As he brings his letter to the Galatians to a close, the Apostle Paul makes one final comparison between his gospel and the anti-gospel (i.e. ‘no gospel at all’ – Gal 1:7) that the false teachers were promoting. This difference is in what each adherent boasts about:
Galatians 6:13-14 … they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
The word ‘boast’ simply means to brag. So what kind of things do we brag about? The things that make us look good, such as looks, riches, fame, influence, marriage, our children, our latest promotion, our possessions or our success. The infiltrators in Galatia bragged about how many converts they had made to their anti-gospel (i.e. salvation through works, such as circumcision).
Yet in v. 14 Paul says these worldly things have been ‘crucified to me, and I to [them]’. What he means is, he believes these things no longer make him look good. Why? Because the cross of Christ says they cannot pay for his sin. No matter how successful his gospel ministry is, no matter how many converts he makes, he can never raise the capital to pay for his sin. As such, these worldly things no longer drive him in life.
Rather, Paul boasts in the cross, for it is the cross of Christ that makes him look good. Firstly, it makes him look good because he is part of the greatest plan ever concocted. It took thousands of years for God to bring forgiveness to the earth, through a plan not even Satan saw coming. Yet even better than that, God paid the ultimate price in order to redeem him. The cross says God would rather give up the world than lose his people. Does that not make us look good! So may we never boast in anything this world has to offer. May we rather boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
