Galatians 6:11-18

Galatians 6:11–18 KJV (WS)

11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. 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. 13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 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. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. 18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Introduction

How important is the letter to the Galatian churches?

Paul emphasizes the importance of the letter based on two criteria.

The first thing he points out is the size of the letter.

I have often heard people talk about the varying sizes of the books of the Bible.

On many occasions I have heard a preacher say something like, “just because this book is longer (shorter) doesn’t mean it’s any more or less important.”

Here, though, Paul says, “Hey, this is really important, this is so important that I wrote a big letter about it.

Look at it! Look at how big it is!

Galatians or 1 Thessalonians may have been the first letter Paul wrote.

Galatians is 2x as long as 1 Thessalonians.

It’s only a third as long as Romans.

The second thing he points out is how it was produced.

People in Paul’s day are not too different from people today.

Not many people really enjoy writing, or even typing.

This was the same back in Paul’s life.

To emphasize the importance of the letter’s content, Paul points out that he has written it with his own hand.

This would make it stand out from other writings of the day.

He didn’t give someone an outline for them to fill in.

He couldn’t trust the writing of such an important topic to the hand of a ghost writer.

He wanted to write the things we’ve looked at himself.

Paul is passionate about the importance of this letter, because, in summary, it deals with the most important topic in the universe.

What is the most important topic in the universe?

Think about it for a second.

It may not be what you think it is.

If your answer has anything to do with us, you are on the wrong track.

The most important topic in the universe is the Glory of God.

It is the chief motivation of God.

It is the ultimate purpose of man.

Galatians is important to Paul and to us because it defends the glory of God and puts down the efforts of religious men to detract from God’s glory.

We have seen this throughout.

Here, in this closing passage we see it most clearly connect to the glory of God.

Legalism, above all is a threat to God’s glory.

It is founded in the lusts of man to be as gods.

It is founded in our pride.

It is a problem that we have faced since the garden.

If you remember correctly, Eve was the first human to try and place rules upon humanity that God never put there.

The legalist ultimately seeks glory by means of the flesh.

They want to look good to others.

They want others to follow their example.

They to avoid persecution that comes with the cross.

They don’t really follow the law.

They want you to, so that they can glory in your flesh.

They don’t want suffer or standout by breaking from their Jewish heritage.

They don’t really want to follow their Jewish heritage either.

If you can’t play you can coach.

If they can get you to follow their law based on their teaching, then they can get the glory as a teacher through your performance.

Paul nails it.

It’s not that they are offering you glory.

The legalist is a legalist because he wants to get glory from your life.

There is only one who should get glory from your life, that is our triune God.

Paul exclaims, “God forbid!” to the thought of anyone but God getting glory from his life.

The life of every human is intended to bring glory to god.

This should be especially true of those that have been washed by the blood of Jesus.

Those of us that have been bought by the cross of Christ must not seek glory for ourselves.

We should share in Paul’s desire to glory or give glory only to God because of what he has done for us.

Because of what he has done in us, we are made new.

Circumcision can’t make us a new creature.

Neither can uncircumcision.

But, Jesus’ death can make you a totally new creation.

That’s something to give God glory for!

Peace comes when we understand our purpose.

Glory seekers are lustful for recognition and praise.

James tells us that fighting comes from our lusts.

Christians are not to have this mindset.

Instead we should be of the mind that God deserves all the glory.

Paul prays for peace and mercy on all those that walk in this way.

This is really what we all want.

We all want to experience peace.

We all want to receive mercy.

At least that’s what the people of God’s kingdom desire.

The Israel of God is a peculiar term.

While the people of Israel are immensely special to God, they are not His only people.

The kingdom of God is made up of all believers from every nationality.

Every believer wants peace and mercy, even Paul.

That’s why he says next, for now on “let no man trouble me.”

This is a real statement.

How many of you have felt this way before?

Why does Paul say this?

It seems from the statement “for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” that it’s meaning should be pretty clear.

Paul is paying a high price for his ministry.

Unbelievers have afflicted and tortured him.

He is facing intense opposition from without, he shouldn’t have to face it from within as well.

Legalism always leads to internal conflict.

A congregation that seeks as it’s highest priority to glorify God will be at peace.

They will show mercy to each other.

That is what Paul wanted, is that what we want?

Finally, Paul closes with a prayer for God’s grace to be with their spirit.

Amen.

That’s the end.

What do we think?

Application

Will we be a church that glories in the flesh?

Or, will we be a church that seeks to glorify God in our community and the world?

If we want to be a church that glorifies God, then we need to point people to him and not ourselves.

We need to reject our natural tendency to want to be gods ourselves and get the glory that is due to Him alone.

Glory looks like recognition, appreciation, credit, and even worship.

When we get bent out of shape because we didn’t get the credit we are revealing how we really feel.

If the Baptist Tabernacle chooses to continue into the future as a place that glorifies God, here is what we can expect.

Opposition from the world and Satan.

Peace and mercy within as we respond to each other in the spirit.

It’s an easy mental assent but a difficult physical one.

We know this is what our goal should be.

We struggle to live it out.

How can we live it out?

We pray the prayer of Paul in verse 18.

It’s more than a Sincerely, Paul.

Brethren, we need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with our spirit so we can bring him the glory he deserves.