Sermon: The Final Warning Galatians 6:11-18
Truth Taught- The Gospel must be maintained at all costs.
Introduction
Today, we are going to look at the urgency in which Paul wrote to the Galatians. We will see the motivation of the false teachers. Why did they attempt to add works to the Gospel? We will see the difference between Paul and the Judaizers and finally we will see his final warning and benediction.
Galatians 6:11–18 (ESV)
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
1. The Weight of Urgency and Apostolic Emphasis (6:11)
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.
The Apostle Paul often used someone else to transcribe his letters. Many believe this was due to his bad eyesight.
Here we really are unsure if he wrote the ending by his own hand using large Greek capitol letters or if he wrote the entire letter himself using these large letters.
Most believe the issue was Paul’s poor eyesight and whatever he wrote whether all or just the ending, his mentioning it is to draw a sense of urgency and emphasis to this letter. The Galatians knew of his severe illness which affected his eyesight. We looked at this very point back in Chapter 4.
Galatians 4:13–16 (ESV)
13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
He probably wrote with large letters to see what he was writing. By doing this, he was adding a sense of urgency and emphasis to what he was writing. They remembered Paul’s severe illness and how it left his with such poor eyesight. The fact that he would write this letter by his own hand, they could understand how difficult it was for Paul to even write it down. This showed them how important it was. No secretary is writing this, I am, Paul would tell them. This message is so important that even though it is a struggle I will write it myself.
2. The Selfish Motivation of False Teachers (6:12-13)
12 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. 13 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.
A. They wanted to make a good showing to others.
12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised.
The Judaizers wanted to impress others. It says, make a good showing. They wanted to look impressive to others. We had 57 circumcisions today; how many did your church have? They wanted to measure success by human standards. They wanted to be able to count how many were there and how many they could get to come over to their side.
They were far more concerned about looking good to others than about looking good to God.
Beware of groups who are obsessed with counting everyone and everything.
Jesus warned us against this type of thinking…
Matthew 23:15 (ESV)
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 6:1 (ESV)
6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
There is an issue with those who measure success by numbers. The issue is unless you have more people today than last week then your church is not a success. Unless you can some how physically measure things by numbers, tithing amount, or whatever how are you going to know whether the church is successful? That’s not how God measures success. When Jesus ended His ministry, He had only 11. Noah preached for 120 years and all he had was his family. If you measured Jesus and Noah with today’s standards, they were complete failures.
Success is found not in numbers but in a church’s faithfulness to God’s Word. A Church that stands on the foundation of truth in a world of inclusion is probably not going to be a large Church. There are exceptions and praise God for large churches who do preach the truth.
Paul is warning those young believers to not be tricked by the tactics of the false teachers because all they want to do is make a good showing. They don’t really love and care for you, they just want to use you to get some sort of recognition for themselves.
The same is true today. Churches love to measure success by numbers. There is a grave danger in that. What will a Church do to create larger numbers? It must water down truth in order to fit better with culture. It must also find something in common with other religious groups in order to not seem too extreme.
B. They wanted to remove the offense of the cross in order to avoid persecution
and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
The Judaizers wanted to incorporate legalism into Christianity. This method keeps them friendly with the Jews and the Christians. They were after the common ground with other religions. They were out to take away the offense of the cross so that they would not suffer any persecution…they were cowards.
They were not willing to pay the price of persecution in order to identify with Christ.
Jesus has told us that His followers WILL be persecuted…
John 15:18–20 (ESV)
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Jesus explains why hatred and then eventually persecution take place. He has called us out of the world. Those who are His have experienced a heavenly calling. We are different now. Our worldview is different. We see sin for what it is and battle against it daily, while the world embraces it and even promotes it. Living in the world as Christians will cause the world to hate us. The Judaizers were out to do what they needed to do in order to avoid persecution. They were willing to forfeit the crucial aspects of the Gospel in order to not offend others.
Beloved, the cross is offensive to the world. Paul has already told us as much…
Galatians 5:11 (ESV)
11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
Martin Luther warned us…when the cross is abolished, and the rage of tyrants and heretics ceases on the one side, and all things are in peace, this is a sure token that the pure doctrine of God’s Word is taken away.
The cross, it seems, has always been a sticking point for others and especially other religions. They seek man’s highest achievements while the cross is God doing for us what we could never do ourselves. Religions glorify man, the cross brings massive glory to God.
1 Corinthians 1:20–25 (ESV)
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
As you read through the Bible you will see multiple verses that explain the issue of the cross. The various verses speak of fallen man and his issue with giving God glory. Mankind is out to prove he is superior to God. So is the way man seeks to device various means in which he can justify himself.
Philippians 3:18–19 (ESV)
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
C. They wanted to gather more sons of hell to make themselves feel better about their own sin
13 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.
Here is the reality of the Judaizers. They were not good Jews; they did not keep the Law they so intensely promoted. Neither were they Christians because they had forfeited the Cross of Christ. They really didn’t care about either one. What they really were concerned with was signing up more people to somehow boast that others were joining their movement.
They were hypocrites in the greatest way. Get circumcised, follow the Law, become a Jewish Christian when they themselves did not practice law keeping.
They were hiding their sin and the fact that they were lost by looking impressive. They hid the reality by religious language and activity.
It is much like Cain’s sacrifice. It was a lot of work to put it all together but in the end, God did not accept it because it was not what He wanted. Cain may have looked good to others but not to God.
3. Paul’s Only Boast was in the Cross of Christ (6:14-16)
14 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. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
The Judaizer’s boasted in their ingenuity and in their ability to gather followers after themselves. They avoided the cross and promoted circumcision and law keeping so they would not be persecuted. The Apostle Paul, on the other hand boasted in one thing only…the cross of Jesus Christ.
All boasting is in the work of Christ. All boasting is in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
The reasons are made clear here…
The work of Christ will free us from our sin and give us eternal life. Nothing else in all the universe can do this, only Jesus and His Cross.
by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
The world and all its chaos and corruption has been crucified to the believer. It has been put to death where we are concerned. It’s dead to us. We too have been crucified with Christ and so we are told here that the grip the world had in us has been broken. We are free from sin and corruption in our inner being.
Ephesians 2:1–5 (ESV)
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
We were dead and we were part of the chaos of this world order but God plucked us out and set us on solid ground in Christ.
Circumcision can’t do this…
15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
Only God can do it…
16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Israel of God means believers who have been called true Israel. Unlike the Judaizers.
4. Final Warning and Benediction (6:17-18)
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Stop the foolishness now! Too much is at stake for this to continue. Put the Judaizers out of the Church, he’s told them already. Stop playing games and move on.
While you are putting up with foolish conspiracies, Paul says, I am being beaten for the truth. While you are seeking to not offend, I am being branded by the whip.
This is a good warning for us. We must never water down the Gospel to try and fit in with the world or other religions because there are people in other countries risking their lives and being persecuted for the real Gospel.
They are suffering and remaining strong surly we can.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Here, Paul as it were, lifts the Galatians up and asks God to pour out grace upon them. Show them so much grace that it connects with them in the spiritual realm so that they will never be tempted to add works to the Gospel again.
I pray we have all experienced God’s grace in our spirits and this will keep us far away from adding works to the Good News.
Resources Used:
John Macarthur On Galatians
Galatians by Fung
Benediction:
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ shine His face upon us and give us boldness for the task of keeping the Gospel pure in the midst of this sinful world.
To all here who are loved by God and called to be saints through the power of God remain faithful.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
