It is one thing to say that we believe something. It is quite another to be willing to suffer for it. In fact, we can gauge the depth of our convictions by how much persecution we are willing to endure for holding our beliefs. The Apostle Paul was so convinced that salvation can only be attained through following Jesus Christ that he was willing to spend his life spreading Christ’s message to others in spite of all opposition. Unfortunately, some false teachers tried to convince the followers of Christ in the Roman province of Galatia that they needed to observe the Mosaic Law in addition to believing on Christ. To refute this teaching, Paul wrote them a letter through the power of the Holy Spirit. He demonstrated that we can never attain righteousness by trying to keep rules and regulations. Rather, we are justified in the sight of God through belief in Christ. It is not our own efforts which make us acceptable to God, but accepting what God has done for us. Paul closes the letter in chapter 6, verses 11 through 18, with these words:
“See with what large letters I write to you with my own hand. As many as desire to look good in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised; only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even they who receive circumcision don’t keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on God’s Israel. From now on, let no one cause me any trouble, for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus branded on my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”
Paul normally used a scribe or secretary to write down his letters. However, Paul always wrote a portion of his letters with his own hand. In this passage he draws attention to his poor handwriting. Why? He mentions that one reason the false teachers were promoting circumcision was to avoid persecution. In contrast to these people, we know that Paul was persecuted many times for proclaiming the message of Christ. Was Paul’s handwriting poor because his hands were injured or crippled from the things he suffered? In chapter 4, verse 15 Paul reminded the Galatians that at one point they would have given him their eyes. Did Paul suffer poor eyesight as a result of persecution?
If this is so, there could not be a greater contrast between Paul and the false teachers. They taught their message in order to avoid persecution. Paul taught his message in spite of persecution. This should have helped the people to whom he was writing to judge worth of the two messages.
Paul also pointed out that though these teachers wanted to force the Law on the people they, themselves, did not keep it. In other words, these teachers were hypocrites. They wanted to bind on others something they were unwilling to fully keep. They were not interested in the welfare of the people. They commanded circumcision so that they could brag that they had won converts.
Paul was unwilling to boast about external things. The one thing he would boast about is the cross of Christ. Boasting about the cross of Christ is totally contrary to the thinking of the world. In another place Paul writes, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-25 NIV)
The situation is still the same today. There are many who say that God would never allow His Prophet to suffer such a shameful death. There are many others who do not understand God’s character or the nature of sin and therefore think that the cross is not only unnecessary, but foolish. The fact remains that the cross of Christ is the means which God chose to redeem and save mankind. Who are we to think that we know better than God?
Paul goes on to say that it is through the cross that the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. The false teachers had been claiming that righteousness could only be obtained through following the rules and regulations of the Law. But rules can never change a person’s desires or inner character. It is only through the sacrifice of Christ that our natures can be changed. It is only by means of the cross that our desires can be changed so that we no longer want to sin but want to do God’s will. It is not external appearances which determine whether we are righteous, but whether we have allowed Jesus Christ to make us a new creation. As Paul writes in another place, it when we are baptized into Christ’s death that our old self is put to death and we are raised from the waters of baptism as a new, pure, sinless and righteous creature.
This raises an important question that each of us needs to answer. Are we relying on external forms and rituals to make us righteous, or have we embraced the cross of Christ? Have we been crucified to the world, and the world to us? Are we still clinging to our old nature, or have we become a new creation in Christ?
Paul writes that it is those who have been made new in Christ who will experience peace and mercy from God. He also calls them the Israel of God. The Jewish people, the nation of Israel, were chosen by God as His special people. Because of their unfaithfulness they often failed to fulfill God’s purpose for them. It is the followers of Christ who have become the true Israel and will enjoy the promises which God has made.
The situation among the churches in Galatia had given Paul much pain and anxiety. He plead that no one would cause him trouble because he bore the marks of Jesus on his body. The word he uses refers to the tattoo or brand that people used to mark slaves as their property. The scars that Paul received because of persecution marked him as the slave of Christ. Paul spoke and worked on behalf of Christ. To reject him was, in fact, to reject Christ who had sent him.
Paul closes his letter asking that Christ’s grace would be with the people to whom he was writing. It is only through this grace that we can be reconciled to God. Are you in His grace?