Galatians 6:14 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.
There are people who despise the apostle Paul. He was a true man of God. In Ephesians 6 he asked the saints to pray for him. He needed boldness to proclaim the Gospel of Christ faithfully. He had the privilege of standing before governors and kings. He never shied away from the Gospel of Christ.
His boldness offends the compromisers. The lost want wiggle room. They do not want black and white. They love grey. God is Light, in Him is no darkness. He is Truth. He is Righteous. He is Just. We could go on. The apostle Paul did not try to make a name for himself. He had tried that as a lost Pharisee. However, when he was gloriously saved, he was changed. We have noted before that God’s salvation changes lives. The saved person has been given a new nature. He has a desire for Truth.
The apostle Paul was not going to glory in himself. He understood that God had given him a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. He appreciated God’s love and mercy toward him. He would glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. His personal meeting with Him had profoundly changed him.
He declared that it was through the Lord Jesus Christ that the world was crucified unto him. The world had no pull on him when it came to Truth. He had been beaten. He had been put in stocks. He had been stoned. He had been shipwrecked. Nothing would shake his faith in Jesus Christ. He knew He was the reason why he had eternal life. He had chosen to die to the world, and he understood the world had rejected him.
The apostle Paul did not have many friends on this earth. He had Barnabas for a while. That relationship soured later. God gave him Silas and Timothy. Later John Mark would become helpful to him. Paul wanted men around him who would help him to stay true to God. He challenged those men to remain true to God as well. God directed Solomon to write:
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
We need that kind of friend. We do not need a host of friends. We just need a few who will care enough about us to challenge our walk with the Lord. We do not need yes men. We need true men of God.
In verse 15 Paul again reminded the saints that in Christ Jesus circumcision did not mean anything. Being made a new creature is what mattered. That is what God did for Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul encouraged Timothy with the fact that he had been saved as a child. Timothy did not have the baggage that Paul had. Timothy was blessed in having Paul in his life as a true mentor. Paul was seeking to be a blessing to the saints in Galatia as well. He was a blessing, but they were not realizing that just yet. God was directing Paul and he was faithful to his calling.
In verse 16 we see there is a rule by which God’s people live. They understand the necessity of the new creature. They understand that new creature can only be had in Christ Jesus. God’s peace and mercy is for those who have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus. We see also that this peace and mercy is for the Israel of God.
Sadly there were many Jews in Paul’s day that were unbelievers. They were still Jews, but they did not know the Lord. Jesus Christ spent His earthly ministry with the Jews. He chose disciples who would spend the bulk of their time reaching out to the Jews. Paul was chosen by Jesus Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles. However, he still had a great influence over Jews as well. God has never cast off the Jews. He set them on the side and graffed the Gentile saints into the same root that Israel is in. The root that is essential is the faith of Abraham. He believed God and He counted it unto him for righteousness. Abraham was saved by faith in God. He grew as he exercised that faith in God.
In verse 17 Paul stated that he did not want any man to interfere with his calling from God. He knew he was doing the will of God. He had the marks to prove it. He would not have been imprisoned and stoned, etc. if he was one of the Judaizers. If he was a false teacher, he would have been loved by the false teachers. He would have had a great following. He was despised by his own people. Jesus warned us that if the world hates us, we need to remember that it hated Him first.
Paul was not Jesus Christ. He was not trying to be equal with Jesus Christ. He had the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ on him. His sufferings were because he identified with the true Jesus Christ. He did not preach some phoney Jesus. He preached truth and it cost him physically.
He would end this letter in the same way he began it. In chapter 1 verse 3 he was directed by God to speak of the grace of God. Here he was directed by God to desire to see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with the saints. This is what I would desire for each person who will read this devotional. My words are not that important. The Word of God is extremely important. Be sure you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord.
Today is the Lord’s Day. God is giving us another opportunity to go to a true Bible-believing church today. The wise will listen to God and go to a good church. The foolish are those who could go to a good church but will insist on staying on their current course of destruction. We would welcome those in our area to join us for our services today. God’s blessing awaits each one who will listen to Him.
Pastor Bartel