Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom
Lesson 22: Big Words Galatians 6:11-16
As Paul begins to bring the letter to a close, he reviews some of the key points he has made. He does so he expresses his passion for the gospel and gives us an insight into his motivation.
11 See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!
Paul never had to fill out one of those forms we sometimes encounter where you’re expected to list four or five references in a space about the size of a postage stamp.
Paul was probably using an amanuensis who actually wrote for him. This “secretary” would have written as the apostle dictated his letter. It was a common practice and there’s no reason to suppose Paul would not have followed it. Paul’s amanuensis may have been a professional or simply someone who could accurately put his words on paper, one of his traveling companions, perhaps.
If Paul tended to write with “large letters,” there may have been an economic reason for using the amanuensis. Writing materials in the first century were very expensive. The typical letter was no longer than a sheet of vellum or papyrus (making a letter about the size of Philemon, for example). To write with large letters would use up more material than really needed. Strange as it may seem, using a secretary may have been a money-saving tactic.
At the same time, there may have been more substantive reasons why Paul took the pen from the hand of the amanuensis and began writing.
He may have intended to authenticate the letter as genuine. There appear to have been letters circulating in the Christian community claiming to have been written by Paul or another apostle but were fakes. Chances are someone in the church could have said, “Yes, that’s Paul’s handwriting.”
He wanted to emphasize the importance of what he had said in the letter. When you text, tweet, or email you may emphasize something by using ALL CAPS. In fact, ALL CAPS is sometimes read as shouting. Paul may not have been deliberately writing with “large letters” but his taking the pen did stress the significance of his words.
In any case, Paul uses the opportunity to express his frustration one more time.
12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised
Paul seems to be using a play on words in this assessment of the legalist false teachers and their motives. They aim is to make “a good showing in the flesh” by attempting to have the Galatians modify their own flesh. These false teachers are not motivated by spiritual concerns but by fleshly concerns, purely material concerns. They were concerned about praise in the here and now or, at least, to escape criticism from those critics who believed the gospel of grace was too free, too gracious. One translation calls these false teachers “preeners” motivated by a desire to avoid persecution. Apparently they believed the Judaizers would be more kindly disposed toward them and they would suffer less ostracism by their Jewish neighbors, if they urged the Gentile Christians to adopt at least the outward trappings of a Jewish lifestyle.
Let me point out again, that Paul is not fostering anti-Semitism. He loved the Jews and appreciate the blessings they had brought to the world. He objected to false teachers because of how their efforts impacted the message of the gospel of grace and showed disdain for the cross.
The false teachers were not motivated by concern for the Gentile believers. They were concerned “only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.”
While their efforts to lead Gentiles to be circumcised meant they “looked good by human standards,” they were also trying to escape the implications of the cross.
In short, they wanted to be identified as Christians but without the scandal of the cross.
In light of this, Paul cannot resist one more jibe at the foolishness of the situation.
13 Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.
Paul echoes a point he has already made: “Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law.” For all the praise they heap on the law they don’t keep it. At some point their lives don’t measure up to its demands. Whether they are hypocrites or simply self-deluded their lives prove they have failed to meet God’s righteous demands and win his favor.
Ironically, these same people wanted the Galatians to be circumcised. Paul minces no words when he speaks of their motive: “they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.” To the false teachers the Galatians were trophies to be bagged to prove their efforts of persuasion and their influence. At J. B. Phillips puts it, “They want you circumcised so that they may be able to boast about your submission to their ruling.” The false teachers could claim the now-circumcised Galatians as their followers, won away from Paul’s influence.
Paul’s boasting has another basis.
14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
While the false teachers may have seen the cross as something to be ashamed of or avoided, Paul saw it as a cause of boasting; it is something to rejoice over, to celebrate. Imagine that. The cross was meant to be humiliating, to extract and eradicate the last bit of dignity from its victim. With arms pinioned to the crossbeams, the naked victim could make no effort to be modest. Unable to walk away or even cover his ears, the victim was forced to hear the jeers of the bloodthirsty crowd. No parent would boast of how their son had been crucified.
Yet Paul finds reason to celebrate the cross. Despite all his human accomplishments, his learning and his success as an evangelist, Paul sees the “cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” to be the only legitimate cause for boasting or celebrating. We see that in his strange phrasing: ordinarily when we “boast” it is about something we have done, Paul’s boasting is about what Christ has done.
As a result, he will play no numbers game, comparing the statistics for his various crusades with those of the false teachers. He looks beyond such things. He refuses to allow anything he has done to detract from what Christ has done.
In the strongest language he says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s the King James Version and it isn’t a literal translation; it was the best the seventeenth century translators could come up with to express the intensity of Paul’s words. Another translation puts it this way, “It’s unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord.”
Paul says the cross is that instrument “by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. “
In a strange way, the cross where the victim is nailed in place, unable to move, trapped with no possibility of escape is, in Paul’s view, a means of liberation.
Drawing on the points Paul made earlier in the letter, Peterson’s paraphrase explains why Paul sees the cross as a reason to rejoice. He renders the verse as, “For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate.”
What Paul understands to be important is not the external 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything. Earlier in the letter Paul had made the point that what was important was not adherence to the minutia of the law (circumcision, diet, holy days) but a relationship with God through faith in Christ.
The result of that relationship is what is important, in fact the resulting “new creation is everything!” Circumcision is an outward act performed by human hands. The new creation is an inward act performed by God. Believers are “born from above,” as Jesus said to Nicodemus. Circumcision changes us outwardly but only this divine act can change us inwardly, which is where we need to be changed. As the Voice puts it, “God’s new creation is what counts, and it counts for everything.”
Legalism, because of its focus on externals, can easily lead to the assumption that embracing the externals is the essential element in embracing an identity as a Christian. Those who make this mistake miss the best blessings God has for them. At the same time, those who recognize the impossibility of human effort to earn God’s favor are in line to receive that favor.
16 As for those who will follow this rule
Paul turns from dealing with the legalists and offers a word of promise to the Galatians who have held on to the gospel of grace he had originally preached to them, to those who live by and relate to one another by the “principle” (LB) or “standard” (HCSB) of grace.
—peace be upon them, and mercy,
Those who live in light of the gospel of grace will know God’s peace and mercy. As such, they will know his forgiveness and acceptance despite their unworthiness (“mercy”) and so will experience inward rest of soul, free from the haunting fear they have not done enough to win God’s favor (“peace”).
and upon the Israel of God.
Does this phrase refer to the Jewish Christians or does it refer to all Christians who have become “Israel”?
Several translations maintain the ambiguity by keeping the conjunction “and.” So, they leave open that the possibility Paul is referring to two groups.
Among the translations taking the second view is the God’s Word translation: “Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.” The NIV and TNIV translate it in a similar fashion: “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.” Some add the adjective “true,” as does Philipps: “to all who live by this principle, to the true Israel of God.…”
The word kai is usually translated as “and” but can be translated as “even” or “that is.” So, translating the verse in a way that equates all who follow the principle of grace with “the Israel of God” is acceptable.
Paul may have addressed the Jewish Christians at this point because so much of what he had been saying concerned Christians with Gentile roots. Perhaps he wanted to remind them that they, too, were saved by grace. They might maintain practices like circumcision and dietary observances as part of their cultural heritage but these things neither added to nor detracted from their standing with God. If they accepted the gospel of grace, they would know peace and mercy.
Still, I think the second view is more consistent with Paul’s understanding that there is one new People of God. This is his theme in Ephesians: God through Jesus Christ has created one new People. More significantly, in Galatians Paul has already declared the old distinctions to be invalidated by Christ’s work; as he says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek…for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (3:28)
Whatever Paul may have had in mind, he makes clear those Gentile believers in the Galatian churches were in no way second-class Christians. Remember this is the same Paul who challenged Peter because he had treated the Gentiles in Antioch as if they were such second-class Christians.
The need for God’s grace is the great leveler.
OBSERVATIONS
Legalism: Back Again or Never Gone
When Paul addresses “those who follow this principle,” he was reminding us that there are those who do not. In many of our churches there are those who will not follow the gospel of grace. As I said at the beginning of this study, legalism is alive and well in the church. Despite almost two-thousand years of trying, the church has never been able to fully banish the outlook that says spirituality may be achieved by strictly following some extra-biblical code of conduct or that by going beyond the Scripture in following the rules or maintaining taboos we will somehow encourage God to be more favorable toward us. There are always those who insist that since their list of do’s and don’ts is longer than yours, they are more spiritual.
This reality means we always have to guard the gospel of grace from defilement by legalism, especially in its most subtle forms.
Measuring Motives
Paul exposes the motives of the false teachers: they wanted to escape the shame and difficulty associated with the cross of Christ while earning accolades for themselves. While the specifics may change from time to time, many false teachers are just as self-centered. Whether they are the lowliest door-knockers from recognized cults or the pastors of churches where they maintain dictatorial control, we need to examine their motives.
The cultist may be knocking on your door, not simply to bring you “the light,” but because the act of knocking is imagined to enhance his or her standing in the Kingdom of God as the cult understands it. The pastor may be attempting to build his own kingdom, where you are ever ready to give him laurels or send in your check to promote any project he claims God has called him to pursue. Often, we are on guard when the cultist knocks but we need to be equally careful when dealing with the leader building his own kingdom. To keep your loyalty, he may tweak the gospel to make it more appealing or to make you believe he’s given you access to information the “ordinary” Christian does not have. That can be the starting point of something dangerous for as Paul warned the Galatians “A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.” (5:9)
Celebrating the Cross
Sir John Bowring, who died in 1872, had a collection of beetles so extensive it became part of the British Museum after his death—but he is not remembered for his insects. He was also the 4th governor of Hong Kong, a member of Parliament, a political liberal, and an active church member—but he is not remembered for these things (at least outside Hong Kong and a corner of Wales). He was also the author of a hymn that appears in many hymnals, including The Baptist Hymnal—he is remembered for that. Maybe you’ve sung In the Cross of Christ I Glory.
It begins with these words:
In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering o'er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.
He wrote it in 1825, years before going to Hong Kong, so the story that it was inspired by seeing the ruins of an earthquake ravaged cathedral in Macao isn’t true. The words, which remind us of Paul’s, are beautiful but the next time you read them, look for what you don’t see. There is nothing of the atonement in this hymn, nothing about our sins being forgiven because of Christ’s death, nothing of Christ as God’s Son. Bowring belonged to a church that believes none of these classical Christian doctrines. The notion of Christ dying for us, his church taught, was an affront to God’s character. Christ was an example, not a savior for sinners; an example for folks needing a little guidance on how to live.
At least Bowring saw the cross as having historical significance. For many today the cross is simply a fashion statement.
How different was Paul’s celebration of the cross. Paul celebrates the cross because he knows he can make no pretense to goodness; he admits to being a sinner, “the chief” or foremost of sinners, to use his words. (1 Timothy 1:15) Paul celebrates the cross as the place were Christ was displayed as the “God ordained forgiver” (Wycliffe), the “sacrifice” though which atonement, the remedy for sin, became available to those who believe. (Romans 3:25) Paul celebrates the cross as reflecting God’s love, for “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Paul celebrates the cross as that place where our relationship with God changed, for “while we were enemies in rebellion against him we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” (Romans 5:10) Paul celebrates the cross as the place where we were liberated from all spiritual forces, demonic and human, that might enslave us; for in the cross “Christ triumphed” over them. (Colossians 2:15)
Another beautiful hymn captures Paul’s thought. It’s a hymn written in protest to hymns that didn’t touch the hearts of the singers. After three hundred years it still touches hearts. Isaac Watts wrote it in 1707. He echoes Paul’s cry.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my heart, my soul, my all.
The false teachers in Galatia sought praise for themselves. Paul sought praise for Jesus Christ. It’s a good pattern for us.
