Y'all pray for me. Anyway Galatians chapter 6 and And we were going to be Almost Finishing up the chapter in the book today. We're not gonna quite get through it But but we're gonna get close. We're gonna read as our text verses 11 through 16 this evening. So Galatians 6 beginning at verse 11 and going down to verse 16. See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. As many as are wanting to make a good showing in the flesh, these are trying to compel you to be circumcised simply so they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Those who will walk in step with this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. Let's again go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are thankful for your blessings. We thank you for your word, the truthfulness of it. Lord, even now as we Continue in worship, Lord, I pray that you'll open our hearts and our minds, clear those things from our minds that may distract us. And Lord, help us to be able to have what you would have for us. Lord, speak to us through your word. Be receptive to those things that you would have us to receive. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to grow. Lord, that your people be strengthened, edified, and even encouraged this evening. Those who know you not, that today may be the day that they come to know you as their savior. And Lord, I pray that you'll be with us, be with those that have requested prayer. Lord, I pray that you'll be with my Aunt Connie this evening. Lord, I pray that you'll guide the doctors as they work with her. I pray that you'll be with Brother Sam's friend, Eli. Lord, I ask that you'll be with others. their health, their other situations that are going on. Lord, you know, even unspoken requests may be on our hearts and our minds. Lord, I pray you'll just be with each one of us. Lord, you know us better than we know ourselves. I pray that you'll forgive us of our sins and our shortcomings. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. As we continue on in our study here in Galatians. We're getting close to the end of this epistle, this letter that he wrote. Verse 11, Paul brings attention to them and reminds them that this has been written by his own hand. These letters, these epistles, these things would have originally perhaps been written in a scroll format. You can imagine, maybe as I do, as they were opened up at the very beginning of the epistle, at the very beginning of the letter, As they opened it up, they could see it was written by Paul. You know, there at verse one, Paul, an apostle, chapter one, verse one, Paul, an apostle, not sent from men or through man, but through Jesus Christ. And so when they opened that up, they could see that and they could read that. And now as they're getting to the end of it, and they've got some good instruction, they've got some, some hard truth that he's given to them. Paul draws attention to them to remind them that it was indeed written by his own hand. I believe he was doing this so that they would be reminded of the genuineness that he had in writing this letter. He didn't use a scribe. He didn't... He didn't have a secretary write this. It wasn't forged. This was genuinely Paul's letter. There are many theories about this. One commentator wrote that Some have conjectured that he was not accustomed to writing Greek, so that his characters would have been largely and rudely formed, very different than the neat manuscripts of the others. It's been supposed also that at the time of his conversion, when he was struck to the ground, You remember there at the road to Damascus when he was saved, that he was partially paralyzed and his eyesight may have been impaired. His nerves shaken to such a degree that it made him unfit for writing and it may have harmed his eyesight. Be that what it may, whatever the case may be, it was apparently his custom. And this is one of the earlier of his inspired letters, but it may have been his custom to dictate his epistles. Go with me to Romans chapter 16, for instance. Romans chapter 16 and verse 22. You can hold your place there in Galatians if you haven't already done that. But look there in Romans chapter 16 and verse 22, there's a little nugget that sometimes gets missed in this letter from Paul here to the church or churches of Rome. Romans 16 and verse 22, it says, I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. That's kind of interesting, isn't it? So we know the Book of Romans, this epistle, was written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but here it says, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. He apparently spoke, and this man wrote what Paul said. Over in 2 Thessalonians 3, 2 Thessalonians 3, there's also this. Verse 17, 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 17, it says, the greeting is in my own hand. Paul, which is a distinguishing mark in every letter, this is the way I write. Paul apparently had a postscript that authenticated his letters. With his own hand, he wrote something in the letter to authenticate that it was really coming from him. Over in 1 Corinthians 16, we're going through the letter to the church at Corinth and maybe in about six years we'll get to chapter 16. Probably not that long, but I'm always fascinated with those preachers who can say, we're planning for 2025 and we're going to have this many sermons on this book and we'll be done with it in this year. I'm not that good at planning ahead. I start a book and think, well, maybe I'll finish in a year. It might be three years, but in 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 21, it says this, the greeting is in my own hand, Paul. And then again in Colossians 4 and verse 18, Colossians chapter 4 in verse 18. The greeting is in my own hand. Paul, remember my chains. Grace be with you. Well, what am I pointing out here? Well, I'm pointing out that in these postscripts, he's authenticating it. He didn't write the whole thing. He didn't pin it. It would seem as though He is giving his own signature, so to speak, if you want to think of it that way, in order to let the reader know, the original recipients to know, that this is really his. And so that is pretty interesting. But in this letter to the churches of Galatia, it is so severe. a pressing issue, so urgent in its topics, in its content, that Paul wrote the entire thing. He didn't dictate it to somebody else. He sat down and he penned the entire thing. That's what it seems to me is going on here. And so, um, That's something that you might miss just reading through Paul's epistles. But we see as you read through this, and as we've studied this together, that this was a very urgent issue to him. And of course, the entirety of the gospel was the problem. the doctrine of justification by faith. This was, this was the, the, it's fine. It's fine. I'm okay. Okay, it's all right, though. I'm all right. If I pass out, then you can get worried. But the doctrine of justification by faith, essentially, not only were these doctrines, these foundational doctrines at stake, but also the lives of those in Galatia. Because if you don't have the gospel right, then people, lost people will think that they're saved. You'll have people who are coming into the churches thinking that because they've been circumcised, they're going to heaven without Jesus Christ. And that's a problem. That's an eternal problem. And Paul knew that. And so he sat down and wrote this letter. In fact, when you look at your New Testament, you read through it, understand that the order of the books is not the order in which they were written. And so James and Galatians are the two earliest books of the New Testament. And when you read through the book of Acts, you read and you understand and you see that there were things that were happening within those churches. And this is why Paul was writing this. Anyway, verse 12 in Galatians 6, in verse 12, he says, as many as are wanting to make good showing in the flesh, These are trying to compel you to be circumcised simply so they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Their focus, those who had hijacked true Christianity, those who had come in and begun teaching this perverted gospel, these Judaizers that had come in, They were focused on the outward life. They were focused on outward things rather than an internal change. They were not focused on Jesus Christ. And so outward life was their focus and Paul calls it the flesh. Ritualism and tradition was what this was all about. And so they, these Judaizers, they said, well, we're Jews. We were circumcised at a very young age. Now there's Gentiles being saved and wanting to join the church. They were then compelling or trying to Trying to make the Gentiles to be circumcised as well. Make that a gospel issue. Telling them that without it, there's no salvation. Telling them that without it, there's no justification. That without circumcision, there's no sanctification. all this was happening so that they could avoid the persecution that comes to those who forsake the law of Moses to follow Christ. They feared men rather than God. You see, it all come down to things like this. Well, I'm a Jew, now I'm saved, and I'm a member of this church. We're over here, and I mean it sounds silly to us, but it's a reality. Now I'm over here in this church, this new concept that my Jewish family don't have any idea about, and we're over here, we're doing things like sitting down to a meal with pork chops, you know? And my family's over here, and they don't like it very much. And I'm over here hanging out with some Gentiles in the same church. They're uncircumcised and all of these things. And so now Paul is saying here in verse 12, As many as are wanting to make a good showing in the flesh, these are trying to compel you to be circumcised simply so they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Now they don't have to say to their friends, hey, my church, I don't know what the churches are doing down the road over in Corinth or up in Ephesus or whatever, but my church, the church where I'm at, They gotta be circumcised, you see. We're not gonna forsake Moses. Paul says, in verse 13. Again, he's writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He's not just making these things up off the top of his head, but he says, for those who are circumcised, do not even keep the law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. He says, these are not keeping the law themselves. They're not zealous keepers of the law like they may make it out to be. They're pretenders. They're hypocrites. They're only wishing to boast in the flesh of the Gentiles. These would be converts, not to Christ. But to Judaism, you see, they've missed the point of Christianity. And a Christless Christianity is not Christianity at all. And so it is in our day. There are countless churches all up and down and all around our world. They're more interested in the outward flesh more interested in the show, whatever it may be, people joining their church, their cause, their circle, whatever their pet doctrine is, than they are about following Christ. It's not enough for them that a person is a follower of Christ if they're not. in whatever bubble that they have. In fact, for these folks, if a person was a follower of Christ and not circumcised, there was no rejoicing. The circumcision became where the rejoicing was at. And so it is with some people. If you don't have the baptism, if you don't have the name right, if you don't have this right or that right, the right length of hair, the right dress, the right this or that, legalism is a terrible thing. It'll either make you very arrogant or crush you so hard. get them circumcised, get them baptized, get them to join the church, to read the books, to join the circle, to glory in the flesh. But oh beloved, all these things have their place and they are important, but Christ must be first and foremost, you see. Christ has got the behind lifted up above everything else. And in fact, when we look at the text and in the context, we know, and even medical profession will tell you, there's a good reason to be circumcised. And in its proper place, circumcision was good. Paul even took Timothy and had him circumcised, but he wouldn't Titus. And he knew that this was wrong. Paul says in verse 14, But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. May it never be that I would boast. O Beloved, the law is good, God's word is good in all of, all of these things that I've mentioned. Baptism, the church, the books, all of these things. Proper dress is good. But may it never be that I would boast, save, accept, in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I love this verse. I've preached from it multiple times. I've been preaching for, well, since I started when I was 16, 17 years old. So it's been a while. And right away you notice that in the King James it reads, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Similarly, in the King James, other Passages read very, very similar. In Romans chapter three, for instance. Romans chapter three in verse four. Here in the legacy standard, it says, may it never be. Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written. that you may be justified in your words and overcome when you are judged. In the King James it says, God forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. Chapter three and verse six here, LSB says, may it never be, for otherwise how will God judge the world? The King James says, God forbid, For then how shall God judge the world? While we're here in chapter three, verse 31, do we then abolish the law through faith? May it never be. On the contrary, we establish the law. But in the King James, it says, do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. And there are several examples just like this. I bring this up because of the difference here. It is a difference, and it does come up. Paul used this phrase multiple times. Interesting, in the Greek, in the Greek, There's no, nowhere did Paul use the word God. That intrigued me because, like I said, I'm very familiar with this verse in verse 14. Dealing with this issue, James White in his book, The King James Only Controversy, he wrote, the Greek text nowhere has the word God in any of these passages. Instead, Paul is providing a very strong statement of denial. May it never be or by no means. And while God forbid surely is a strong negative statement, it is hardly an accurate translation of the Greek phrase Paul used with such frequency. Surely. White goes on to write, if a modern translation used a similar phrase, KJVO advocates would jump on it immediately and with unparalleled fervor. Now, I'm not picking on King James here, but I'm just pointing this out because when you come across it, you may know what's going on. Paul did use this multiple times. What were the King James translators doing? Were they wrong? No. They were just taking, when they saw that Greek phrase there, they said, this is a very strong phrase. Paul is saying, no way, Jose, it ain't gonna happen, right? And they said, what's the strongest way we can put this? And they said, God forbid, and that's what they put. in the English, in their translation. The expression, may it never be, is always employed by the apostle to declare his horror, as one author put it, or repugnance to some doctrine or act. And so, Here in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 14, may it never be that I would boast, God forbid, over my dead body. This is the thought ingloring in anything save in the cross of Jesus Christ is represented as something that is shocking to his mind. And so when you read through the writings of Paul, you see this phrase used over and over. I mean, we saw it in Romans, but it's repeated several times in Romans, it's repeated in 1 Corinthians, it's repeated In Galatians, a few times we've come across it, but I mention it because these things come across and people scratch their heads and say, why is it different? Why is it a different translation? Why does it look different? This is why, this is why. May it never be that we would glory You know, and Paul had this idea. May it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. By the cross of Christ, he did not mean some trinket on a piece of jewelry. He didn't mean something hung on the wall. He didn't mean Excuse me. He didn't mean some piece of wood that came from the Middle East. No, no. He certainly means the propitiatory death of the Redeemer. That's what he was going in. The death of Christ. He was ready to glory and exalt forever in that and nothing else. In that was to be found pardon and peace, victory over sin, and eternal life in the age to come. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Verses 27 through 29, we read this not too long ago on the Lord's day, but look at it here with me as he said, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen the things that are not so that he may abolish the things that are so that no flesh may boast before God. We really have nothing whereof we can boast. You and I, we have nothing. Our pedigree, we've got a great pedigree. Our ancestry, I'm sure we all have a good ancestry. Our baptism, Our church, our keeping of the law, our Bibles, or whatever it may be, we have nothing whereof to boast. In fact, where are we? Regardless of where we think we are, Well, let's just think about this for a moment. Where were we when the Lord found us? We weren't, we weren't sick and doing our best. We were not dying, but trying to hold on. No, no. We were dead and in need of life. And even now, even now, we're nothing before God. He's the hero. Over in Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two, beginning in verse one, And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working, and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, among the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead and our transgressions made us alive together with Christ, By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." You and I, we have nothing whereof we could boast. God is the hero of our story. It's by His grace, His mercy, where we are today. And it was the same with Paul, and it's the same with us. And when he says there in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 14, but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to say the same thing. And he says, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. What's he mean there? Well, it was through the death of Christ on the cross that Paul felt himself to be dead to the world, and the world dead to him. By this double expression, he sought to emphasize his utter abandonment of sinful aims, his separation from all that does not belong to Christ. his indifference and even opposition to every ceremony, every sin that turned him away from the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't interested in this Judaism, this legalism, this circumcision which took away the glory from the Lord Jesus Christ. No, he wasn't going to have anything to do with it. In fact, as he writes on, he says in verse 15, For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Jew? Gentile? Circumcised? Uncircumcised? Beloved, it doesn't matter one way or another. Without Christ, you're nothing. If it doesn't matter one way or another, then why was he so opposed to it? Some people might argue and say, well, if it doesn't matter, then why not let the church at Galatia go for it? Why not allow those churches? They're independent. If they want to go on and have these things, then why not let them? Why does he want to get involved? The reason, beloved, is because they were elevating it to a point that it became divisive, that it became an issue of salvation, that it became an issue of justification, that it became an issue of sanctification. And because they elevated it to that point, That's why he was opposed to it. And so it is. Anything that gets elevated to that point, it must be opposed. It has to be opposed. And legalism can take and make anything wrong and bad. It is indeed. A great thing to teach and preach baptism, to teach and preach modesty, to teach and preach fill in the blank. But when you take that and elevate it and make it into something like what they were doing here, it's wrong, you see. Lord willing, after we complete this study of Galatians, I'm going to go all the way back to Genesis. Genesis is a very important book of the Bible to study. I believe Genesis is to be taken literally. I believe that God created this world in six literal days. I believe that that happened about 6,000 years ago. But it would be wrong of me, very wrong of me, to take that and to say, if you don't believe this, you're not going to heaven. It would be wrong of me to take that and to make it an issue of salvation or justification. Good men have disagreed on this subject, even some good men that we know, Oscar Mink, Milburn Cockrell, A.W. Pink, just to name a few. We could say, well, even baptism, we believe that in order to be baptized, you need to be immersed. There are groups out there today who have taken baptism by immersion and they said, well, in order to be saved, you've got to be immersed. That's wrong. Dead wrong. There was a reason. Why that God told the Jews that they needed to be circumcised, but it was never in order to be saved. When Yahweh told those Old Testament Jews that they needed to be circumcised, it was never in order that they would be saved. And these Judaizers had taken that and they had gotten the wrong idea about it. Paul says, for neither circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Those who are, whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised, you've got to know the Lord. You've got to be saved in Jesus Christ. And he says, in those, verse 16, those who will walk in step with this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. Everyone who walks like this to the end, peace be to them and mercy. That walking step is from a Greek word, and I'm not even going to try to pronounce it because I'm terrible with Greek. However, it was used earlier in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 25. Galatians 5 and verse 25. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in step with the Spirit. So you see there, as the translators took this and they translated that walk in step in verse 25, they did the same here in chapter six and verse 16. Paul used the same words in both of those passages. There he was encouraging believers to walk in step, to walk in conformity to the standard of living defined by the Spirit and His fruit in their life. And here in chapter six, Paul uses it in similar fashion to encourage the Galatians to conform to the principles of boasting only in the cross of Christ and the new creation that Christ brings about. He says, those who walk in step with this rule, this rule of neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, it's not, it's not for salvation. It's not for justification. It's not for sanctification. Those who walk in step with this rule of a new life, peace and mercy. Does this mean when you're saved that everything's gonna be peaceful, smooth sailing, no rough waters? No, not at all. In fact, you only have to know the Lord for just a few minutes before you find out there's still trouble. There's still trouble, but let me tell you, better to have trouble in this life, and the Lord be with you all the way, die and go on to heaven, than to go through life without the Lord, have trouble, and then die and go to hell. And that's the reality. What's he talking about peace then? Well, in Romans chapter five, Romans chapter five, in verse one, Notice his wording here. Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. Therefore, having been justified through circumcision. No, not at all. Therefore, having kept the law perfectly, we have peace with God. No, that's not what he says either. He says, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast in hope of the glory of God. What's he talking about peace then? He's talking about our relationship with God. It's not about you. your ability to keep the law. It's not about your circumcision. It's not about whether you've got everything lined up perfectly. What a terrible thing that would be. and lay down at night and think, well, I hope I did this right. I hope I did that right. I hope I've kept this law right and done this right. What about this and that? That would be a terrible way to go through life. I rest at night on the finished work of Jesus Christ. That's my hope. That's my peace. Romans chapter 8 and verse 6. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Oh beloved, We have peace with God because of what Jesus has done, because we're safe and secure in Christ. It's not about the works of the flesh. It's not about circumcision. It's not about, did you get this check box done? That check, check, check, check. No, no, no. It's what he has done in mercy. He says, Peace and mercy be upon them. Mercy, the forgiveness of sins. Not just some sins, but all sins. But not only that, this includes the setting aside of God's judgment over in Titus 3. Titus chapter 3 verse 5 He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. You see, He saved us not by works that we've done, but according to His mercy. What a joy it is to have a God, to have a Heavenly Father. You think of it this way. It's not like some religions, we do something wrong, you think, oh no, I hope my dad don't kill me. We do something wrong, He's faithful and just to forgive us. That's what we're dealing with here. This is the God that we serve. This is not the God of legalism that we serve. Not the God that says, you've got to do this, this, and this. You see? For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Those who will walk in step with this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. What's he mean, the Israel of God? What's that all about? Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you something about this. This is so cool because here's these Judaizers. They come into the churches of Galatia and they said, you're not in the kingdom. You're not part of God's family unless you've been circumcised like Abraham was, like Moses was. If you're not following the law of Moses, you're not good enough. And so they took the old covenant law, and they said, we're gonna add some stuff to it, and this is what we've made as our church rules. God's word says, hold on a second. God says, whoa, time out. I'm out. It ain't circumcision that gets you into heaven. The Israel of God is all Jewish believers in Christ. Actually, all believers in Christ. Those who are physical and spiritual descendants of Abraham. You see, go with me to Romans Chapter two, let me show you this. Romans chapter two. We kind of bring this to a close. Verses 28 and 29. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God. The Judaizer comes along. He says, all right, I'll let the Jews in. but you've got to be circumcised, and you've got to be circumcised, and you've got to be circumcised, because you're a Gentile, and guess who gets the praise for that? God doesn't. The flesh gets the praise. The legalist has his set of rules and says, you've got to do this, you've got to do that, you've got to have have this and that, and you've got to follow these rules and that, and it's all extra biblical. And hold up a second. What does God say? God says, it's inward. It's the heart. Circumcision is of the heart. God says, I graft them in. In the case of the Jews, many of them got very, very arrogant. And indeed, some of them are still very arrogant. Not all of them are saved and not all of them are going to heaven. It was not ever their circumcision that made them right with Yahweh. The Judaizers had it all wrong. It's the cross. It always was the cross. It's always Jesus. Don't glory in the flesh, regardless of whether it's the keeping of the law, the holding on to traditions, or whatever it may be. Glory in the cross. Jesus is the one who has brought us all together, and that's the message that Paul had for them. Circumcision or uncircumcision, it doesn't do anything. It's the cross. Jesus is the one who gets all the glory. He's the one who gets all the praise. He's the reason why we go on to be with the Lord. If you're here today, whether you're Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, He's the reason why we have a hope in heaven. He's the reason why we'll go on to be with the Lord. Don't glory in the flesh. Glory in Jesus. And if you're lost today, if you don't have any idea, if you've never trusted in Jesus, He's the one that we point to. And when we talk about the cross, understand something. The cross is empty. Jesus died. He was buried, but the tomb is empty as well, because He rose again, conquering death, hell, and the grave. And He's alive right now, making intercession for His people. And one of these days, He's coming back for us. I point you to Him. It's the only hope that we have. And so trust Him. Trust Him. Believe in Him. May God add the blessing to the preaching of His Word. Let's have a time of prayer. And then we'll dismiss, and I believe there might be some brownies too, right, Leah? Okay, so there's some brownies afterwards if you want to stay and fellowship for a little bit, but it's been good to see everybody here. I'll ask Brother Barry if you'll start us out, and then Brother Sam, and then Isaiah, and then I'll close.