What You Boast In

This sermon was preached for Capital Pres Fairfax on November 26, 2023 as a part of our series through the book of Galatians. Below is a manuscript of the message I preached, along with an extended reflection and application I didn’t have time for on Sunday. A recording of this sermon will be available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

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What do you boast in? What do you brag about? 

You brag about what you value. That’s what we’ll see in our text this morning, that’s what we know to be true in our own lives. The things that we brag about are the things that we value highly. When I talk about bragging here, I’m not talking about the person who’s constantly gloating about how much better than you they are. I’m talking about the natural human inclination to praise and to share the things we find our value in. It’s the trophy you want to show off to your friends, the diploma you proudly hang on your wall, the accomplishment at the top of your resume. 

Maybe it’s something a little more bizarre, because we like to brag about all sorts of things, don’t we? Maybe it’s a picture of you with a celebrity you really like, or a unique family name. In our passage, we see two odd boasts—two very strange things to brag about. We’ll talk about those things, but we’ll focus on the why behind them and what they lead to. Ultimately, what we’ll see is that in Christ, we have found the only thing worth boasting about. 

11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 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. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. 

17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (Galatians 6:11-18)

This is the last sermon in our series on the book of Galatians. Paul has written a fiery letter to the church he’s planted because they’ve been losing the plot of the gospel. Some false teachers have come into their church and have been leading them down a dangerous path. They’re trying to convince these young Christian converts that they’re not really good with God, they’re not yet safe. They’re close! They’ve gotten a lot of things right! That whole believing in Jesus stuff is good, it’s awesome that they’ve been cleaning up their act and becoming more decent people—but they have to do one last thing before these false teachers are happy. They have to get circumcised. According to Jewish tradition, you couldn’t be considered a part of the family of God without that bloody symbolic procedure. 

For the last three months, we’ve been following Paul as he’s debunked this a dozen different ways. Here at the very end of his letter, he’s got one last proof against the false teachers: look at what they brag about, and look at what they value. 

Verse 11 opens in an odd way; Was Paul not writing the rest of this letter with large letters? Actually, Paul might not have been writing the letter at all before this. It was customary in this time to hire a professional scribe who would write out what the author said, but sometimes the author would add a small note in his own writing at the end as an extra personal gesture. This is something Paul takes personally; let’s see why. First, we’ll look at what the false teachers boast in; second, we’ll look at what Paul boasts in. 

The false teachers’ boast

Look with me at verses 12-13 again. Paul states that the false treaters want to  “make a good showing in the flesh.” This is a loaded phrase. This isn’t merely literal—it is that, we’re talking about a literal procedure done to the body, but it’s also far more. Paul uses the term “flesh” here to represent a whole way of life, a whole order of reality. It’s the way one acts, it’s the way one reasons, it even includes the way of the world in which one lives. The distinguishing marker of this dynamic is that to be of the flesh is to be opposed to God—they are opposite and oppositional. 

These false teachers make a good showing in the flesh and we’re given the reason why: they’re afraid of persecution. That’s not a baseless fear, there really was open persecution of Christians at this time. Most of that persecution came from Jewish people who didn’t believe Jesus was the messiah. They thought it was outrageous that their Savior and king who was supposed to overthrow Rome and conquer the world could die on a Roman cross. They also thought it was offensive that Gentiles, people who were not ethnically or culturally Jewish, could consider themselves a part of God’s people. The book of Acts shows the radical extent of this persecution: Paul and his friends are constantly getting harassed, beaten, and even killed by Jewish mobs. So Paul isn’t dismissing the persecution these Galatians are facing. He is calling them out for how they respond to it. Rather than sticking to their convictions, they’re compromising. 

And they’re not even doing that good a job of it, keep reading with me in verse 13 “For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law.” In our series we’ve already covered Paul’s argument that these false teachers are hypocrites. They’re seeking to prove themselves by adhering to Jewish law in keeping circumcision, but they’re failing at loving God and loving their neighbor. 

That brings us to this really odd boast: “they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” Let’s follow the pronouns here: “they [the false teachers] desire to have you [Galatian Christians] circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” Isn’t that strange? They’re not even boasting in their own flesh, they’re boasting in the fact that they’ve convinced these other people to conform to Jewish tradition. They’re treating these Christians like trophies to show off to their Jewish persecutors as if to say “See? We’re no different than you! Actually, we’re better than you because we’re even converting Gentiles!” So really, it’s not about the Christians at all. 

In these verses Paul is saying “You wanna know what these false teachers value? Their own reputation. You wanna know what motivates them? Fear of pain. Social pressure. You wanna know why they do what they do? Not because they care about you, but because they care about themselves.” 

It’s obvious that’s wrong—and yet even today, even to us that temptation is strong. We’re all naturally inclined to boast in the flesh. We want to prove ourselves by our own accomplishments, we want to find our value in something we can take credit for. We’re also naturally inclined to seek self-preservation. Nobody wants to be the social outcast, nobody wants to be cancelled; we all want to fit in. The problem is, that’s a shaky confidence. The world is constantly changing what it values, so the thing you take pride in one day might be irrelevant or even repugnant the next. Worse yet, when we follow the world’s pattern of boasting in the flesh, we inevitably end up treating other people like objects. They become enemies to crush or trophies to win, all in an attempt to prove ourselves. 

Friends, don’t you want to be free from that twisted, selfish way of thinking? Don’t you want to be free from that whole “in the flesh” way of the world? The good news is, you can be. That’s what Paul shows us in the rest of our passage. So let’s take a look at what Paul boasts in. 

Paul’s boast 

Look at verse 14 with me: “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.” Paul is boasting in the cross of Christ. Not just in Christ, but specifically in his cross—his bloody, gruesome death. This was the exact object of mockery by those who persecuted Christians. But for Paul, that cross represents the most beautiful and valuable truth imaginable. 

He says “You wanna know what I find value in? The God who loved me so much he died for me. He was so passionate about rescuing me from death, he suffered the passion of the cross. He was so zealous to redeem me and wash away my sins, he took all my sin upon himself. My Lord’s flesh was torn off his back, his hands and feet were pierced with nails, he was executed in my place so that I might live forever—that is what I will boast in.” 

Paul doesn’t need to prove his own worth, Jesus has proven it on the cross. And when we find our lives in Christ, we die to the world of the flesh. This is the great danger Paul warns the Galatians about. If they fall in line with the false teachers, they fall out of line with the only way out of that old corrupted world. In pleasing the crowds, they disown Christ; in seeking safety in Jewish tradition, they cut themselves off from God’s true people; and in conforming to the way of this old world, they cannot share in the hope of the new one. This is exactly what Jesus says in the gospels: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-38; see also Matthew 16:24-28, Luke 9:23-27, John 12:25-26). 

Because the world has died to us in the cross of Jesus, we anticipate a new world and we share in a new life. That’s what Paul hinting at in verse 15 “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” This is an important point throughout many of Paul’s letters. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the first act of a new creation, a new Genesis. All things are being made new in Christ. Our bodies, our relationships, the way we live and think; even the world itself will be made new. And that new world is going to be characterized by peace and mercy—really all the fruit of the Spirit which we talked about two weeks ago, but Paul draws attention to peace and mercy here in verse 16 “And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” 

This is one last powerful rhetorical move here. The false teachers have been grounding their whole argument and their egos in the fact that they are descended from Israel, they are ethnic and cultural Jews. But Paul, even though he himself is ethnically Jewish, no longer boasts in the flesh. He sees that God’s people are not defined by the flesh; instead, they’re defined by faith in the cross of Christ—in who Jesus is and what he’s done to save us from sin. That’s who true Israel is. If you process that Jesus is Lord and commit your life to following him, you are one of God’s true covenant people. 

That’s a theme Paul gives a lot more attention to elsewhere, and actually all these points Paul expands on in other letters. He talks about our new value system in 1 Corinthians 1-2 (really all of Paul’s letters), the identity of God’s new covenant people in Romans 9-11, and the new world God is making in Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15. I’d love to say more about those topics, but they’ll have to wait for another time. 

Christ’s boast

Let’s close with a thought from verse 17. Look at how Paul closes his letter, his very last sentence before his signature: “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” Consider the marks of Jesus on his body. These are literal scars—ugly, gnarled, grotesque. Paul is covered in them from head to toe as a result of the beatings he’s received for preaching the gospel. 

To anyone in the world, these scars would be a huge source of shame. Physically, people don’t want to look at them; elsewhere Paul talks about how off-putting his appearance is. Socially, he only got these scars from breaking the social order. They mark him as an outcast. Religiously, by the world’s metric, Paul is clearly not right with the divine. If he’s brought that much suffering upon himself he must be doing something wrong. To Paul, however, these are a source of boasting because they testify his union with Christ. There is nothing more valuable, nothing more precious to him. 

Here’s what that means for us. As a Christian, you will inevitably experience shame from the world. You will feel the pressure to hide your faith, to deny the cross of Jesus, to use other people to save our own skin, to conform to the “way of the flesh,” and when you refuse, the world will strike back. You will bear the marks of Jesus in your own life. Every Christian has the marks of Jesus in their life. 

What are they for you? What are your marks of Jesus? Maybe they include a lonely four years in high school because you refused to go along with what your classmates were doing. Or a scarred reputation for confessing a sin you could’ve gotten away with. Or losing a best friend for confronting them about their sin. Maybe your marks include not getting a promotion because you work with too much integrity, or not letting your children drown in a competitive workaholic environment though it might cost them a scholarship. For many of our brothers and sisters around the world, they include literal, physical scars. The world will see these things and mock you. Do not let the world trick you into covering up your scars. 

The Bible gives us several pictures of the resurrected Jesus in all his glory, and the amazing thing is, he still bears his own scars. They’re no longer a source of pain or shame, they are a constant proclamation of his glorious love. You boast in what you value, and Christ boasts in his cross because through it he has overcome the world. Jesus’ scars proclaim the glory of his Father, the preeminence of the Son, and the purchase of his beloved church. He wears them like a trophy.

Our marks of Jesus are just the same. Wear your scars proudly. Share your story boldly. Your marks of Jesus are your glory and your witness. They are a precious gift because they are proof you belong to Christ; you have been crucified with him and you now live in him. His love and his life are worth more than anything else in all the world. And because they are yours, you are destined for a world where scars are beautiful and we are forever at peace. If you are in Christ, as Paul says, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”

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A healthy dose of wisdom is needed when it comes to boasting in our scars. We need to be clear on a few things. First, we must make sure the scars we boast in truly are the marks of Jesus. Speaking from personal experience, not all my scars are marks of Jesus. I am a gnarled, ugly mess—and many of the wounds in my story are a result of my own foolishness. I have plenty of broken relationships caused by angry words or calloused silence. Some of my trauma is self-inflicted from unhealthy habits and from pride. The only boast I can find in these scars is how radical God is to love a stupid fool like myself. And it can be hard to discern which scars are the marks of Jesus and which are not. I am sure I’ve hurt people and been hurt by doing ministry the wrong way; in attempting to serve Jesus, even then I’ve incurred the wrong kinds of scars. The Galatians who bore the scars of circumcision certainly thought they were the marks of Jesus until Paul sent his scathing letter. Because of this complication, it is critical for Christians to maneuver through life with a clear conscience. We must do our best to minimize the wounds of the flesh and rightly identify the marks of Jesus. 

Second, we must be careful to not turn our marks of Jesus into a new circumcision. Perhaps the Galatians who refused the false teachers’ circumcision felt vindicated when they received Paul’s letter. It might have been a temptation to hold up their lack of circumcision as a point of pride in the exact same way their opponents had held up circumcision. Again, speaking from personal experience, I am guilty of this same sort of backward boast. I have been tempted to gloat about all the fun I missed out on for being a Christian, or all the people I’ve received hate from for sharing the gospel. But the heart behind this is not in line with the gospel. Instead, I am viewing my faithfulness (or rather, the appearance of my faithfulness) through the lens of the flesh. This is why Gal 6:15 is so helpful. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. Our only boast is in the Person and work of Christ, and the new life we receive by our union with him. 

Taking all those disclaimers into account, we still ought to find great confidence in our marks of Jesus. Some of the scars in my own story really are marks of Jesus. I am a recovering addict, and my journey to sobriety is a path of scars. When I hit rock bottom, I wanted to die. Christ’s love saved my life. I offered up my whole life into his hands and promised to follow him wherever he led me. He led me to dropping out of college with a week left in the semester—and confessing to my friends and professors why I wouldn’t be returning to school in the Spring. He led me to a few different counselors, who forced me to process things I never would have faced if it weren’t for the Spirit’s strength. He led me to twelve-step groups where I learned the painful disciplines of confession, honesty, and accountability. 

I never would have experienced all the fear and shame and pain that comes with recovery if I hadn’t been following Jesus. But at the heart of my journey was a constant prayer from Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” Through that long trial, he had set my heart upon his own glory. I am still (on my best days) aiming for that above all else. And by his great mercy, I have a far deeper appreciation for Psalm 27:13 “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” New creation. New life in the land of the living. 

I am a gnarled, ugly mess. I’ve got plenty of scars which are not marks of Jesus—more than I can count—and I don’t want to boast in any of them. I find no glory or pleasure in the (not so) “good ol’ days” of sin when I wasn’t following Jesus. Those are the scars the world thinks are cool; those are the stories people like to hear. My marks of Jesus are the really ugly scars nobody wants to see or hear about. There is nothing pretty about my addiction or my recovery. I wouldn’t dream of telling anybody about those scars, much less boast in them, if my primary concern were my own reputation. But I believe those scars (and many others) are the exact ones that proclaim the glory of Christ and prove my union with him. For that reason, ugly as they are, they are beautiful in my eyes. I pray you might find the same confidence and comfort in your own marks of Jesus.