deal today for ISIS to brag about how many Christians were murdered or how many Christians were converted to Islam.

Just in the past few days, it was also a big deal in the American networks to boast about how many so-called Christians are departing from the ‘Faith”.

What is the truth?

There are more Christians murdered in our world everyday simply because they glory in the cross of Jesus Christ!

Christians are to be Baptized after accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Church attendance is important.

Bible study, Church programs, Church activities are important!

BUT, if we cannot glory in the cross, and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, we have missed the most important point in becoming a Christian!

*****Gal 6:14 But 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.

What does the false preacher glory in?

He glories in the size of the church!

He glories the number of converts to his own agenda!

He glories in himself!

He glories in the flesh!

Though the world be blind to the truth of Jesus Christ, as believers we must glory in the cross of Jesus Christ!

It is only by the cross on which Jesus Christ bore all our sins that we can be saved.

If there is one main thing the modern day church has gotten away from. it is glorying in the cross!

It is not the cross that is to be worshiped, it is the Lord, but it was by the cross that be are washed in the blood of Jesus!

The work that Jesus Christ did to get us saved is the work that we could never have done for ourselves.

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Propitiation means that it was the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that was the only acceptable means of paying my sin debt and your sin debt!

The propitiatory is the same as the “Mercy Seat” which was the blood sprinkled lid on the Ark of the Covenant!

It was the “Mercy Seat” where God met with Moses and it is “Mercy Seat”, the Cross that Jesus bore, where God will meet with every believer!

It is only at the Mercy Seat, the Cross, where mercy and truth come together!

It is only in Jesus Christ, that God rests His lawful case against us!

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Remember what God said to Moses:

Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and “when I see the blood, I will pass over you”, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

God said for it is the blood that maketh atonement for each soul!

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: “for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul”.

At the time of Christ, the cross was the worst of deaths.

It is by the worst of deaths that Jesus Christ has destroyed all kinds of death for all those that believe!

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Since there is no other approach to God, God will only accept those that come by the way of the cross and every individual from all walks of life stand on level ground at the Cross!

Nothing else in this world is as important as the salvation work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

What is the truth?

Circumcision or uncircumcision are nothing because these are things that a man can do, but only God make make a new creation!

It is at the foot of the cross where God creates the new man!

There is absolutely nothing that can make any human being acceptable to God beyond Jesus Christ and the work He did on the cross!

In fact we would not have any contact with God at all without Jesus Christ paving the way!

Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Why is the world going to Hell? The world refuses to approach God through Jesus Christ!

And you cannot just mention His name as many others believe.

Jesus Christ is so much more than just a good prophet as many say He is!

Just using words, or just using a false profession of faith in the name of Jesus will get you nowhere with God!

God cannot be deceived!

And God will not be mocked!

Jesus Christ did not come to this earth “to preserve life”!

Jesus Christ came to this earth to “give life” beginning with His own!

When any of us are sincere in our belief, God will then and only then, give that person a new spirit, which is a newly created spirit!

That person is spiritually “Born Again”!

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

This is the truth of the “Gospel”!

Anything else is as nothing and will not get you one step closer to the Almighty Living God!

This is the one rule and the ONLY MEANS to approach God!

*****Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

So who can experience the “Peace” and the “Mercy” of God? Only those that walk by the “rule of the cross”!

We must first have “peace with God” before we can have the “peace of God”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”:

Php 4:7 And “the peace of God”, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds “through Christ Jesus”.

They both come by the cross of Jesus Christ!

These are not hard words and they are easily understood but this is still the stumbling block of our world.

The “Mercy” of God comes only by the cross!

That new creation of God will experience the forgiveness of all sins before and after salvation!

That new creation of God will be given perfect assurance of eternal life in the New Heaven!

That new creation of God will be forever under God’s care!

The sign that began the nation of Israel was circumcision first performed by Abraham.

Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

This was a fleshly sign and Israel will still inherit the promises of God to David.

The Jews of the Nation of Israel still expect the fulfillment of these promises because they take God at His Word!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

This is therefore the Israel after the flesh!

Who are the Israel of God?

Not the Israel of the flesh but the Israel of Faith! The spiritual children of Abraham by “Faith”!

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The Israel of God are the ones in whom God will fulfill all His promises!

It is not the Israel of the flesh that bear the scars of Jesus Christ, it is the Church that bears the scars of Jesus Christ and is the Israel of God!

*****Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Just as Jesus Christ suffered for us all, we must be just as willing to suffer for Him!

In the time of Jesus Christ, certain branding marks were placed on slaves to designate their owner.

We as the Church are the blood bought slaves of Jesus Christ!

As tribulation leaves it’s many marks on us, these are the marks that prove our slavery to Jesus Christ!

If we pick up our own cross daily and die to ourselves daily, we will also bear the marks of the cross.

What is the truth?

You will be made fun of by those in this world, just because you claim to be a Christian!

Your job will always be in jeopardy in this world, just because you claim Jesus Christ as your Savior!

You will be talked about behind your back and be the topic of jokes, if you claim to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ!

And if you are willing to turn the other cheek to avoid confrontation, you will certainly be struck on that other cheek, if you claim that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to get to Heaven.

It is even in all these things that prove that God is right and the world is wrong!

Scars are just the marks on the outside because we choose to carry the truth of God on the inside!

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

But to deny Jesus Christ will certainly bring eternal death!

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Who are the blessed?

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

And all the rewards for serving the Lord Jesus come only by the “Grace of God”!

*****Gal 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

“To the Galatians written from Rome”.

The Apostle Paul was in Rome when He wrote this Epistle to these Galatians.

Through all of this letter to these Galatians, Paul never forgot that these were his brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is a fact that we will make mistakes while walking in the Holy Spirit!

It is also a fact that we cannot lose our salvation because of that mistake!

We are saved by Grace!

We are being saved daily by “Grace”!

And in the end it is “Grace” that will lead us home!

We are still a foolish people if we allow false teachers to come into the Church.

If we take the time to read and study the Scriptures ourselves, we will not be fooled when we hear someone speak lies and try to lead God’s people away from the truth.

What is the truth? We can trust the Word of God!

What are our choices?

We can either choose a life that is bound up in laws and legalism or we can choose Christian Liberty, bound up in the truth of the “Grace of God”!

Amen!

Amen still means, let God’s Word be established in your heart.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!