I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning's message is taken from Galatians chapter 6, verses 14 to 18. In our previous message, we had considered that basically there are only two forms of religions in this world, only two approaches to salvation: it is either salvation by grace or salvation by works. They may come to you in all kinds of shapes and forms, but they are all the same; they come under the umbrella of salvation by works. Christianity stands alone based on salvation by grace.
In the midst of all the religions of this world that teach salvation by works, God's way to salvation is what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross. Man's way to salvation is what man can accomplish and achieve through his own works. The one who embraces the world's religions will say, “On my own merits, in my own power, I can make myself acceptable to God. I can earn myself a place in heaven.” The Christian who embraces the cross will say, “I cannot accomplish anything in my own power or goodness; I have none. I can only throw myself at the mercy of God, trusting in the all-sufficient sacrifice of His only begotten Son on my behalf.”
Then Paul now turned to the Judaizers, who were trying to make themselves acceptable to God through their own works of righteousness. Their motivation was never to glorify God; it had nothing to do with God but only with themselves. They were proud; they loved to show off their human efforts. They were compromisers; they would do everything they could to avoid being persecuted. They were also hypocrites; they wanted the Galatians to be circumcised in order to keep the Mosaic law, yet they themselves did not keep the law. They did not live by the standards of the Lord.
So in this final section, Paul wanted to teach the Galatians that as believers, how should they live their lives? Instead of living for the praise of men, instead of glorifying themselves, they should be living for the glory of God. That is the title of our message: "Living for the Glory of God."
Beginning with himself, as the Apostle Paul said in verse 14: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." God forbid means "may it never be." It carries the idea of impossibility; it is a strong negative. In other words, it is unthinkable for Paul to even consider boasting about anything other than the cross of Jesus Christ. The word "glory" means to boast; most of the time it was used in reference to either boasting or being proud. But sometimes it carries the idea of glory or praise in a good sense. For example, in Romans 5:2-3, Paul says, “By [Jesus Christ] also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice." That is the same word for "glory." In other words, we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory—again, the same word was used. We boast in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. So depending on the context, it can be evil boasting or it can be good boasting, so to speak. Here it was a reference to glory or praise in a good sense.
But whether it is even boasting or good boasting, why would a person even boast in the first place, right? Why would you and I even have this idea of boasting, whether it be good or evil? A person would only boast about something in which he or she has placed his or her complete trust and confidence. So if someone has placed his complete trust and belief in his own works, his own merits, his own accomplishments, then he will boast in all those things. But if a person places his trust and belief only in the all-sufficient sacrificial work of Christ, that person will boast in nothing else but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what it means here. We have to bear in mind that if any man thinks that he has great confidence in his own human efforts, if any man thinks that he has sufficient reasons to boast about his own accomplishments, Paul says in Philippians 3:4: "I more." And then he went on to say: "I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Then he went on to say that he considered all those things as dung, as rubbish, that he may win Christ.
My friend, is there anything that you have done or have not done that causes you to be so proud, so much so that you would boast about those things? Perhaps your services—you have served more than others. Or your spiritual gifts—you have more spiritual gifts than others. Or your giving—you have given more money than all the rest. Or your knowledge—you are more knowledgeable than everyone else in the church. For these reasons, you are proud and you tend to boast about these things.
There is only one right way for you and I to live our Christian lives, and that is to live not for the glory of ourselves but for the glory of God. And if we do that, we would understand that we are absolutely nothing. You and I have absolutely nothing to boast about, save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one thing that we can boast in, in a good sense, and that is the power of the cross.
Paul then gave three reasons for glorying in the cross of Jesus Christ. This will be the three points for our message. Firstly, the cross is powerful to free us from the world. Look at the second part of verse 14: "By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." In other words, by the power of the cross, the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. The word "world" (cosmos) can sometimes be translated as this physical world that we live in, the universe. It can sometimes mean humanity or the human race. At other times, it means the evil world system. Here, most certainly it does not mean the first two, why? Because of the word "crucified." To be crucified means to put to death, like our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross; He was put to death on the cross. You and I were not put to death this physical world, right? We were not put to death the human race; it does not make any sense. But rather, we put to death the evil world system, which is under the control of Satan.
Let us remind ourselves of who we were before Christ saved us. If you can turn with me to Ephesians 2:1-4. Allow me to read for you Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 to 4: "And you, Paul said to the Ephesians, hath He quickened, which means Christ has made you alive spiritually, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that is Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Which means just as everyone else. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us."
My friends, that was who we were before our conversion. We were living a meaningless life, a life that was ruled by the desires of the flesh, which naturally would follow the evil system of this world. We did what we did because of worldly motivations. Isn’t it true? We want to accumulate more and more in life. We want to be successful, powerful, and wealthy—to be praised by men and for our own selfish enjoyment. Some of us live this physical life only based on the things we see and touch. Our philosophy is, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Others are so fascinated with the future, constantly expecting tomorrow will bring better things and more meaning, but it never did. Yet others will be haunted by the past; they could not get rid of the guilt of their past sins, things that they had done or failed to do. Yet others desperately cling to one of the thousands and thousands of false religions that are based on human efforts, which is under the control of Satan. It was a hopeless life—a life with no plan, no purpose, no meaning, no reason for our existence.
But the power of the cross had changed all that. It had freed us from all that. When Jesus saved us, all our sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven forever and ever, removed from us. We no longer live in the guilt of our past sins. Our present life is lived not according to the influences of this evil world system but according to God’s truth and in the power of His Spirit. And our future life is secured in heaven. Jesus Himself said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” That is why we build our treasures in heaven and not here on this earth.
Notice Paul says, “The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” It does not mean the world is dead. The world is very much alive, this evil world system. It does not mean the world has no more influence; the world's influence is very powerful. But what it means is that the power and dominance of the world over us is broken. We are no longer under total bondage to it. No doubt Satan will still try to use the things of this world to tempt us; he will still try to cause us to be interested in the things of this world. But remember, as long as you and I live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, the Bible says, “You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” So the believer who is faithful to God and His Word will no longer have this compelling interest in the things of this world. Slowly, this compelling power of the world will fade away. Just as the world has become dead to us, we also become dead to the world.
By way of illustration: your company may be planning a party for all the workers. They want to invite some worldly well-known celebrities; there will be alcoholic drinks free-flowing; there will be wild games and dancing through the night. Your colleagues are all very excited and they look forward to it. Then someone mentions your name, and everyone says, “Well, you can forget about him. He will never be interested.” Why? Because to them, you are like a dead body. Just as a dead body will not respond to senses, emotions, and surroundings, you will not respond to the evil influences of the world.
A word of exhortation to all the parents: If one day your child comes home and says, “Daddy, Mommy, my friends find me so boring. They are not interested in me, and they will not engage me in their worldly activities,” you should say, “Praise the Lord that the world finds my child boring, dead, and not interesting.” But the moment the world finds your child alive, active, and interested, then something is terribly wrong. Are you such a person? Are you able to say, “The world is crucified unto me, dead to me; I am also dead to the world and I unto the world ”? I pray that all of us who are present here this morning will be able to say, “I am crucified unto the world, and the world unto me.”
Our second point is that the cross is powerful to do what our flesh cannot do. Look at verse 15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” Paul was a Jew, and in the past, he had done everything he could in his own power to please God. But he discovered that in his flesh, in his own human efforts, he could not do anything that would please God. All the things that he had done could not save him. It was only through the power of the cross that he was saved.
Paul knew that the Judaizers were just like him because he was just like them in the past. They trusted in their own flesh; they esteemed circumcision very highly. It was almost like circumcision equaled salvation. And so they despised the Gentiles who were not circumcised. They talked very highly about themselves, boasting about their circumcision. Therefore, Paul said that for the Jews, circumcision is not anything significant, meaningful, and valuable. For the Gentiles, uncircumcision does not mean anything. What is important is that you must believe in Jesus Christ. Only in Christ Jesus can you be born again, you can be saved, and you can be a new creature. Second Corinthians 5:17 says: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
When I was in Singapore, I was actively involved in the prison ministry. It was so amazing to see those heavily tattooed, hardcore criminals coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine how a man who had lived his entire life in crime, spent his entire life in drug addiction, in alcohol, in gambling dens, in gangs, in vice activities, and all of a sudden he was born again and became a new creature? He started to worship God, sing hymns, read the Bible, and pray. How could that be possible? Was it because he had a new Christian name? Or was it because he was baptised? Or because he followed some counselling methods or, like the Judaizers, by circumcision? No, none of those sorts. It was the power of the cross that transformed him into a new creature.
Let us take a moment and consider our lives. Why are we doing what we are doing? Why do we come to church this morning? Why are we able to persevere in what we are doing? If you and I trust in our own flesh, our human efforts, our own accomplishments, and we try to please God by doing all these things—whether it be our worship, our singing of hymns, our services, our giving, our prayers, our reading the Bible—very soon we will give up and walk away. So many have already walked away. Why? Because they do all these things based on their own strength and efforts. On top of that, everything we do will be of no spiritual significance at all. It will be meaningless. It is only in Christ Jesus and in the power of the cross that, when we are born again, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we are transformed, and then we do all these things as new creatures—transformed creatures. There is this spiritual perspective, this spiritual dimension, this spiritual meaning. It is a totally different thing altogether. Then you and I are able to please God. We are able to find joy and gladness as we serve Him, as we worship. Our hearts will be in tune with Him, and then we are able to persevere in all the things we are doing. Difficult times may come, but we will not give up; we will press on because we are new creatures. This is the power of the cross: that what the flesh cannot do, what human efforts cannot do, the power of the cross is able to do, to transform us into new creatures.
Our third and final point is that the cross is powerful to bring salvation. Let us look at verse 16: "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." To walk according to this rule means to walk according to a standard, which means the standard of the Gospel. You see, the standard and condition for salvation is to believe in God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. That is the only way. And God's salvation is open to all without exception. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It is God's desirative will that sinners will repent of their sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Men cannot change the terms of salvation, but what men can do is refuse those terms. When a man refuses God's offer of salvation, his judgment is greater if he has heard the gospel on multiple occasions. So especially those whom God is so gracious to allow him or her to listen to the gospel, and that person keeps rejecting and rejecting and rejecting, well, his judgment is greater than if he had never heard the gospel before. So here, Paul seems to issue an invitation to the Judaizers who knowingly reject God's offer of salvation and to anyone who has not heard the gospel, perhaps to come and believe in the gospel. Therefore, he was saying to them that when they believe in the gospel, they will no longer be enemies of God. They will be at peace with Him and they will receive His mercy, as in God would forgive all their sins—remember: past, present, and future—and then God would set aside His judgment. The term "Israel of God" refers to the Jewish believers, all those who are spiritual as well as physical descendants of Abraham. In other words, if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the promised Messiah, the only Savior of the world, then they would be real spiritual Jews, not just physical Jews but spiritual Jews as well. Then they would be true Israel of faith.
Verse 17: "From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." We do not know for sure who Paul was referring to when he said, "Let no man trouble me." Allow me to briefly share some possibilities. Firstly, Paul could be referring to some Christians in Galatia. Though they were genuine believers, nonetheless they were influenced by the perverted gospel of the Judaizers. Therefore, inevitably, they were used by the Judaizers to corrupt the churches by bringing in the perverted gospel. When they corrupt the churches, they were causing Paul great trouble and heartache. The other day, I was visiting a church member who was unwell. During our conversation, she said to me, "Pastor, whenever you baptize or conduct transfer or membership, you always ask this question: 'The candidate must promise not to cause trouble or division in the church.'" And then she said, "I can never understand why someone would ever want to cause trouble and division in the church." It is true that it is hard to understand why anyone would want to cause trouble and division in the church, but we all know that in every local church there are sheep and there are goats. Sheep are the believers; goats are the unbelievers. You and I do not know who are the true believers and who are the false believers. Sometimes it is the false believers who create the trouble; at other times, it is the disobedient true believers who create the trouble. But whatever the case, if there’s trouble, your heart and my heart will be troubled. So when the Christians who were influenced by the Judaizers troubled the church, Paul's heart was troubled.
Secondly, Paul could be referring to the unbelievers, especially the Judaizers, who love to pretend to be holy and godly, and that they were suffering for righteousness’ sake, for the Lord's sake. Remember, like the Pharisees and the scribes, who love to pretend to be very devoted and godly, so much so that they put on a long face, sad and gloomy, whenever they fast, because they want everyone to know that they are fasting. So in a sense, Paul was like saying to these people who pretend to be very godly and holy, "If you are impressed with such bodily afflictions for the Lord's sake, then look at the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ that I bear on my body." Most certainly, Paul had many bodily scars to show. He had been whipped on multiple occasions; he suffered multiple shipwrecks and intense persecutions. If this was the case, then Paul was not boasting in an evil sense but in a good sense to put a stop to all these boastings that come from the Judaizers. Or it could be that these Judaizers were causing trouble by accusing Paul that he was a false apostle. Because if he was a true apostle, why would he be persecuted? So they would be telling all the rest of the people, "Look at Paul; he must be a false apostle because if he is a true apostle, then everyone would accept him." Therefore, Paul had to say, "Well, the persecution that I suffered was for my Lord." That was why he said, "For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." But whatever the possibility, the point is this: When the believer is troubled, the Lord Himself is troubled. When the believer is being attacked, the Lord Himself is being attacked. Remember when the Lord Jesus appeared to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, at that point he was still called Saul. The Lord said to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" When did Paul ever physically persecute Jesus? No, never. But when he persecuted the Christians, he was persecuting Jesus Himself. My friends, when we suffer for the Lord's sake, when we preach the gospel and face rejections, hostility, and even persecutions—whether it be people who slander us, falsely accuse us, gossip about us, or misrepresent us—everything they do, they are doing to the Lord Himself, because you and I belong to Him. Isn't it comforting to know that Jesus knows everything about us, everything that we are going through? He knows when we are troubled; He is troubled. When we are being attacked, He is being attacked. But you and I must make sure that we suffer for righteousness’ sake, we truly suffer for the Lord’s sake and not for our own sins. If we suffer for our own sins, then we must repent.
Finally, Paul said in verse 18: "Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." Throughout this book of Galatians, Paul had been emphasizing that salvation is by grace and not by the law. Salvation is through faith and not through our works. So here he concluded this book by making one final declaration: that it is not the law, it is not works, but it is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that be with your spirit. If you are still an unbeliever lingering outside the kingdom of God, ask yourself this question: When you die, where would you be? The Bible tells us, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment." The Chinese believe that when the coffin is closed, everything is finished. It is not finished. You have to stand before the Almighty God in the great white throne judgment, and if there be traces
of sins found in your life, you will be cast into the eternal lake of fire where the Bible says the fire never stops burning. A million upon a million years, you will still be burning in the eternal lake of fire. Who do you cling onto when you stand before God? Do you cling onto your wealth, do you cling onto your human efforts, accomplishments, achievements, or human relationships? The numerous houses you have? Once you swing into eternity, you have nothing to cling onto. As the old preacher says, but just on the horse’s hair. And once you swing into eternity, it will be too late. Once lost, you will be lost forever. The only way for you to be saved is to cling onto the cross. Jesus died on the cross; He shed His precious blood to save you and me from the penalty of sins. He was buried, but death cannot keep Him in the grave. On the third day, He rose again from the dead, and you and I who believe in Him will live again, just as our Lord Jesus was risen from the dead. Because He lives, we shall live also. So death is not the end of everything. In fact, death will usher us into the presence of God. Do you believe Him? For those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we must live our lives not to glorify ourselves, not to live for the praise of men, but to live for the glory of God. The only way for us to live to the glory of God is to cling onto the cross as well. That the cross is powerful to free us from the world, the cross is powerful to transform our lives that we may be new creatures in Jesus Christ. The cross is powerful to bring us salvation, not just to us only but to all who will turn to Jesus for salvation. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to study through the book of Galatians, and we pray that we will remember the passages that we have considered and help us to apply biblical lessons as we live our days on this Earth. And We pray that Thou will continue to grant us many such opportunities for us to learn from Thy precious word. Indeed, we are saved by grace, not of works. We are saved through faith, and not through the things we have done or not done. Oh Lord, we pray that Thy grace will be upon us every day, every moment of our lives. For those who are still outside Thy kingdom, may Thou convict their hearts of their sins and cause them to think and consider that there is no salvation; only Jesus saves. Christianity stands alone based on salvation by grace, while the rest of the world’s religions are based on salvation by works. Salvation is only by grace, and only by grace are we saved. We thank Thee for impressing upon our hearts this most important truth. May this truth remain in us all the days of our lives. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.