Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: GALATIANS #8 - 6:11-18)
II. 6:11-18 FINAL APPEAL: HOLD INTERNAL CHRIST ABOVE EXTERNAL RITES
A. 6:11-16 FINAL IMPORTANT WORD ON CROSS VERSUS RITES
a. 6:11 See with how large letters I have written you with my ownhand.
Ide-te heLIkois[4018] huMIN GRAMma-sin [1121]Egra-psa [1125]te eMEcheiRI [5495].
b. 6:12 REASON FOR CIRCUMCISION: TO ESCAPE REPROACH OF CROSS
HOsoi THElou-sin eu-pro-soPEsai [2146]en sarKI [4561],
As many as desire to make a fair show in theflesh,
HOUtoi a-nagKAzou-sin [314]huMAS pe-riTEMnes-thai [4059];
compel you to be circumcised;
MOnon HIna tostauRO[4716]tou ChrisTOU IeSOU mediOkon-tai [1377].
only that they be not persecuted for the cross of :Christ Jesus.
c. 6:13 CIRCUMCISION: A GLORYING IN EXTERNAL RITES ONLY
ouDE gar hoi pe-ri-temNOme-noi auTOI NOmon phuLASsou-sin [5442];
For not even who receive circumcision keep the law themselves;
alLA THElou-sin huMAS pe-riTEMnes-thai, HIna en te hu-meTEra sarKI kauCHEson-tai [2744].
but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your :flesh.
d. 6:14 ONLY REASON FOR GLORYING: THE CROSS WHICH CRUCIFIES
eMOI de meGEnoi-to kauCHASthai, ei meen tostauROtou KuRIou heMON IeSOU ChrisTOU,
But farbe it from me to glory, save in the cross of our :Lord Jesus Christ,
di' hou eMOI KOSmos [2889]eSTAUro-tai [4717], ka' 'GOKOSmo.
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to theworld.
e. 6:15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
OUte gar pe-ri-toME[4061]ti EStin, OUte a-kro-busTIa [203], alLA kaiNE[2537]KTIsis [2937].
f. 6:16 PEACE AND MERCY FOR THOSE WHO WALK IN THIS TRUTH
kai HOsoi tokaNOni [2583]TOUtostoiCHEsou-sin [4748],
And as many as shall walk by this :rule,
eiREne[1515]ep' auTOUS, kai Ele-os [1656], kai ePI ton Is-raEL tou TheOU.
peace upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of :God.
B. 6:17 PAUL'S SCARS PROVE APOSTOLIC OWNERSHIP OF CHRIST
Tou loiPOU KOpous [2873]moi meDEIS pa-reCHEto[3930];
Henceforth let no one trouble me;
eGOgar ta STIGma-ta [2742]tou IeSOU en toSOmaTI [4983]mou basTAzo[941].
for I bear on my :body the marks of :Jesus.
C. 6:18a. The grace of our :Lord Jesus Christ be with your :spirit, brethren.
HeCHAris tou KuRIou heMON IeSOU ChrisTOU meTA tou PNEUma-tos [4151]huMON, a-delPHOI.
b. 18b Amen. aMEN.
“THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL CONSISTENCY”- Oswald Chambers - MUFHH
Galatians 6:14 - “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ...”
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul's consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “... it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe....we preach Christ crucified...” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).
“THE FOCAL POINT OF SPIRITUAL POWER”- OC - MUFHH
Galatians 6:14 - “... except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...”
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me . . .” (Isaiah 45:22).Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don't focus on the right thing.. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God's focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power - the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.”