Galatians 6:14 14But 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.
Paul reiterates here the primary answer to the problems in the Galatian churches. The problem with the false teachers is that they boast in their fleshly pursuits, symbolized in their push for circumcision. The flesh is all about self, shown in pleasing one’s deceived desires and pushing one’s own agenda in pride. This danger can be very subtle, and sometimes it may not even be perceived or understood by a person. This is the basic human problem that exerts itself especially in immorality (both in actions and in thought) and idolatry (in all of its subtle and obvious forms). Pushing the Galatians to be circumcised and to follow certain Jewish laws put human effort to be righteous in front of God’s offer of free grace through Jesus Christ. It was a distorted gospel versus the true gospel. Paul gets past the surface issues of legalism and gets down to the deeply spiritual matter of inward sin.
Paul’s only boast is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul looks to the cross for his personal example of submission to God’s will and for the power to transform him into the person for whom God created him. Paul shows the Galatians what they must also do by being crucified to the world. Obviously Paul is not being literal here but using the image of crucifixion to show the type of separation we must make from the world. The world here represents human effort to exert itself against God’s sovereignty. This is the deep problem that began with Adam and Eve who become the paradigms for seeking to be our own gods and doing our own thing in selfishness and pride.
To be crucified to world requires the refusal to let self and fleshly desires be in control. If we try to do this on our own, we end up in the struggle of Romans 7. God gives us help through the Holy Spirit. God provides the way. Our part is to accept in faith and say “yes” to Jesus as Lord and “no” to self. The old way is put up on the cross in a spiritual and mental death. Significantly, Paul uses the perfect tense for “crucified” here and in 2:20. This tense shows a crisis decision in time (a point) that is relived each day from that moment on (a continuing arrow). Paul put himself on the cross and remains up on the cross. The world no longer has sway over him. He is following a new path of life. This path is the one of faith. Faith is required because we cannot do this on our own. We need God’s help–and God will help (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). That is one reason why Paul’s doctrine of the Holy Spirit is so important and why he discusses this in ch. 5. Walking with the Spirit is the only path to victory over the flesh and the pull of sin. The Spirit is the one escape from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). With our minds set on things of the Spirit, the world will no longer be an influence but becomes the mission field.
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