Boasting About the Cross (Galatians 6:11-18)
The Closing Words of a Long Letter
When we read Paul's letters in the New Testament, it's easy to picture him firing off an email. A quick send, a fast read, on to the next task. But the letters Paul wrote took weeks and sometimes months of careful labor. They were composed, prayed over, and revised. They were carried by a trusted messenger who would often perform the letter aloud to the gathered church.
And right at the end of his letter to the Galatians, Paul takes the pen himself and writes something striking.
Galatians 6:11 says this: Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.
Paul is essentially saying: I am personally writing this summary because I want to make sure it hits home. This is the conclusion. This is the part you cannot misinterpret. After everything I've written, here is what I want to leave you with.
A Letter Written to Confused Churches
To understand why Paul is so emphatic, we have to understand what was going on in Galatia. A group of Christians had come down from Jerusalem and were undermining the teaching and the ministry of Paul and the apostles. They were struggling to navigate the transition between the Old Covenant of Judaism and the New Covenant in Christ. They wanted new believers to adopt Jewish customs like circumcision as a requirement of faith.
There's a parallel moment recorded in Acts 15, where the early church leaders had to wrestle through this exact question. But these opponents in Galatia were not motivated by a sincere love for the truth. They were scared of persecution. They were selfishly trying to boost their own numbers of disciples. They wanted to look respectable in their own community.
Paul's response cuts to the bone. Following Jesus starves the selfishness in our lives. It doesn't feed it.
Paul as an Example
Galatians 6:14 says this: As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died.
Paul is not consumed with self. He is consumed with the cross.
Before encountering Jesus, the world had elevated Paul. He came from a high-ranking family, he was educated at the highest level of his society, and he was admired by his peers. He had prestige and respectability. But after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, he willingly gave it all up. He lost interest in the world, and at the same time the world lost interest in him. He lost his respectability. He lost his position and status. He was no longer given seats of honor at the table. He was no longer treated as a VIP.
The Galatian churches had seen Paul live this out firsthand. They knew these were not empty words. They could see the contrast between Paul and the teachers at odds with him. Those teachers still craved what the world offered. Fame, position, status, notoriety.
Unfortunately, church leaders and preachers still forget this thousands of years later. Instagram followers, the size of a congregation, being invited on the biggest podcasts, having a bestselling book. None of that is the benchmark of success.
Paul points to something else as the proof that he is the real deal.
Galatians 6:17 says this: For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
Faithfulness is not shown in fame or fortune. Faithfulness is shown in endurance and persistence.
The word translated as "scars" here is the Greek word stigmata. It is not a reference to the spontaneous appearance of wounds like Jesus had. In Greco-Roman culture, a stigmata was a brand, tattoo, or scar used to mark out three kinds of people: a slave, a soldier, and someone used in pagan worship. Three negative associations. Paul takes all three and flips them. He has become a slave to Christ instead of slavery to pagan worship. He has been conscripted as a soldier of the gospel instead of being conquered by an empire. His scars are not marks of shame but marks of belonging.
The Cross
Paul emphasizes this greatly. Not only here but throughout all of his letters, and the rest of the New Testament authors do the same.
How many of us have a cross necklace? A cross t-shirt? A cross tattoo somewhere on our body? The cross is recognized all over the world as the symbol of Christianity. And that makes sense, because the cross is the central part of our faith. It represents the belief that the death of Jesus is the single most consequential moment in human history.
But it is a strange symbol when you stop to think about it. The cross represents torture and death. It would be like wearing an electric chair around your neck. The early Romans actually ridiculed Christians for this. There is a famous piece of ancient graffiti that mocks a Christian for worshipping a crucified figure.
1 Corinthians 1:18 says this: The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction, but we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
As modern day Americans, we immediately associate the cross with the gospel message. But in the first century, the cross was the ultimate symbol of humiliation, torture, political oppression, and death. It was the Roman Empire's terrifying warning of what happens when you resist and step out of line. Crucifixion was intentionally public, brutal, and shameful. The whole point was to drive fear so deep that it crushed the human spirit. And it worked.
And yet Christianity takes the very worst symbol the world could invent and completely reinvents what it means. The cross, the ultimate picture of suffering, disgrace, and hopelessness, becomes the symbol of forgiveness, freedom, mercy, and victory. What was meant to produce fear, God transformed into joy and hope. What looked like defeat, death, and disgrace became the declaration of victory, life, and blessing.
That's why Paul says he boasts in the cross. Because the cross declares that God can take the darkest thing imaginable and turn it into the very moment where grace changes everything. The ultimate symbol of death becomes the permanent promise of life.
We could read Paul's words like this: May I never boast about anything except the ultimate symbol of death which has become the permanent promise of life from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament Fulfilled
When we read the New Testament, it's helpful to understand that the Old Testament has been fulfilled.
The Old Testament was a two sided covenant. A two sided agreement between God and humanity, mapped out most clearly in Deuteronomy. It required obedience to a long and detailed list of commandments. Some of these commandments make sense to a modern reader. Others feel unusual and extreme. The whole thing should leave a reader with a feeling of inadequacy. It also teaches us something about the holiness and perfection of God. We learn about the severity of sins that we are often quick to sweep under the rug. The Old Testament reveals just how impossible it is to live up to this list of commandments.
To address this, God provided a system of sacrifice that promised forgiveness. But it was repeated, costly, and difficult. You needed access to the Temple to participate in the fullness of it.
So why don't we sacrifice animals anymore? The simple bumper sticker answer is that Jesus fulfilled the Law. But what does that actually mean?
The Law refers to the Old Testament agreement. Jesus was perfectly obedient to all of it. And then Jesus became the sacrifice on our behalf.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is fully human and fully God. He has existed for all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And He became human. He became a part of His own creation. Every Christmas we remember the story of God breaking into human history as a baby. Fully God and fully human.
This belief has consequences. It means that as the Son of God, both human and divine, He was able to fulfill both sides of the Covenant made between God and humanity. He could be the sacrifice that takes on the sin of the world and achieve forgiveness on behalf of humanity, because He was one of us. But in His divinity He could fulfill all the promises of God given throughout the Old Testament. He paid it all. He achieved it all. He gave it all. He withheld no good thing.
Remembering this changes how we read and make sense of the Old Testament. We can learn about the promises that are already being fulfilled. We can discover what God cares about, what grieves Him, and what brings Him joy. We can learn from others how to navigate this life of faith. We can be reminded about how desperately we need a savior. The Old Testament can often produce feelings of heaviness and guilt. Never forget that the Law has been fulfilled. It is completed. Jesus met all the requirements. Instead of guilt and shame we have freedom and hope.
It's like a mortgage that has been paid in full by someone else. The debt is gone. The deed is yours.
Substitutionary Atonement
The cross removes the idea of performance based religion or self made spirituality.
There's a theological phrase that captures this beautifully. Substitutionary atonement.
Substitute reaches back to the Old Testament animal sacrifices. There was a cost involved. There was a deep connection between sin and death. The judgment fell on the animal instead of the person. But it was never permanent or complete, and that's why it was never the final answer.
Atonement is a big word packed with depth and meaning. It carries the idea of covering and cleansing. Being washed in the blood. It also carries the idea of reconciliation and the mending of broken relationships.
It's easy to misunderstand what substitution actually means here.
If a backup athlete steps in for the star player on the winning team, the backup doesn't get the credit. If a celebrity has a buddy do their community service for them, that's a case of power and wealth coming out on top. If a professor switches your exam paper with one that has the right answers, that didn't cost the professor anything.
The substitution on the cross is nothing like any of those.
The substitution on the cross means you get the credit you didn't earn. The powerful and elite, the God of the universe, lowered Himself to the position that belonged to a disgraced criminal. And it all came at an insurmountable cost.
And He did it all willingly. He allowed Himself to be arrested. He didn't convince Pilate to release Him. He took the beatings. He didn't overpower the soldiers when they drove the crown of thorns onto His head. He willingly carried the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. He was certain of His purpose and His mission when they drove the nails into His hands and feet. And He knew exactly what He was accomplishing for you and for me when they lifted Him up on the cross on the first Good Friday so He could die a criminal's death. The kind of execution designed to maximize pain, humiliation, and public shame.
Hebrews 12:2 says this: Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross.
What Makes the Cross Unique
The cross makes Christianity completely unique.
Most modern spirituality tells you to look inward, unlock your potential, improve yourself, manifest peace, or slowly climb your way toward enlightenment with very little cost or commitment. Many other religions and traditions demand a list of accomplishments in order to reach the divine.
Christianity declares the exact opposite. Humanity could not save itself. It could not climb high enough. It could not fix the problem of sin on its own. So God Himself stepped into human history in the person of Jesus Christ and willingly suffered and died on the cross for us.
The center of Christianity is not self improvement. It is sacrificial love. Not humanity reaching up to God, but God coming down to rescue humanity at an unimaginable cost.
And because of this rescue mission, initiated and completed by the God of the universe, the door is open for anyone and everyone to come into a restored relationship with our heavenly Father.
A New Creation
Galatians 6:15 says this: It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle. They are the new people of God.
The key word is new. To be a part of the new people of God. To be a new creation. To enjoy the new life that is possible because of Jesus. This is a massive part of New Testament theology, especially in Paul's letters. They explain what it means to embrace the new and leave the old behind.
Paul writes to the Romans that God brings the dead back to life and creates new things out of nothing. He tells them not to copy the behavior and customs of this world, but to let God transform them into a new person by changing the way they think. He describes a new way of living in the Spirit. To the Corinthians he reminds them that everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. He tells them that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun.
The Jewish people in the first century understood that they were born into the promises of God, and the outward demonstration of that was circumcision. And now, those who are not born into the promises of God can accept the free gift of grace and be born again into the promises of God. The old has gone. A new life can begin. We're invited to accept the forgiveness Jesus offers and to find our place at the table.
What Does It Mean to Boast About the Cross?
Boasting in the cross is not about showing off or drawing attention to yourself. It's about living a life that is defined and characterized by the cross. It's about not seeking glory for oneself, but actively looking for ways to glorify God. It's about remembering the insurmountable cost of grace. It's about living as a new creation and part of the new people of God. It's about leaving feelings of not measuring up and constant comparison behind.
So what is our modern equivalent to Paul's interest in the world? What is it that we are tempted to elevate above the cross?
For some of us, it's hitting life goals on schedule. For others, it's curating an Instagram worthy life. For others, it's the constant balancing act of when to fit in and when to stand out. For others, it's checking off financial milestones one after another.
Paul calls us to a better way. To boast in the cross and to let everything else find its proper place underneath.
From Death to Life
Our baptism t-shirts say it well. From Death to Life. It's a transfer. A movement. A swap. From one thing to something completely different.
From regret to hope. From failure to repentance. From insecurity to being accepted and loved. From pride to humility. From jealousy to gratitude. From religious burden to freedom. From anger to peace. From endless searching to contentment. From exhaustion to rest.
The cross means that the promise of going from death to life isn't just a slogan on a t-shirt. It's the lived out promise for all who recognize and declare Jesus is Lord.
Galatians 6:14 says this: May I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection Questions
Is anything shaping my life more than the cross of Jesus?
How does Jesus being my substitute change the way I view life?
