“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. Amen.” (Gal6:14-16)
x
Readers,
I want to draw attention to the essential issue of the new covenant. The cross of Christ resulted in a new creation. Every person of the new creation is sealed in Christ with the seal of redemption. That seal can only broken by God and this He will not do. Paul says that we cannot be separated from God’s love. All who belong to Christ have an eternal seal.
When Paul says, “But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he is giving a summation of true Biblical Christianity.
I like the way it is translated in the NLT:
“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.” (Gal 6:14 NLT)
The summing up of those who have been to the cross is two fold:
(1) Our interest in the world has been crucified.
(2) The world’s interest in us has died.
x
That City on Mount Zion
This is why so many of our Christian songs are about the cross and about heaven. We sing as pilgrims on a journey. We sing with longings in our heart for the city of God.
Our confession is that we are not of this world. And with the saints of old we are reaching forward to what lies ahead.
We bear witness in our heart to the cross.
Paul was a pilgrim. Abraham was a pilgrim. David was a pilgrim. Buddy Martin is a pilgrim. How about you. Are you a pilgrim?
Hear what the Bible says about God’s pilgrims:
“…they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Heb 11:16 NASB)
Before reading any further take a moment to listen to one of our pilgrim songs. It is titled, ‘When I Reach That City’.
x
x
The Seal of Eternity
The new creation has been sealed in Christ for eternity. This is why the Bible accords our salvation as an eternal redemption. The Bible speaks of salvation as eternal life.
Paul addresses our redemption in Christ:
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph 1:13-14 NASB)
Did you notice that heaven’s seal is based on one premise alone? It is the premise of
believing in Jesus Christ. The word ‘believe’ in the Bible involves a heart connection that cannot be broken. It is with our hearts that we connect with Jesus.
“Having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
x
The covenant of Christ…
The covenant of Christ supersedes and does away with the Law of Moses. The new covenant is for a distinct people.
The Jews outside of Christ based their salvation upon two things: being lineal descendants of Abraham, which leaves much to be desired, and doing the works of the Law, which no one ever did or could do or can do.
You can’t just pick one part of the law that you want to keep and leave the rest untouched. The Law carried a requirement and a curse. The requirement pertained to keeping the whole law. Failure to do so places one under the curse of the law.
The Judaisers followed behind Paul wherever he went, attempting to destroy his gospel message of grace. This is what Paul is referring to when he called for a curse upon those who preach a gospel other than that which the apostles had been given to preach, that is, the gospel of grace. If you don’t know for certain what the apostles actually preached, then note these Scriptures:
“But what does it say? ‘The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:8-9 NASB)
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Gal 1:8 NASB)
Did you make the connection?
The Judaisers of Paul’s day were telling Gentile believers that they had keep the law of Moses, which essentially meant they must become Jews through circumcision in order to be saved. They were distorting God’s grace message to the world.
Grace is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God
There is no way under God’s blue heaven than a person can merit salvation. The apostles made this very plain. The prophets made this very plain. The apostle says,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph2:8,9)
Isaiah said,
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (64:6)
This brings us to the cross.
xx
Listen to those awful words.
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”)
Finally we hear in the final gasp of the Lord,
“It is finished!”
Those words made heaven and earth tremble. The skies darkened. The curtain in the temple ripped in two. The sins of the whole world were now laid on Jesus.
What was finished? The cross fulfilled God’s work of redemption. The sacrifice was offered! From the cross they carried Jesus to the tomb. From the tomb He resurrected and ascended into glory. Out of this would come our completed salvation. This is true gospel.
This is our completed salvation. God made no mistakes. He has saved forever all who have come to faith in Jesus. No one can be any more saved that what the Scriptures tell us.
Listen with your heart:
‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:4-6 NASB)
Here is another ‘did you catch it’?
- Even when we were dead in our transgressions…
- He made us alive together with Christ.
- (By grace you have been saved)
- And raised us up together with Him
- And seated us with Him in the heavenly places.
Notice that all of this is past tense. Believers are not merely going to be saved. We are already as saved as saved can be. This is what ‘seated with Him in the heavenly places’ means.
x
God is at work
And this is why the term ‘new creation’ is the center piece of God’s new covenant in Christ. It is all God’s work. The new creation has already been raised up. We are a heavenly people, adorned in earthly bodies. One day all that will change.
Now take note of how the book of Hebrews begins its closure:
“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, *working in us* that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb13:20,21)
Notice who is doing the works in the believer? God works in us that which is pleasing in His sight. God Himself equips us to do His will. This is why it is so important to give your brother and sister breathing room to do what the Lord has for them to do.
And this is where we must be careful with our language, our accusations, or our condemnations. No one can condemn those for whom Christ died. Paul said we are to walk by this rule.
Remember the rule?
“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision (religious works), but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them.”
Paul’s point is that a person is either born from above as part of God’s new creation, or they are not part of God’s new creation. If they are part of God’s new creation, then you will see heaven’s influence in this person. When Paul says, “Neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision,” he is stating that the former covenant has no jurisdiction over anyone in the new covenant.
The reason for this great change is that in the new covenant every born again person is given the nature of Christ. God deals directly with our nature. Certainly believers can sin, but sin is contrary to their nature. When we sin, we have this grieving in our spirit. What is it that grieves in us. It is the Holy Spirit, by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption.
The work of the cross is to remove believers from their former state of being, to place them into a new state of being, and to cause believers to know the Lord personally.
x
Are you carrying the imprint of the cross — 
True believers cannot give up their testimony of faith. We are His witnesses. Our life began at the cross. We are a new creation. There is no witness on earth greater than this, and Satan knows it. We bear witness to the power of the cross.
So I guess the only questions left are these —
Has your interest in the world been crucified?
Has the world’s interest in you died.
Just something to think about.
Always in Christ,
Buddy
Views: 33
