Galatians 6

The legalist is not interested in bearing burdens. Instead, he adds to the burdens of others (Acts 15:10). This was one of the sins of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day: “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matt. 23:4). The legalist is always harder on other people than he is on himself, but the Spirit-led Christian demands more of himself than he does of others that he might be able to help others.

Paul presented a hypothetical case of a believer who is suddenly tripped up and falls into sin. The word overtaken carries the idea of being surprised, so it is not a case of deliberate disobedience. Why did Paul use this illustration? Because nothing reveals the wickedness of legalism better than the way the legalists treat those who have sinned. Call to mind the Pharisees who dragged a woman taken in adultery before Jesus (John 8). Or that Jewish mob that almost killed Paul because they thought he had defiled the temple by bringing in Gentiles (Acts 21:27ff.). (Legalists do not need facts and proof; they need only suspicions and rumors. Their self-righteous imaginations will do the rest.) So, in this paragraph, Paul was really contrasting the way the legalist would deal with the erring brother, and the way the spiritual man would deal with him.

A contrast in aim. The spiritual man would seek to restore the brother in love, while the legalist would exploit the brother. The word restore means “to mend, as a net, or to restore a broken bone.” If you have ever had a broken bone, you know how painful it is to have it set. The sinning believer is like a broken bone in the body, and he needs to be restored. The believer who is led by the Spirit and living in the liberty of grace will seek to help the erring brother, for “the fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). “By love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13). When Jesus sought to be a physician to the sinful, He was severely criticized by the Pharisees (Mark 2:13–17), and so the spiritual believer today will be criticized by the legalists.

Instead of trying to restore the erring brother, the legalist will condemn him and then use the brother to make himself look good. This is what the Pharisee did in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9–14). “[Love] shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The legalist rejoices when a brother falls, and often gives the matter wide publicity, because then he can boast about his own goodness and how much better his group is than the group to which the fallen brother belongs.

This is why Paul admonished us, “Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:26). The word provoke means “to challenge to a contest, to compete with.” The believer who walks in the Spirit is not competing with other Christians or challenging them to become “as good as he is.” However, the legalist lives by competition and comparison, and tries to make himself look good by making the other fellow look bad.

A contrast in attitude. The Spirit-led believer approaches the matter in a spirit of meekness and love, while the legalist has an attitude of pride and condemnation. The legalist does not need to “consider himself” because he pretends he could never commit such a sin. But the believer living by grace realizes that no man is immune from falling. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). He has an attitude of humility because he realizes his own weaknesses.

But there is a second contrast: he knows the love of Christ in his own heart. “The law of Christ” is “Love one another” (John 13:34; 15:12). Paul has already discussed the “law of love” (Gal. 5:13–15), and now he is applying it. “Tender loving care” is not a modern invention, because Paul is urging it on believers in this passage. How much we appreciate it when the doctor uses tenderness as he sets a broken bone. And how much more should we use “tender loving care” when we seek to restore a broken life.

It takes a great deal of love and courage for us to approach an erring brother and seek to help him. Jesus compared this to eye surgery (Matt. 7:1–5)—and how many of us feel qualified for that?

Paul probably had in mind here our Lord’s instructions on reconciliation (Matt. 18:15–35). If your brother sins against you, go talk to him privately, not for the purpose of winning an argument, but for the purpose of winning your brother. (That word gained is the same word Paul used in 1 Cor. 9:19–22 to refer to winning the lost to Christ. It is important to win the lost, but it is also important to win the saved.) If he hears you, then the matter is settled. But if he will not agree, then ask one or two spiritual people to go with you. If he will still not settle the matter, then the whole church must be informed and take steps of discipline. But Jesus went on to point out that the church must practice prayer (Matt. 18:19–20) and forgiveness (Matt. 18:21–35), or discipline will not be effective.

The legalist, of course, has no time for this kind of spiritual “soul-winning.” When he hears that his brother has sinned, instead of going to the brother, he shares the sad news with others (“so you can pray more intelligently about it”) and then condemns the brother for not being more spiritual.

Remember, the legalist makes himself look better by making his brother look worse. Thus Paul’s warnings here (Gal. 6:3–4). The Judaizers were guilty of boasting about themselves, their achievements, and their converts (Gal. 6:12–14). They usually did this by comparing themselves with others (see 2 Cor. 10:11). But such comparisons are sinful and deceptive. It is easy to find somebody worse off than we are, so that our comparison makes us look better than we really are. Christian love would lead us not to expose a brother’s failures or weaknesses, no matter how much better it would make us look.

A man should “prove his own work” (Gal. 6:4) in the light of God’s will and not in the shadows of somebody else’s achievements. “Each man should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each man should carry his own load” (Gal. 6:4–5 niv). There is no place for competition in the work of God, unless we are competing against sin and Satan. When we see words like “best, fastest-growing, biggest, finest” applied to Christian ministries, we wonder who is getting the glory.

This does not mean that it is wrong to keep records. Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to say, “Those who criticize statistics usually have none to report.” But we must be careful that we are not making others look bad just to make ourselves look good. And we should be able to rejoice at the achievements and blessings of others just as if they were our own (Rom. 12:10). After all, if one member of the body is blessed, it blesses the whole body.

There is no contradiction between Galatians 6: and 5, because two different Greek words for burden are used. In Galatians 6: it is a word meaning “a heavy burden,” while in Galatians 6: it describes “a soldier’s pack.” We should help each other bear the heavy burdens of life, but there are personal responsibilities that each man must bear for himself. “Each soldier must bear his own pack.” If my car breaks down, my neighbor can help drive my children to school, but he cannot assume the responsibilities that only belong to me as their father. That is the difference. It is wrong for me to expect somebody else to be the father in our family; that is a burden (and a privilege) that I alone can bear.

The story has often been told about the message the founder of the Salvation Army sent to their international convention. General William Booth was unable to attend personally because of ill health, so he cabled the delegates a message containing one word: “OTHERS!”

In the popular comic strip “Peanuts,” Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why are we here on earth?” He replies, “To make others happy.” She ponders this for a moment and then asks, “Then why are the others here?”

“One another” is one of the key phrases in the Christian’s vocabulary. “Love one another” is found at least a dozen times in the New Testament, along with “pray one for another” (James 5:16), “edify one another” (1 Thess. 5:11), prefer one another (Rom. 12:10), “use hospitality one to another” (1 Peter 4:9), and many other like admonitions.

In the section before us, Paul adds another phrase: “Bear ye one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). The Spiritled Christian thinks of others and how he can minister to them. In this section, Paul described two important ministries that we ought to share with one another.

Just as one another is a key phrase in the Christian vocabulary, so is the word fellowship (translated “communicate” in Gal. 6:6). From the very beginning of the church, sharing was one of the marks of Christian experience (Acts 2:41–47). The Greek word has now worked its way into our English vocabulary, and we see the word koinonia here and there in religious publications. It simply means “to have in common,” and refers to our common fellowship in Christ (Gal. 2:9), our common faith (Jude 3), and even our sharing in the sufferings of Christ (Phil. 3:10). But often in the New Testament, koinonia refers to the sharing of material blessings with one another (Acts 2:42; 2 Cor. 8:4; Heb. 13: [Greek text]). It is this that Paul had in mind in these verses.

He began with a precept (Gal. 6:6), urging us to share with one another. The teacher of the Word shares spiritual treasures, and those who are taught ought to share material treasures. (Paul used a similar approach when he explained why the Gentile churches ought to give an offering to the Jewish believers, Rom. 15:27.) We must remember that what we do with material things is an evidence of how we value spiritual things. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21).

Because the apostle Paul did not want money to become a stumbling block to the unsaved, he earned his own living (see 1 Cor. 9), but he repeatedly taught that the spiritual leader in the church was to be supported by the gifts of the people. Jesus said, “The laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7), and Paul echoed this statement (1 Cor. 9:11, 14).

But we must realize the spiritual principle that lies behind this precept. God does not command believers to give simply that pastors and teachers (and missionaries, Phil. 4:10–19) might have their material needs met, but that the givers might get a greater blessing (Gal. 6:7–8). The basic principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the entire Bible. God has ordained that we reap what we sow. Were it not for this law, the whole principle of cause and effect would fail. The farmer who sows wheat can expect to reap wheat. If it were otherwise, there would be chaos in our world.

But God has also told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Paul dealt with here. He looked on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. We can use our material goods to promote the flesh, or to promote the things of the Spirit. But once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest.

Money sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption (see Gal. 5:19–21). That money is gone and can never be reclaimed. Money sown to the Spirit (such as sharing with those who teach the Word) will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest, and on and on into eternity. If every believer only looked on his material wealth as seed, and planted it properly, there would be no lack in the work of the Lord. Sad to say, much seed is wasted on carnal things and can never bring glory to God.

Of course, there is a much wider application of the principle to our lives; because all that we do is either an investment in the flesh or the Spirit. We shall reap whatever we have sown, and we shall reap in proportion as we have sown. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). The believer who walks in the Spirit and “sows” in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest. If his sowing has been generous, the harvest will be bountiful, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come.

Paul’s enemies, the Judaizers, did not have this spiritual attitude toward giving and receiving. Paul sacrificed and labored that he might not be a burden to the churches, but the false teachers used the churches to promote their own schemes and fill their own coffers. This is also what happened in the Corinthian church, and Paul had to write them: “In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face” (2 Cor. 11: niv).

How many times we have seen the sacrificing godly pastor persecuted and driven out, while the arrogant promoter is honored and gets everything he wants. The carnal believer thrives under the “spiritual dictatorship” of a legalistic promoter-pastor, because it makes him feel secure, successful, and spiritual. The carnal believer will sacrifice what he has to make the work more successful, only to discover that he is sowing to the flesh and not to the Spirit.

Having given us the precept (Gal. 6:6) and the principle behind the precept (Gal. 6:7–8), Paul now gave us a promise (Gal. 6:9): “In due season we shall reap if we faint not.” Behind this promise is a peril: getting weary in the work of the Lord, and then eventually fainting, and stopping our ministry.

Sometimes spiritual fainting is caused by a lack of devotion to the Lord. It is interesting to contrast two churches that are commended for “work, labor, and patience” (1 Thess. 1:3; Rev. 2:2). The church at Ephesus had actually left its first love and was backslidden (Rev. 2:4–5). Why? The answer is seen in the commendation to the Thessalonian church: “Work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope.” Not just work, labor, and patience, but the proper motivation: “faith, love, and hope.” How easy it is for us to work for the Lord, but permit the spiritual motivation to die. Like the priests of Israel that Malachi addressed, we serve the Lord but complain, “Behold, what a weariness is it” (Mal. 1:13).

Sometimes we faint because of lack of prayer. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). Prayer is to the spiritual life what breathing is to the physical life, and if you stop breathing, you will faint. It is also possible to faint because of lack of nourishment. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). If we try to keep going without proper food and rest, we will faint. How important it is to “wait upon the Lord” to get the strength we need for each day (Isa. 40:28–31).

But the promise Paul gave us will help to keep us going: “In due season we shall reap.” The seed that is planted does not bear fruit immediately. There are seasons to the soul just as there are seasons to nature, and we must give the seed time to take root and bear fruit. How wonderful it is when the plowman overtakes the reaper (Amos 9:13). Each day we ought to sow the seed so that one day we will be able to reap (Ps. 126:5–6). But we must remember that the Lord of the harvest is in charge, and not the laborers.

Sharing blessings involves much more than teaching the Word and giving of our material substance. It also involves doing good “unto all men” (Gal. 6:10). There are those in this world who do evil (Ps. 34:16); in fact, there are those who return evil for good (Ps. 35:12). Most of the people in the world return good for good and evil for evil (see Luke 6:32–35; 1 Thess. 5:15). But the Christian is supposed to return good for evil (Rom. 12:18–21) and to do this in a spirit of Christian love. Actually, the Christian’s good works are a spiritual sacrifice that he gives to the Lord (Heb. 13:16).

We are to “do good unto all men.” This is how we let our light shine and glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). It is not only by words that we witness to the lost, but also by our works. In fact, our works pave the way for our verbal witness; they win us the right to be heard. It is not a question of asking, “Does this person deserve my good works?” Did we deserve what God did for us in Christ? Nor should we be like the defensive lawyer who tried to argue, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25–37). Jesus made it very clear that the question is not “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?”

As we “do good unto all men,” we must give priority to “the household of faith,” the fellowship of believers. This does not mean that the local church should become an exclusive clique with the members isolated from the world around them and doing nothing to help the lost. Rather, it is a matter of balance. Certainly the believers in Paul’s day would have greater needs than would the outsiders, since many of the believers suffered for their faith (see Heb. 10:32–34). Furthermore, a man always cares for his own family before he cares for the neighborhood (1 Tim. 5:8).

We must remember, however, that we share with other Christians so that all of us might be able to share with a needy world. The Christian in the household of faith is a receiver that he might become a transmitter. As we abound in love for one another, we overflow in love for all men (1 Thess. 3:12).

This is how it was meant to be.

It was Paul’s custom, after dictating a letter, to take the pen and write his own farewell. His standard signature was “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (1 Thess. 5:28; see 2 Thess. 3:17–18). But so concerned was Paul that the Galatians get the message of this letter that he took the pen and wrote an entire concluding paragraph with his own hand. “Look at the large letters I write with my own hand!”

Why did Paul write this paragraph, and why did he use such large letters? The Holy Spirit inspired him to add these closing words to give one more contrast between the legalists and the Spirit-led Christians, to show that the Spirit-led believer lives for the glory of God, not the praise of man. And he wrote in large letters for emphasis: “DON’T MISS THIS!”

Some Bible students believe that Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7–10; Gal. 4:14–15) was some kind of eye trouble. This would mean that he would have to write in large letters so that he himself would be able to read what he had written. Whether or not that is true, Paul was making it clear that he had something important to write in conclusion, that he was not simply going to end the letter in some conventional manner. If he did have eye trouble, his willingness to write this closing paragraph with his own hand would certainly appeal to the hearts of the readers.

He has shown them that the believer living under law and the believer living under grace are diametrically opposed to each other. It is not just a matter of “different doctrine,” but a matter of two different ways of life. They had to choose between bondage or liberty (Gal. 5:1–12), the flesh or the Spirit (Gal. 5:13–26), and living for self or living for others (Gal. 6:1–10).

Now he presented a fourth contrast: living for the praise of men or the glory of God (Gal. 6:11–18). He was dealing with motive, and there is no greater need in our churches today than for an examination of the motives for our ministries. We know what we are doing, but do we know why we are doing it? A good work is spoiled by a bad motive.

Paul approached this delicate subject in an interesting way. The legalists wanted to subject the Galatian believers to circumcision, so Paul took this up and related it to the work of Christ on the cross, and also to his own ministry. In this paragraph Paul presented three “marked men”—the legalist (Gal. 6:12–13), the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14–16), and the apostle Paul himself (Gal. 6:17–18).

Paul did not have anything good to say about the legalist. He described him and his kind in four ways.

They are braggarts (vv. 12a, 13b). Their main purpose was not to win people to Christ, or even to help the believers grow in grace. Their chief purpose was to win more converts so they could brag about them. They wanted to “make a fine impression outwardly” even though they did no good inwardly. Their work was not done for the good of the church or for the glory of God; it was done for their own glory.

While it is certainly not wrong to want to win people to Christ, or to see the work of the Lord increase, it is definitely wrong to want these blessings for the glory of man. We want to see more people sharing in our ministries, not so that we can count people, but because people count. But we must be careful not to use people to further our own selfish programs for our own glorification.

I receive a number of local church newsletters and newspapers. I was shocked to find an article in one of them in which the pastor named several other churches and proceeded to explain how his church was much better. Some of the churches he mentioned were not evangelical in belief, and I wondered what those members would think of Christ and the gospel if they read his boastful critique. No doubt it made it difficult for the believers to witness to these other people once this pastor had condemned their churches.

They are compromisers (v. 12b). Why did they preach and practice circumcision and all that went with it? To escape persecution. Because Paul preached the grace of God and salvation apart from the works of the law, he was persecuted (Gal. 5:11). The Judaizers tried to make the Christians think that they too were Christians, and they tried to make the followers of the Mosaic law think that they too obeyed the law. Consequently, they escaped being persecuted by the legalistic group for their identification with the cross of Christ and its devastating effect on the law.

We are prone to look at the cross (and crucifixion) in a sentimental way. We wear crosses on our lapels or on chains around our necks. But to the first-century citizen, the cross was not a beautiful piece of jewelry; it was the lowest form of death and the ultimate in humiliation. The proper Roman citizen would never mention the cross in polite conversation. It stood for rejection and shame.

When Paul trusted Christ, he identified himself with the cross and took the consequences. To the Jew the cross was a stumbling block, and to the Gentile it was foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18–31). The legalists, emphasizing circumcision rather than crucifixion, won many converts. Theirs was a popular religion because it avoided the shame of the cross.

They are persuaders (v. 12a). The word constrain carries with it the idea of strong persuasion and even force. It is translated “compel” in Galatians 2:14. While it does not mean “to force against one’s will,” it is still a strong word. It indicates that the Judaizers were great persuaders; they had a “sales talk” that convinced the Galatian believers that legalism was the way for them. Whenever Paul presented the Word, it was in truth and sincerity, and he used no oratorical tricks or debater’s skills. (See 1 Cor. 2:1–5 and 2 Cor. 4:1–5 to see how Paul presented the Word to his listeners. Paul was not a politician; he was an ambassador.)

They are hypocrites (v. 13). “They want you to submit to the law, but they themselves do not obey the law.” The legalists belonged to the same group as the Pharisees about whom Jesus said, “They say and do not” (Matt. 23:3). Of course, Paul was not suggesting that the Judaizers should keep the law, because keeping the law is neither possible nor necessary. Rather, he was condemning them for their dishonesty; they had no intention of keeping the law, even if they could. Their reverence for the law was only a mask to cover their real goal: winning more converts to their cause. They wanted to report more statistics and get more glory.

Yes, the legalist is a marked man; so when you detect him, avoid him.

Paul kept coming back to the cross (Gal. 2:20–21; 3:13; 4:5; 5:11, 24; 6:12). “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). The wounds of Calvary certainly make Christ a “marked Man,” for those wounds mean liberty to those who will trust Him. The Judaizers boasted in circumcision; but Paul boasted in a crucified and risen Savior. He gloried in the cross. Certainly this does not mean that he gloried in the brutality or suffering of the cross. He was not looking at the cross as a piece of wood on which a criminal died. He was looking at the cross of Christ and glorying in it. Why would Paul glory in the cross?

He knew the Person of the cross. Jesus Christ is mentioned at least forty-five times in the Galatian letter, which means that one third of the verses contain some reference to Him. The person of Jesus Christ captivated Paul, and it was Christ who made the cross glorious to him. In his early years as a Jewish rabbi, Paul had much to glory in (Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:1–10); but after he met Christ, all his self-glory turned to mere refuse. The legalists did not glory in the cross of Christ because they did not glory in Christ. It was Moses—and themselves—who got the glory. They did not really know the Person of the cross.

He knew the power of the cross. To Saul, the learned Jewish rabbi, a doctrine of sacrifice on a cross was utterly preposterous. That the Messiah would come, he had no doubt, but that He would come to die—and to die on a cursed cross—well, there was no place for this in Saul’s theology. The cross in that day was the ultimate example of weakness and shame. Yet Saul of Tarsus experienced the power of the cross and became Paul the apostle. The cross ceased to be a stumbling block to him and became, instead, the very foundation stone of his message: “Christ died for our sins.”

For Paul, the cross meant liberty: from self (Gal. 2:20), the flesh (Gal. 5:24), and the world (Gal. 6:14). In the death and resurrection of Christ, the power of God is released to give believers deliverance and victory. It is no longer we who live; it is Christ who lives in us and through us. As we yield to Him, we have victory over the world and the flesh. There is certainly no power in the law to give a man victory over self, the flesh, and the world. Quite the contrary, the law appeals to the human ego (“I can do something to please God”), and encourages the flesh to work. And the world does not care if we are “religious” just so long as the cross is left out. In fact, the world approves of religion—apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, the legalist inflates the ego, flatters the flesh, and pleases the world; the true Christian crucifies all three.

He knew the purpose of the cross. It was to bring into the world a new “people of God.” For centuries, the nation of Israel had been the people of God, and the law had been their way of life. All of this was preparation for the corning of Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:1–7). Now that Christ had come and finished His great work of redemption, God had set aside the nation of Israel and brought into the world a “new creation” and a new nation, “the Israel of God.” This does not mean that God is finished with the nation of Israel. Today, God is calling out from both Jews and Gentiles “a people for his name” (Acts 15:14), and in Christ there are no racial or national distinctions (Gal. 3:27–29). Paul clearly taught, however, that there is a future in God’s plan for the Jewish nation (Rom. 11).

One purpose of the cross was to bring in a new creation (Gal. 6: niv). This “new creation” is the church, the body of Christ. The “old creation” was headed by Adam, and it ended in failure. The new creation is headed by Christ, and it is going to succeed.

To the Romans, Paul explained the doctrine of the two Adams—Adam and Christ (Rom. 5:12–21). The first Adam disobeyed God and brought into the world sin, death, and judgment. The Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) obeyed God and brought life, righteousness, and salvation. Adam committed one sin and plunged all of creation into judgment. Christ performed one act of obedience in His death on the cross, and paid for all the sins of the world. Because of Adam’s sin, death reigns in this world. Because of Christ’s victory, we can “reign in life” through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). In other words, the believer belongs to a “new creation,” a spiritual creation, that knows nothing of the defects and limitations of the “old creation” (see 2 Cor. 5:17).

Another purpose of the cross was to create a new nation, “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). This is one of many names for the church found in the New Testament. Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). Peter identified that nation as the family of God: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).

As mentioned previously, this does not mean that the church has permanently replaced the nation of Israel in the program of God, but only that the church is “the people of God” on earth today just as Israel was in centuries past.

What a rebuke to the Judaizers. They wanted to take the church back into Old Testament law, when that law could not even be kept by the nation of Israel! That nation was set aside to make way for God’s new people, the church!

Believers today may not be “Abraham’s children” in the flesh, but they are “Abraham’s seed” through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:28–29). They have experienced a circumcision of the heart that is far more effective than physical circumcision (Rom. 2:29; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11). For this reason, neither circumcision nor the lack of it is of any consequence to God (Gal. 6:15; see also Gal. 5:6).

There was a time when Paul was proud of his mark of circumcision (Phil. 3:4–6), but after he became a believer, he became a “marked man” in a different way. He now gloried in the scars he had received and in the suffering he had endured in the service of Jesus Christ.

The contrast with the legalists is plain to see: “The Judaizers want to mark your flesh and brag about you, but I bear in my body the brands of the Lord Jesus Christ—for His glory.” What a rebuke! “If your religious celebrities have any scars to show for the glory of Christ, then let them be shown. Otherwise—stop bothering me!”

Paul was not claiming that he bore the five wounds of Calvary on his body. Rather he was affirming that he had suffered for Christ’s sake (something the legalists never did), and he had on his body the scars to prove it. When you read 2 Corinthians 11:18–33, you have no difficulty understanding this claim of his, for in many ways and in many places Paul suffered physically for Christ.

In Paul’s day, it was not unusual for the follower of some heathen god or goddess to be branded with the mark of that idol. He was proud of his god and wanted others to know it. In the same way, Paul was “branded” for Jesus Christ. It was not a temporary mark that could be removed, but a permanent mark that he would take to his grave. Nor did he receive his brands in an easy way: he had to suffer repeatedly to become a marked man for Christ.

It was also the practice in that day to brand slaves, so that everyone would know who the owner was. Paul was the slave of Jesus Christ, and he wore His mark to prove it.

It is worth noting that sin brands a person. It may mark his mind, his personality, even his body. Few people are proud of the sin marks they bear, and conversion does not change them. (Thank God, those changes will come when Jesus returns!) How much better it is to love Christ and live for Him and be “branded” for His glory.

Believers today need to remember that it is the Christian leader who has suffered for Christ who has something to offer. The Judaizers in Paul’s day knew nothing of suffering. They may have been persecuted in some small way for belonging to a religious group, but this is far different from “the fellowship of his [Christ’s] sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).

Beware of that religious leader who lives in his ivory tower and knows nothing of battling against the world, the flesh, and the devil, who has no “marks” to show for his obedience to Christ. Paul was no armchair general; he was out in the front lines, waging war against sin, and taking his share of suffering.

So, Paul comes to the end of his letter; and he closes just the way he began: GRACE! Not “the law of Moses,” but THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!

E P H E S I A N SNo more need be said, because that says it all.

E p h e s i a n s Key theme: The believer’s riches in Christ Key verse: Ephesians 1:

A. Our spiritual possessions in Christ— 1:4–14 1. From the Father—1:4–6 2. From the Son—1:7–12 3. From the Spirit—1:13–14

First Prayer—for enlightenment—1:15–23 B. Our spiritual position in Christ—2:1–22 1. Raised and seated on the throne— 2:1–10 2. Reconciled and set into the temple— 2:11–22

Second Prayer—for enablement—3:1–21 (vv. 2–13 are a parenthesis)

A. Walk in unity—4:1–16 B. Walk in purity—4:17—5: 1. Walk not as other Gentiles—4:17–32 2. Walk in love—5:1–6 3. Walk as children of light—5:7–14 4. Walk carefully—5:15–17

C. Walk in harmony—5:18—6: 1. Husbands and wives—5:18–33 2. Parents and children—6:1–4 3. Masters and servants—6:5–9

D. Walk in victory—6:10–24