Galatians | 6:11-18

Jul 21

About this series:

Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia is a heartfelt defence of the gospel of God's grace; a fervent appeal to keep the gospel front-and-centre and to not allow anything to detract from it.

In this letter Paul sounds exasperated at some points - for example, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all” (1:6) and, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (3:1), which The Message renders as, “You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives.”

Paul’s frustration and anger stem from a passionate concern that the churches he planted return to a full confidence that it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that a person is justified by God and is included in God’s family. Nothing else is required. The message he preached to the Galatians, and which they had believed, is not so much a departure from their Jewish heritage, as the fulfilment of it. Thus, in this letter we have a window into life in early Christianity and especially some of the challenges the churches faced from false teachers as the church grew from its Jewish roots.

So in this series we’re going to get a big view of what the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has achieved for mankind. And some very practical help on how we can stay true to Jesus, trusting him alone to put us in a right relationship with God, to keep us in that right relationship and to qualify us for membership among God’s people. ‘The central message of Galatians is that the freeness of God’s grace and love is not only the gateway but also the pathway of the Christian life’ (Dane Ortlund).

About this talk:

Paul’s letters were presumably dictated, but here in v 11 he writes his own greeting (as he does at the close of other letters - cf. 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; Philemon 19). People have suggested that Paul writes with “large letters” because of bad eyesight or a physical ailment, but Stott may well be right in quoting the footnote in J. B. Phillips’ translation: ‘According to centuries-old Eastern usage, this could easily mean, “Note how heavily I have pressed upon the pen in writing this.” Thus it could be translated, “Notice how heavily I underline these words to you.”’

And what he emphasises in closing are some of the central themes of the letter, in particular his call to the Galatians to reject those who are wanting them to be circumcised, and instead to boast only in (glory in, exult in, put one’s confidence for righteousness in) “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Those who were promoting circumcision (along with obedience to the rest of the Mosaic law) were boasting in, placing their confidence in circumcision and encouraging the Galatians to do the same. Paul says they did this, v 12, “to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ,” perhaps meaning that it would have been too reputationally costly for them to trust in Jesus alone, as they would then be persecuted by their fellow Judaizers.

Paul will later write to the Corinthians that those who are in Christ are new creations, adding that, “the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This same radical statement that the old is gone (including circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law) is made clear here because circumcision no longer counts for anything - how the Judaizers must have been repulsed by that idea! What does count is whether one is a new creation in Christ by the work of the Spirit. Paul may also be meaning that since Christ has come, the old covenant, of which the law was a major element, is no longer what matters; the new age in Christ has dawned and is what now counts.

Paul’s prayer, v 16, is that all who follow the gospel will experience peace and mercy and he adds an interesting phrase, “and upon the Israel of God” (ESV). What this means is debated and could be either i) ethnic Israel, ii) Jewish Christians or iii) the whole people of God, Jew and Gentile. To refer to ethnic Israel as “of God” does not fit well with the rest of Paul’s theology; and making a distinction between Jewish and Gentile Christians in a letter where the focus is on being united in Christ would be strange. So, given the context of the letter and Paul’s purpose here of summarising the primary argument, it would seem most likely that he means the whole people of God, the true Israel.

Paul had already suffered intensely in his mission as “apostle to the Gentiles” (2:8); and he will give a fuller list a number of years later in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. Hence, “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus,” meaning the permanent scars he now has because of the persecution he has suffered for the name of Jesus. He is not meaning, as some have speculated, the stigmata of Jesus. So, as if addressing the Judaizers or anyone influenced by their false teaching, he says, “let no one cause me trouble” by questioning his gospel or apostolic authority any longer.

His final words are a customary blessing, as seen in his other letters, for example Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:28.