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Galatians Lesson 10 (2010)

A NEW CREATION

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

Once I met a gentleman at the YMCA in Flushing, who asked me if I was a pastor? I said, “Yes, I am.” “But how did you know?” I thought to myself. He told me that there are so many huge Korean churches in Flushing that seem to be doing good business. He said, “You know that those big churches make a lot of money.” At first, I felt a little offended by his remarks. Yet, I began to realize that there is a lot of confusion among the general public, concerning the role of churches today. Some people actually think that the church is not different from a secular business. It is true that the impression of some churches is not a house of worship but a business center. Although it’s painful to admit it, I must also admit that the success of a church is often measured by the size of the church building and the number of people in the congregation on Sunday. What kind of impression do we give to the world? Of course, we don’t try to impress the world. But can we blame the world for having a crooked view of God’s church? Maybe not!

There is also a great deal of confusion among the general public about what it means to be a “Christian”? What does it mean to be a “Christian”? Does it mean that you go to church on Sunday and the rest of the week, you do whatever you want to do? We call this kind of Christian a “Sunday Christian.” What does it mean to be a “Christian”? Does it mean that you are baptized in the church and attend the church service once in a while, like on Easter or Christmas day? Does it mean that you try to live up to Christian moral standards or to improve your behavior? Does it mean that you practice regular rituals of worship, like communion? Although being a Christian originally meant to belong to Christ by being united with him, crucifying the sinful nature with its passions and desires and being led by the Holy Spirit, many of those who call themselves “Christians” seem to be ignorant of what it really means to be a Christian. In fact, these days when someone says that he or she is a Christian, there is a danger that he or she may be considered narrow-minded, self-righteous and judgmental. Anyway, what does it mean to be a “Christian”? Definitely it does not mean just to become religious, join a church or be baptized and follow the church doctrines. According to Paul’s letter, especially in today’s passage, what really counts is not what we do or don’t do. What really matters is a new creation. Paul said, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. (6:15)

Today’s passage, 6:11-18, is the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Galatian Christians. Before getting into his final conclusion, let’s review the background of Paul’s letter, and in particular, the reason that Paul decided to write the letter to the Galatian Christians. Paul said in 1:6-7, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” As the founder of the church in Galatia, Apostle Paul was deeply concerned about the people’s spiritual well-being. What really perplexed him was not that their membership didn’t increase but that they were deserting the gospel they first received from him. They were turning to a different gospel – which was really no gospel at all.

The fact is that some false teachers, the legalistic Jewish Christian leaders, infiltrated the church and persuaded the members that faith in Christ was not good enough. They told them that they also needed to observe the law of Moses, beginning with circumcision. The naïve Galatian Christians were deceived and began to follow their teachings. When Apostle Paul heard about it, he became alarmed. Paul had been adamant about defending the gospel he preached and even rebuked them severely by saying, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (3:1) He also warned them seriously about those false teachers again and again, treating those false teachers as God’s enemies (1:8-9, 5:12), saying “If anybody is preaching you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Yet, Paul was not carried away by his anger. He was very logical and self-contained in defending the gospel. In chapters 1 and 2, Paul defended the authenticity of the gospel he preached. The gospel he preached was not something manmade but was something he received by revelation directly from Jesus Christ. (1:11-12) And the gospel he preached was the same as the gospel of the other apostles, like Apostle Peter, James and John. What is the apostolic gospel which they received? It is the gospel of Jesus who gave his life as a ransom for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead. (1:2; 2:10) Apostle Paul defended the gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, both biblically and theologically, using the examples in the Old Testament. In chapters 3-4, his main point is that the gospel cannot be mixed with any form of legalism. The last two chapters, chapters 5 and 6, give a practical application of the gospel in our lives. In today’s passage, before closing his letter, Paul concludes that being a Christian does not mean becoming religious but becoming a new creation.

Look at verse 11 “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” Apparently, up to this point, a certain man had been dictating Paul’s letters. But Paul decided to write the rest of this letter himself, using big letters. Perhaps, Paul had to use big letters because he couldn’t see small letters due to his eye-problem. But the real reason that he used big letters was to emphasize the point that he wanted them to focus on.

Look at verses 12-13. “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.” Here, Apostle Paul exposed the ulterior motives of the false teachers who tried to compel the Galatian Christians to be circumcised. Their motive behind compelling the Galatian Christians to circumcise was to make a good impression on others so that they could boast about their flesh. In fact, the very reason these false teachers emphasized circumcision was to avoid persecution. On the other hand, Apostle Paul was persecuted because he didn’t preach circumcision but crucifixion of Christ. Didn’t Paul also say in 5:11, “Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?” What was Paul’s motive of preaching the gospel of crucifixion? It wasn’t for the sake of impressing others. Paul’s major concern for the Galatian Christians was not that they looked good to others on the outside. He was most concerned about their inward transformation. He was like their spiritual mother who had been in the pains of the child birth until Christ was formed in them. (4:19)

Why does preaching the cross of Jesus invite persecution? It’s because the cross of Jesus is against human nature and is offensive to the world’s values and system. The cross is the symbol of shame, which represents the cruel death of Christ for our sins. When the world looks at the crucified Jesus, it is not drawn to him. The cross makes the people of the world very uncomfortable because it tells us that we are sinners. So the cross of Jesus doesn’t get positive responses from the world. When the message of the cross was preached in the first century, the majority of Greeks, who considered themselves wise and civilized, considered it foolish. It was also a stumbling block to the self-righteous Jews. (1 Corinthians 1:20) So both the Jews and the Gentiles rejected Jesus, making Jesus like a rejected stone. But God made this rejected stone the capstone of his kingdom. (Acts 4:11) In fact, the cross of Jesus is the power and wisdom of God that can set man free from the bondage of the law, sin and death and give the grace of forgiveness of sins, freedom, peace, joy and most importantly, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is an amazing mystery of God’s salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. But the cross of Jesus does not impress those with a worldly mindset. We don’t want to be told over and over again that we are sinners. But that’s what the cross of Jesus does. The cross of Jesus makes us uncomfortable. Yet, the cross of Jesus is the only way to salvation for sinners. If we could have been forgiven by our own good works, by being circumcised and keeping the law, there would have been no cross. (Gal 2:21). But every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to tell us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Wow, it’s wonderful. But still it makes us feel uncomfortable. Because of our fallen human nature, we like to impress others and boast about our flesh. Even we, as Christians, are not free from the temptation to boast and impress others. Oftentimes, our boasting is more subtle than obvious. Yet, it’s still boasting. When we like to boast and impress others, we are easily tempted. As a result, we are easily provoked and become envious of others. We want to hold on to our inflated views of ourselves, especially our self-righteousness, until we look at Jesus on the cross. Jesus on the cross takes away our self-righteousness and empty-boasting.

Apostle Paul says something interesting but very unusual. Look at verse 14. “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.” What did he mean? What he means is that for Christians all boasting should be boasting in the cross. Why only in the cross? It’s because for redeemed sinners, every good thing was obtained for us by the cross of Jesus. Even bad things God has turned around for good. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:28? In all things – both in good things and bad things – God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. In fact, apart from the death of Jesus, we sinners get nothing but condemnation and final judgment. But there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. (Ro 8:1) Therefore, we, as Christians, should boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 14 again. “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.” This is an interesting and unusual point. Apostle Paul said earlier in Galatians 2:10 about what the cross of Jesus meant to him. He said that he had been crucified with Christ and he no longer lived, but Christ lived in him. The life he lived in the body, he lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him. That’s what the cross of Jesus meant to him. But now in 6:14, Paul explains that the meaning of the cross goes beyond this. In the cross of Jesus, it’s not just Paul who died (or was crucified), but the world was dead (or, was crucified) to him, and he was dead to the world. If we are truly crucified, we are not attracted to the world, and neither is the world attracted to us. The only boasting Paul did was boasting in the cross of Jesus Christ. Why? It’s because Paul had been truly crucified. He crucified his sinful nature with its passions and desires. Because of the cross, the world’s system had lost its appeal to Paul, and he had lost his appeal to the world. He was indeed a spiritual man. If we are boasting about our flesh in the world, we are just carnal and unchanged people. We are not actually living as Christians, no matter how long we have been attending church or no matter how actively we are involved in religious activities. Sometimes, we wonder why we are not changed after so many long years of attending church. It’s because we abandoned the cross of Jesus and turned to a different gospel, just like the Galatian Christians, without realizing it. We should restore the cross of Jesus in the center of our hearts and lives. And anything that does not go through the cross of Jesus does not glorify God. Christians are those who are dead to sin, self and the world. But we like to remain alive to ourselves and the world. Are we dead to sin, to ourselves and to the world? If we are dead, then Christ truly lives in us. But if we are not dead to sin, self and the world, the life of Christ cannot truly and fully live and work in us. When we apply the way of the cross as our life-principle in every area of our lives, we can truly experience the transforming power of God in us.

Paul said in verse 15. “Neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” In fact, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Here, we learn what it means to be a Christian. If we are Christians, it means we are a new creation. It means we are being renewed and transformed into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. What counts is a new creation – a transformation of our inner self, from a proud man into a humble man, from an angry man into a gentle man, from an unthankful man into a thankful man, from an impatient man into a patient man, from a narrow-minded and critical man into a man who embraces others. But why aren’t many people experiencing this kind of transformation and why do they still remain the same? A new creation! That’s what counts. Saint Paul said in 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Repentance is not an option for any Christian. Unless we repent of our sinful nature, we reap what we sow. No matter how long we attend church, we don’t become a new creation if we don’t repent – we remain as unchanged and miserable Christians.

In last week’s passage, we were taught that we don’t need to compare ourselves with anybody because we are unique in the sight of God and because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, we don’t need to compare ourselves with others because we are new creations. I am happy, knowing that I am getting mature little by little. But I don’t feel really excited about the fact that I am getting old physically. Last week, my doctor told me that my blood sugar level is getting high so I have to watch my diet and exercise more. I know the number of grey hair on my head is increasing day by day. To be honest, I want life more than anything. I want my life to be ever young, energetic and fully alive. Is this possible or just a dream?

We are often asked a question, like this: “What was the happiest moment of your life?” Some may say, “It’s the day when I got married.” “Then what? Do you have that excitement in your marriage relationship?” Most people say, “Not really.” That’s the problem with many people who call themselves “Christians.” Christians are not happy because of what they do or what they don’t do. Christians are happy because they know who they are and whose they are – a new creation in Christ day by day. This is a reality for everyone who is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes. We can experience the kingdom of God as we become a new creation. In Christ, we have a sense of self-worth. We become men and women of integrity. We become energetic, resourceful and encouraging. We don’t remain in our old knowledge. We are true to the law of God, but open to learning and asking healthy and constructive questions. We don’t complain about our situation but are ready to adapt ourselves to all circumstances with an appreciation of God’s presence. As leaders, we don’t demonstrate authoritarian dictatorship but are ready to serve and demonstrate approachable leadership. When we become a new creation, we cannot say that Christian life is boring. Christian life is indeed exciting, but not because we become attractive to the world, but because we are becoming new creations.

Look at verse 16. “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.” This is Paul’s final prayer for the Galatian Christians and beyond. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule! What is “this rule”? It is the way of the cross – the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in our lives. There is no other way that man can be truly saved and happy, except through the way of the cross.

We live in a world in which people tend to believe that there is more than one way to heaven and more than one truth. It is true that many religions and philosophies offer their versions of salvation and of a happy way of life. In the Garden of Eden, God gave us the freedom to choose between the tree of life and the tree of good and evil. (Gen 2:17 and 18) We now have a choice between the religions of legalism and the religion of God’s grace – between religion by human effort and religion by faith. In that sense, the gospel of Jesus Christ is unique: it offers faith in God’s grace. Jesus, the Son of God, came to this world to die on the cross, so that we may be forgiven of all our sins and receive the gift of eternal life. He not only rose from dead and ascended into heaven but he also sent the Holy Spirit and dwells in those who believe in him. This gospel is unique and cannot be mixed with any form of legalism. That’s why Paul said, “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule…” (6:16) The way of the cross does not appear to be attractive and charming, so only a few find it and are willing to follow it. But it is the way that leads us to eternal life and glory. God gave us the gospel through his son Jesus Christ. And we need to hold firmly to the gospel that the apostles preached, the gospel of God’s grace – the gospel of the cross. May the Lord enable us to experience God’s powerful work of transformation in our lives so that we can become new creations as we hold on to the gospel of the cross. May we practice the way of the cross daily.