Lifting High the Cross of Christ

Main Idea

A transformed life in Christ can only come from embracing the cross of Christ.

[opening story] If you wrote a letter to your child who was leaving the nest for college, what encouragement would you want to give them, and what would the final paragraph be like? What do you want to linger on in their mind when they re-fold the letter and put it back into the envelope?

Framing the letter by remembering its purpose:

Paul vs False Teachers

Works of the Law vs Faith in Christ

Flesh vs Spirit / Freedom vs Slavery / Life vs Destruction

Paul has pulled no punches throughout the letter, but he wants to conclude with a warm, encouraging tone that reflects the highlights of the letter and promotes faithfulness to Jesus, organized into four categories of relationships.

Passage

Galatians 6:11–18 CSB

11 Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. 12 Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised—but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves, and yet they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh. 14 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. 15 For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. 16 May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God! 17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 Brothers and sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

I - Paul and the Galatians

A personal touch. Remember the rift in the relationship. The Galatian believers loved Paul, but then began to reject him for the false teachers. In an act of tough love, Paul addressed issues head-on, quite bluntly and without apology, but now he wants to conclude with a warm, pastoral tone and personal touch. It was customary to dictate a letter to a scribe or hired hand, which Paul had done multiple times with various letters (see Romans 16:22). However, he also often signed or wrote the last part by his own hand (see 1 Cor 16:21).

Speculation about the large letters.One interpretation of why he wrote in large letters is due to his poor eyesight. Remember that the Galatians accepted Paul despite a physical condition that could have repulsed him, but they didn’t. Instead, they welcomed him as Christ himself. This was followed by a proud commendation that they would have readily plucked out their eyes to give to him. Combine that with the reality of being blinded by Christ and the scales falling from his eyes when his vision was restored (and even the interpretation of his thorn in the flesh), and you can logically draw a conclusion that he had to write in large letters. Perhaps this was his way of reminding the Galatians of how he suffered to bring them the gospel. That is entirely possible.

Another interpretation, however, which I find more contextually relevant, is that he was capitalizing on a relational connection with the people he had invested himself in. The large letters could either be Paul’s way of emphasizing his concluding remarks or distinguishing his writing from that of his scribe. In this case, it’s not about his struggles, but his love for his brothers and sisters in Christ, which aligns much better with the context of the letter (final exhortations) and the relational theme of the applications he has been providing.

II - Paul and the False Teachers

The false teachers were promoting circumcision. If you recall, Paul devoted a considerable amount of time to addressing the issue of circumcision and refuting their false gospel, which combined faith in Christ with the works of the law— most notably, the act of circumcision—to achieve salvation, righteousness, and justification. By mentioning this, he summarizes the entire conversation and theological truths, but his primary focus is to expose their motives.

What they were doing

The false teachers were promoting circumcision. If you remember, Paul spent a significant amount of time addressing the issue of circumcision and dismantling their false gospel that added works of the law, epitomized by the act of circumcision, to faith in Christ for salvation, righteousness, and justification. By mentioning this, he is summarizing the whole conversation and theological truths, but his primary thrust is to expose their motives.

Why they were doing it

1. To make a good impression. Ultimately, these teachers didn’t care about the Galatian believers; they only cared about themselves. The cross of Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews, and the false teachers didn’t want to fall out of the good graces of that community. They cherished their Jewish roots and wished to impress the leaders. They aimed to maintain fellowship in the Jewish synagogue while influencing the Christian gatherings. Therefore, teaching Christians to get circumcised is the ideal way forward. They can appear favorable in the eyes of the Jews by promoting adherence to the Torah, and they can provide the Christians with a false sense of control over their salvation. The only problem is that in doing so, they have completely distorted the gospel of faith in Christ alone for salvation.

2. To avoid persecution. Jesus was clear that following Him would invite persecution from the world, and the reason the world would hate us is that it hated Him first. The message of the gospel is that we are at war with God until He draws us to Himself and gives us a new heart and nature. This means we cannot do anything to save ourselves. Therefore, they imposed Old Covenant regulations, which have passed away, on New Covenant believers—not because it was beneficial to the spiritual growth of the Galatians, but because it served their own reputations. Paul was exposing their self-portrayal as loving shepherds and highlighting the reality that by teaching circumcision, they are trying to avoid the persecution Jesus promised to His followers and take the easy road through life.

3. To boast in the flesh. I believe this has two different meanings. First, boasting in the flesh refers to taking pride in one's ability to adhere to God’s rules. The false teachers sought to brag about their success in persuading the Galatians to follow the one rule that signifies being God’s people, at least from an Old Covenant perspective, and places them under the law. These teachers take great pride in this, as it serves as a measurable metric that feels very spiritual, since it quantifies their influence in encouraging obedience to God’s law. Secondly, this boasting may reflect our modern equivalent of celebrating increasing church attendance. The more converts that come in through circumcision, the more justification they have to boast. “Look at how many people I have brought into the covenant family! We went from 20 people to 2,000. Aren’t we so amazingly persuasive? God is surely blessing our teaching ministry!” It’s not that keeping attendance is wrong, but their motivation stems from wanting to be in the spotlight. It wasn’t about redeemed souls because their gospel wasn’t winning souls! It was about their fame and ego.

The result

1. Outward appearances of false piety. Paul doesn’t want them to follow teachers who promote false gospels for corrupt reasons. They must know better. They should be able to distinguish between the true gospel and a false one… between genuine messengers and wolves.

2. Basing our lives on what we do for God. Man-centered. Ultimately, the message of the false teachers was a man-centric message because it revolves around what we can do to be accepted by God. If I get circumcised… if I follow the Mosaic laws… if I do this… if I do that, then I will earn salvation, righteousness, and justification from God. While God is still the one providing these gifts, it is in response to our actions. Do you see our world today at play? The human compulsion to control outcomes is inherent. We have always wanted to be our own saviors, and we will always try to be… but that’s not the gospel, nor its lived application.

In fact, now that Paul has said his peace about the false teachers and their false gospel, that is exactly where he goes next.

III - Paul and Jesus

Paul now turns the spotlight on what he has been instructing from the beginning, so that, in light of what they should not do, they can understand what they should do.

What Paul was doing

1. Rejecting circumcision and the false gospel of works-based salvation, he preached this throughout most of his letter and is now condemning it one final time by contrast. He does this in several different ways.

a.  He emphasizes that circumcision, whether performed or not, is meaningless. It is part of a covenant that has been replaced.

b. The contrast is between what is being boasted about. The false teachers take pride in circumcision as a representation of the Mosaic law. Instead of boasting in that, Paul boasts only in one thing: the cross of Christ. 

c. He contrasts their motivations. They aim to create a good impression within the Jewish community and safeguard themselves from persecution. Paul, on the other hand, is willing to accept persecution and a damaged reputation for the sake of Christ.

d. He points out their hypocrisy. They boast about following the rules, but they constantly break them. So, what is there really to brag about? It's just another sign of their corrupted hearts.

2. Embracing the cross of Christ. The dividing line couldn’t be any clearer. The body of evidence has been laid at the Galatians’ feet. Now, they must choose one of two drastically different routes. They will either continue to be drawn in by the deceptive message of the Judaizers that leads to imprisonment under the law and instruction from the mouths of self-centered, egotistical, hypocritical teachers, or they can embrace the cross of Christ as Paul has. The cross of Christ beckons you to come and die because it is an instrument of death. For Jesus, it was a physical death. For us, it is a death to self, in the knowledge that we are already spiritually dead and in need of new life. Let me unpack this a bit more through the lens of Paul’s motivations.

Why Paul was doing it

1. Reinforce the believer as a new creation. When we embrace the cross of Christ, we die so that we may live. We were corrupt, dirty, and in perpetual rebellion against God, which also means we were in love with the world. That old self must die for a new life to begin, and that is what happens when we call on Jesus’ name, in faith, to be saved. We are born again, regenerated to new life, and are inwardly made new. The stains and condemnation of sin are gone, and we have been washed clean! This is all God’s work in the life of a believer and has nothing to do with rule-keeping or outward expressions, like circumcision, of belonging to the covenant family. No outward old covenant method of separating from the world matters in your pursuit of righteousness. That is why this contrast is so significant.

2. To contrast boasting in the flesh with boasting in the cross of Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, he mentioned many ways in which he could boast in the flesh (Phil. 3:2-9):

Philippians 3:2–9 CSB

2 Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh—4 although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; 6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. 7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul’s message to the Galatians remained unchanged from what we see here. The boast that is biblically justifiable is a boast in Christ and knowing him, which makes everything else pale in comparison.

3. To highlight our deaths on the cross of Christ. We have been crucified. It is the means by which we become new creations, but we must also remain dead to the world and the flesh. No one survived a Roman crucifixion. The same should be true of your old self. The practices of your former ways—lust for money, sex, or power; idolatry in its infinite forms; jealousy; strife; etc.—should be killed and stay dead. The mental image I want you to have here is of a globe hanging on a cross. The globe represents life in the flesh and embodies the evils listed in chapter five. It should be crucified in your eyes. No more power, no more influence. Likewise, when the world looks at you, it should see a dead person. The person the world had a relationship with died on the cross with Christ, and because the risen Christ has given you a new life, you are free to live it with Him—not in connection with the person you were before. But to do that successfully, you must fully embrace your own crucifixion.

The result

1. Identification as Christ’s slave. If Jesus made us alive with Him, we are now His. We are not enslaved to our sinful passions or the cycle of blessings and curses that come with the law. We belong to a new master who has purchased us out of slavery. While we are now declared sons and daughters, Paul maintains the language and imagery of being a slave. Here, he calls it the ‘marks of Jesus,’ which refers to the brand a slave would receive to mark him as owned property of a specific master. I doubt this refers to our culture’s understanding of a stigmata or a person bearing the crucifixion marks of Jesus. Instead, this is Paul pointing to the bodily scars of being beaten and stoned. He bears the marks of suffering as a co-sufferer.

2. Inward transformation requires a continual rejection of the flesh and a submission to the Spirit, which will lead to fruitful outcomes that enhance life rather than destroy it.

3. We base our lives on what God has done for us. In doing so, we follow a God-centered gospel that lifts high the cross of Christ and magnifies His transformative work in our lives, rather than relying on our own efforts to gain His attention.

IV - The Galatians and Jesus

A transformed life in Christ can only come from embracing the cross of Christ. Therefore, Paul wants the Galatians to imitate his relationship with Jesus.

1. Peace to all who follow the standard of embracing the cross of Christ. This is another fruit of the Spirit. The ‘standard’ mentioned here is a carpenter’s measuring rod. Paul is providing them with a standard beyond the rules and regulations of the Torah. This standard encompasses everything he has written to them… which is also summarized in vv. 14-15. The promise of fidelity to this standard is peace.

2. Mercy as the Israel of God means Abraham’s true descendants and inheritors of the promises. As God’s sons and daughters, we will always have our Father’s mercy available to us when we stumble, so that we do not receive what our unrighteous deeds deserve.

3. Grace from Christ to minister to our spirits. The grace that draws us to Christ, sustains us in Him, and keeps us in fellowship with Him. He gives us the blessings we don’t deserve because that is part of our eternal inheritance!

All of this is possible because living a transformed life lived in the grace and peace of Christ can only come from the cross of Christ.

🔥 Application Points:

1. Don’t Sign What You Didn’t Write.

False gospels come with pre-written expectations—don’t co-sign them.

Refuse the pressure to perform for approval. Embrace the cross and the new creation.

➤ Reflect: Whose expectations are shaping your faith—Christ’s or someone else’s?

2. Crucify the Old Self.

You can’t live in the freedom of your new self if the old you is still breathing.

Put to death the flesh and let the cross be your daily banner.

➤ Challenge: What worldly attachment still has your loyalty—how can it be killed once and for all?

3. Live the Cross, Don’t Just Teach It.

The cross is not a logo—it’s a lifestyle.

Embrace suffering, show mercy, walk in grace—and let your scars speak of Jesus.

➤ Act: Who needs to see the cross lived out in your actions this week?