I want to ask you a question as we begin our study today in the final verses of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. What is your obsession? What do you think about the most, worry about the most, talk about the most, or pursue the most? What is it that marks your life as different from everyone around you?
The conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians is more than a mere concluding thought; it is a summary of Paul’s entire argument throughout the letter, one could say that it is a summary of Paul’s obsession in a one-word conclusion.2 Paul’s concern throughout this letter is simply that the Galatians would add anything to the gospel as a means of salvation or a means of gaining God’s favor apart from the cross of Christ alone.3 Look at the text with me…
11See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. 17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
The reality is, we are all prone to adding our own efforts or our own performance to the mix of trying to earn God’s favor; we want God to be happy with us therefore we try to find things we can do to make him happier with us. The problem with this thinking of course, is that we cannot complete by our own works what began by grace through faith. We cannot begin the journey of salvation by grace to end it with an obsession over our performance.
In other words, God cannot be happier with us if we get better tomorrow than we were today; only the cross and the shed blood and broken body of Christ can cause God to be happy with us because it is the cross of Christ alone that covers and removes the effects of Satan, Sin, and Death from our lives. Do not hear me wrong, we do need to continue growing in holiness – we do need to become better daily than we were yesterday – but that growth in holiness is not meant to earn God’s favor or salvation, it is meant to bring God glory and honor (to bring attention to Him as the one who makes us better on the daily). We should be obsessed with becoming better for the right reasons.
This is Paul’s obsession and has been his obsession throughout this letter. We must remember as one commentator says, that “There is a continual temptation for the church to turn the gospel into the cross plus something else. Whether that ‘something else’ is a deed or a duty, a sacrament or a social cause, the problem is always the ‘plus’. For the gospel to be the gospel, the cross has to stand alone.”4
For the apostle Paul, this letter to the Galatian believers is deeply personal because they and we can either boast and build our lives around the works of the flesh or we can boast and build our lives around the cross of Christ so that our lives will bear the marks and the evidence of God’s grace. Think about how much Paul obsessed over the grace of God and how deeply personal this was for him…
#1: THIS IS PERSONAL (V. 11)
In verse 11 Paul begins his conclusion by saying “See with what large letters I am writing to you in my own hand.” This is Paul’s way of letting his listeners know that even though he would normally dictate his letters to a secretary, this was far too personal to him – he was far too obsessed with the gospel of grace – to let someone else write for him; by doing this, he indicates to the Galatians that everything in this letter has his personal apostolic stamp of approval.5
Bottom line, this issue of keeping the gospel pure and keeping the cross at the center of our lives, was so important – Paul literally obsessed over it so much – that he took it upon himself to personally sign the end of this letter. Think about this… what does Paul’s personal commitment or his deep obsession – even in his personal signature – mean for us today?
I think this should motivate every one of us to make the gospel – the cross and the empty tomb and the promise of heaven – the central and most personal aspect of our spiritual journey; to make it our obsession. Yes, we should be concerned about social causes (i.e. human trafficking, serving the poor, fighting abortion, growing in holiness, etc.) but every spiritual thing we can focus on will be meaningless at best or worthless at worst if we are not personally devoted to and completely obsessed with applying the gospel to our own lives on a daily basis.
The cross, the empty tomb, and the promise of Christ’s return must be the central reservoir – the central obsession – from which the fountain of all our spiritual works flow from. When you and I engage in the normal spiritual rhythms – like confession of sin, daily time in the Word and prayer, weekly Bible Studies with brothers and sisters in Christ, evangelism among the lost, giving our time, talent, and treasure to advance the church, etc. – when we engage in those spiritual rhythms, we must do them because we are personally, deeply committed to, obsessed with the centrality of the gospel in our lives. Otherwise, we will merely be boasting in our fleshly works or boasting in the flesh as Paul says in the next few verses.
#2: YOU CAN BOAST IN THE FLESH (VV. 12 – 13)
Notice what Paul says in verses 12 – 13 about boasting in our flesh when he says, “It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.”
Now I know that we do not make a big deal out of circumcision or keeping various parts of the Mosaic law in the church today, but we are still prone to legalism – we are still prone to an obsession with earning God’s approval through our performance – in different ways, as I said earlier. We all struggle with boasting in our flesh – our performance – in various ways at various times. What I think is helpful here is to notice what Paul writes regarding the reasons why we would ever be tempted to boast in anything other than the cross of Christ. Think about it… why would you and I want to boast or even be obsessed with our own efforts or in the works of our flesh?
Paul says that the Jewish believers who wanted the Gentile Galatian believers to be circumcised, only wanted them to be circumcised “in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” according to verse 12, so that “they may boast in your flesh” (or the performance of the Galatians) in verse 13 even though as Paul notes, they “do not themselves keep the law.”
So, these legalists preached their “Jesus plus something” message because they were obsessed with avoiding persecution and they were also obsessed with bragging about their ministry accomplishments.6
How often do you struggle with wanting to put on the appearance of being better than you really are to avoid looking bad? Or how often do you find yourself bragging about your spiritual accomplishments or spiritual performance so that you can look good? Or better yet how often do you find yourself focusing on spiritual performance (like going to church, social causes, your spiritual disciplines, etc.) to avoid being persecuted for your faith? At the end of the day, we all struggle with things like this, don’t we? We all struggle with bragging about or obsessing over our spiritual accomplishments or our avoidance of persecution.
One commentator helpfully notes that “this is what it means to be a Christian: it means standing up for Christ and his cross… [rather than boasting in our religious performance]”.7 That same author continues by saying that “Showing off is one of the differences between true and false religion. False religion gets caught up in externals, like attendance figures and worship rituals [such as counting baptisms and salvations]. Outward religion is what cult leaders strive for when they pressure members to recruit new ‘converts’. It is what churches are after when they seek to entertain rather than to edify, or when they base salvation on what people do for God rather than on what God has done for them.”8
Simply stated, we are guilty of being obsessed with boasting in our flesh or in the flesh of others when we avoid persecution and brag about our spiritual performance. When I think about all of this, I am convicted that we could be tempted as a church to avoid the harsh preaching of the cross of Christ and our need for daily repentance or we could give into seeker sensitive entertainment-based models of ministry because we can become obsessed with the world’s standards of success.
My prayer is that we would never abandon the cross of Christ for mere entertainment or for the momentary satisfaction of gaining some followers or to avoid being persecuted. My hope is that God would protect us from becoming a church of legalists who boast in and are obsessed with empty or false religion while avoiding the hard work and persecution of being cross centered. My prayer is that we would not boast in our flesh but that we would boast in and be obsessed with Christ alone and his work at the cross of calvary on our behalf.
#3: YOU CAN BOAST IN CHRIST (VV. 14 – 16)
Here’s the thing, you can boast in Christ alone just as Paul does in his own personal handwriting as he concludes this letter to his beloved Galatians. Look at what he says regarding what it means to boast in or to be obsessed with Christ alone in verses 14 – 16where he says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
Paul literally says that you and I can boast or be obsessed with Christ alone and his work at the cross of Calvary just as Paul was. But what does this look like in the life of the average believer today though? What does it look like to be obsessed with the Christ? Notice what Paul says; he says that it is the cross of Christ “by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” (v. 14) and he also says that circumcision is meaningless “but a new creation” in verse 15 is everything, and that “peace and mercy”will define those who boast in and are obsessed with Christ (v. 16).
So, if you and I are going to boast in Christ alone, if we are going to be obsessed with Jesus, we will be obsessed with the cross of Christ, obsessed with its work in separating us from the world and making us into new creations, which will result in us becoming people of peace and mercy.
Have you thought much lately about how the cross of Christ separates you from the world? Or about how the cross of Christ makes you into a new creation? Or about how your life would be more characterized by peace and mercy if you spent time at the foot of that cross on a daily basis? Have you obsessed over the cross of Christ and all its implications lately?
I am convinced that the only reason we believers struggle with being people of peace and mercy is that we all too often think more highly of ourselves than we should and we think less of the horrific nature of the cross than we should. We struggle with being people of peace and mercy because we minimize the horror of the cross on our behalf and we inflate ourselves with pride in our own efforts and spiritual accomplishments. In short, we obsess over the wrong things.
How about our struggle with being new creations in Christ Jesus and being separated from the world? Isn’t it our inability to spend time in a pool of blood at the foot of the cross that causes us to roll around in the filth of the world instead of being separated from it? Isn’t this what happens when we hold grudges, or argue, or point out everyone else’s failures, or fail to walk in close communion with God, or practice secret sins in the dark, or spend our time complaining and moaning about our sorry lot in life? Isn’t it our failure to bathe daily in the shed blood of Jesus that we live in isolation while blaming everyone else for our lack of true spiritual friendships? Isn’t this the problem, that we do not obsess over the cross of Christ enough?
Come to think of it… isn’t all of our sinfulness based on our lack of time spent obsessing over Christ’s bloody work at the cross? Isn’t this the reason why we are not fully separated from the world and living as new creations who are full of peace and mercy? I have a feeling that all of us have some work to do in terms of boasting or obsessing in Christ at the foot of that bloody cross as we repent from our self-centered attempts to straddle the fence between this world and the next.
Can you imagine your enemies being so drawn to you because your life boasts of a deep personal obsession over Christ and his finished work at the cross? Can you imagine your enemies coming to you for spiritual help because they see in you a radically transformed person of peace and mercy who is completely obsessed with the grace of God in the person and work of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior? I think this is what it means to let your life bear the marks or the evidence of Christ.
#4: LET YOUR LIFE BEAR THE MARKS OF CHRIST (VV. 17 – 18)
In his final words to the Galatians, Paul reminds them of how his life bears the marks or the evidence of Christ’s work within him when he says in verses 17 – 18, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” Now, on the one hand, I think Paul is desperate to be relieved from the constant pressure and the attacks and threats from the Judaizers who were constantly trying to undo all that God had done through his preaching of the gospel.
But, on the other hand, I also think Paul is desperate or obsessed with a desire to see the Galatians mimic the same marks or evidence of God’s grace on his own life. What is discipleship about other than seeing others become as you are in Christ Jesus?
Any church worth its gospel salt will be about the work of making disciples who bear the marks and evidence of Christlike character in their lives. When a church fails to do this – when we fail to become more like Christ in our reception and extension and obsession with grace – then the church has become nothing more than a country club where dues are paid to gain membership status and privileges.
Heaven forbid that we ever become that! The question is, how do we bear the marks of Christ on our bodies like the apostle Paul did and resist becoming another country club with the cheap lipstick of the name “church” as our banner while we run roughshod over the grace that God has extended to us? I think the answer is found in the final phrase Paul uses to conclude this letter when he says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (v. 18).
Simply stated… churches that are full of graceless believers are an oxymoron. The kind of stingy, stiff-necked, judgmental, harsh, self-centered, or controlling character that is sometimes seen in the church today is evidence not of an obsession with the centrality of the cross of Christ but instead of the presence of an outright and unrestricted obsession with legalism under the banner of Christianity.
It is as though, as soon as someone gets saved and begins to walk with Jesus, there is a subtle temptation to think that we are better than everyone else and that those people – especially our enemies or those who mistreat us, mischaracterize us, and disagree with us – are beyond the grace that saved a wretch like us. Paul never lost sight of the depths of his sinfulness, which is what enabled him to plead lovingly and graciously – even with his opponents – to surrender at the foot of the cross and to be washed thoroughly with the overwhelming grace of an unconditionally loving God.
This obsession with grace was the defining mark of Christ on Paul’s body and it should be the defining mark or evidence of Christ’s work in us. Who do you need to extend grace to right now? Who is that person who has not pulled their weight, who frustrates the ever living heck out of you, who cannot seem to get their act together, or who always takes more than they give?
Isn’t this the exact way you and I come to Jesus (or at least should come to Jesus) on the daily, in need of his grace? Have you decided that you are above God’s grace or that you are not in need of his grace lately? Like somehow his grace was sufficient to save you but now your performance proves just how good you are which means that all the failures around you need to get their act together? Can you see just how easy it is to fall into legalism and to put yourself on a pedestal? How deeply do you feel your need for God’s grace right now as we speak?
Maybe you and I need to get a little more acquainted with our deep need for God’s grace and the constant supply of it at that bloody cross so that we might become extenders of that same grace to other sinners on the pathway towards eternity. Maybe… just maybe this is what Paul was after when he described the fact that his life bore the marks or evidence of Christ as he fully hoped the Galatians would too!
CONCLUSION…
In conclusion, let me ask what I asked at the beginning of this message. What are you obsessed with? I think Paul was obsessed with the message of God’s grace.
For the apostle Paul, this letter was deeply personal because we can either boast and build our lives around the works of the flesh or we can boast and build our lives around the cross of Christ so that our lives will bear the marks and the evidence of the cross of Christ which is bound up in a life that is fully obsessed with God’s redeeming grace.
The reality as it pertains to living a life that bears the marks of God’s gracious work on our behalf is that we literally have something to brag about and to be obsessed with that puts our performance to shame. John Stott once said that boasting or bragging or being obsessed with the gracious work of Christ at the cross and the empty tomb means that we “boast in, glory in, trust in, rejoice in, revel in, [and] live for… the object of our boast or glory [as it] fills our horizons, engrosses our attention, and absorbs our time and energy. In a word, our ‘glory’ [in God’s gracious work at the cross and the empty tomb of Christ] is our obsession.”9
To be marked by the grace of God is to be branded by and to be obsessed with the grace of God. To be branded by and to be obsessed with the grace of God means to be fully humbled by the grace of God and to therefore bear the evidence of God’s grace as he works in and through us for his good pleasure – to his own glory.
To be marked or to be so obsessed with the grace of God in the cross and the empty tomb of Christ is to be like something John Calvin said when he said that, “For even as earthly warfare has its decorations with which generals honor the bravery of a soldier, so [too] Christ our leader has his own marks, of which He makes good use in decorating and honoring some of His followers. These marks, however, are very different from the others; for they have the nature of the cross, and in the sight of the world they are disgraceful.”10
I pray that we would be marked men and women; marked by the stigmata or the branding of the cross of Christ which is proven in our lives by the presence of an obsession with supernatural grace. To be men and women who are marked by grace is to be men and women who are obsessed with being separated from the ways of the world which makes us earn everything we have.
One commentator even pointed out that this desire or obsession – to be marked by the grace of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary, is what led Paul to say elsewhere that, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:10; Rom. 8:17; 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:8-10; Col. 1:24).11 This is an example of a full blown obsession with the person and work of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior!
I pray that we become this kind of people; the kind of people that take it personally upon ourselves to not boast in or be obsessed with the works of our flesh but to boast in and be obsessed with Christ alone; to be marked by an obsession with the grace that gave us the salvation we could never deserve, never earn, and never complete on our own. I pray that this becomes our obsession: the grace of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior! – Amen!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).
2 Philip, Graham, Ryken, Galatians, Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Company, 2005), 269 – 270.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid., 270.
5 Ibid., 269.
6 Ibid., 270 – 273.
7 Ibid., 272.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 274.
10 Ibid., 280.
11 Ibid.