Galatians 6:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

NASB: But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

CSB: But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.

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.

KJV: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

NKJV: But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Paul is once more denouncing the false-teaching Judaizers who are attempting to strong-arm the Galatian believers into getting circumcised in order to be truly right with God (Galatians 2:4). Paul has revealed part of their motive: boasting about conversion numbers. In other words, these false teachers are not truly concerned about the people of Galatia or even about serving God. They're trying to earn bragging rights about their salesmanship.

Paul now implies that he could play that game, too, if he was like the Judaizers. After all, he has been instrumental in converting many, many people to faith in Christ. But Paul says clearly that he refuses to do such a thing. He will not boast about what God has accomplished through him. Paul says he will boast in just one thing: the cross of Christ. Everything that Paul has, that anyone in Christ has, is possible only because Jesus died on that cross for our sins to set us free.

It is by the cross of Jesus, Paul says, that the world has been crucified to him and him to the world. In other words, because he has been justified by faith in Christ and what He accomplished on the cross, Paul no longer needs the approval of the world. The world has nothing to offer to him, just as the world, at large, certainly does not want what he has to offer. Because of the cross, Paul is free from all of that while the Judaizers remain enslaved to their sinful worldliness (Galatians 3:23–29).

Galatians 6:11–18 is the conclusion of Paul's letter to the Galatians. He apparently took the pen from his scribe and wrote these words, with his own hand, in oversized letters. This remark is one reason some scholars think Paul might have had a problem with his eyesight. Once again, Paul reveals the motives of false teachers pressuring the Galatians to be circumcised. They are only promoting themselves. Now that Christ has come, circumcision does nothing. The Galatians should trust Christ, instead, to be made into new creations.

Galatians 6 includes instructions for how people who are free in Christ and walking by God's Spirit, should treat each other. Christians should restore those who are caught by sin, and we should bear each other's burdens. Only those who plant the fruit of God's Spirit, by faith in Christ, will harvest eternal life. Believers should not get tired of doing good for each other! The harvest is coming. Paul concludes the letter, writing in large letters that circumcision means nothing. Only becoming a new creation through faith in Christ matters.

Galatians 5 wrapped up with a focus on what it means to be led by God's Spirit. Galatians 6 starts with describing how Spirit-led Christians serve each other by restoring those caught be sin and bearing each other's burdens. Only those who plant God's Spirit in this life, through faith in Christ, will harvest eternal life. Paul concludes the letter by writing in big letters that circumcision does not matter, only being made a new creation by faith in Christ matters.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.