Galatians 6 v 11 – 16 - Paul’s concluding remarks

 ‘See what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. 12 As many as wish to have a good appearance within flesh, these are compelling you to be circumcised, but only in order that they are not pursued and persecuted for the cross of Jesus the anointed one. 13 Because not even the circumcised themselves are observing law, but they desire you to be circumcised in order that they may boast within your flesh. 14 But for me, may it never happen to be boasting if not within the cross of our Lord Jesus the anointed one, by means of which the worldly arrangement has been crucified to me, and I to the worldly order and arrangement. 15 Neither circumcision nor foreskin is anything – on the contrary, a new original formation. 16 And as many as will walk within and follow this principle, on this basis, and on the basis of the God of Israel, their peace and compassion’, (Galatians 6 v 11 – 16).

Paul obviously had someone else to actually write his letters, but here he writes this last section with his own hand, as if to emphasise his concluding remarks. He once again criticises the Judaizers who have come in to cause so much trouble. He says that those insisting on male Gentile Christians being circumcised wanted to look good within the flesh. They wanted to obtain a reputation for religiousness, like the hypocrites who ‘love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen of men’ (Matthew 6 v 5). Appearing outwardly righteous in front of others, they wanted to be accounted in this way by them; and therefore they did all they could to be seen of them, and gain applause from them. They wanted by this means to keep in with their countrymen, the Jews, and to gain favour amongst them by seeming to win over proselytes to Covenant law.  

They were acting in this way in case they should suffer pursuit and persecution from fellow Jews for the cross. It is well known that the Jewish chief priests and elders were great persecutors of the disciples of Jesus, and began their persecution very early on. These Judaizers did not act from any true love for God. They escaped the bitterness that fellow Jews had against Christianity and the offence of the cross of the Messiah by making the Mosaic law a necessary preliminary for Christians. In fact, they were making Christian converts into Jewish proselytes. ‘Not even the circumcised themselves are observing law, but they desire you to be circumcised in order that they may boast within your flesh’. These Jews who were insisting on circumcision did not observe Covenant law themselves. Rather, they wanted to boast about how many Christians they had turned into Jewish proselytes. 

Paul concludes by saying that he does not want to boast about anything except the cross. By means of the cross ‘the worldly arrangement has been crucified to me, and I to the worldly order and arrangement’. Worldly values, methods and principles mean nothing to Paul and he regards the worldly arrangement as dying away so as to be superseded at the time of the harvest. (An event that he thought was quite imminent). 

His concluding remarks about circumcision? ‘Neither circumcision nor foreskin is anything – on the contrary, a new original formation’. What matters for Paul is being brought forth by God, or born again, and the Christian’s new formation or new self. ‘As many as will walk within and follow this principle, on this basis, and on the basis of the God of Israel, their peace and compassion’. 

Galatians 6 v 3 – 5 – Restoring fellow Christians - Personal accountability, not self-superiority compared with others

 ‘For if someone is thinking they are someone, being nothing he is deluding himself. 4 But each one be testing his own work and action, and at that time he will hold the ground of boasting only towards himself, and absolutely not towards another, 5 for each one will bear his own burden’, (Galatians 6 v 3 - 5).

One of the dangers when Christians help to restore others is that they may see themselves as ‘superior’, as ‘rising above’ the wayward self-forfeiture that other Christians have fallen into. But ‘if someone is thinking they are someone, being nothing he is deluding himself’. No Christian is immune from wayward behaviour or from the impulses of their own flesh. No Christian is able to take the role of ‘superior judge’ over other Christians. Rather than criticising the behaviour of fellow Christians, the principle is that ‘each one be testing his own work and action, and at that time he will hold the ground of boasting only towards himself, and absolutely not towards another, 5 for each one will bear his own burden’.

Within the context of the situation that Paul has been writing about – Judaizers insisting that male Gentile Christians be circumcised in agreement with Covenant law – I suggest that Paul is primarily referring to the view that these Jews had of themselves. They thought that they had cause for self-praise arising from their self-righteous comparison of themselves with others, (Galatians 2 v 12, 13; and verses 12 and 13 below). No, says Paul. If you are about the business of adjusting and restoring fellow Christians, then don’t fall into the trap that these Judaizers have fallen into of being self-righteous and over-assertive, causing people to shrink back in fear. Rather, let a Christian judge their own work, not by comparing themselves with others, but by the ideal standard of the Messiah, then they will see what their work is worth and how much they have to boast of. Each individual will be judged by their own actions and not by any fancied superiority or inferiority to others. They will not be able to excuse themselves by drawing attention to their neighbour’s weaknesses.

In verse 2 Christians are exhorted to ‘bear the burdens’ of others in the sense of sympathising and being of practical assistance to them in their troubles. Here Christians are told that they must ‘bear their own load’ in the sense that they must answer directly to God for their own actions. Their responsibility cannot be shifted on to others. Each will bear their own ‘load’. The Greek word is different from that in verse 2. Here, self-examination will make an individual consider that he has enough to do with their own load of self-forfeiture, without comparing themselves boastfully with their neighbour.

Galatians 5 v 23b – 26 – Law and the Fruit of the Breath

 ‘…down opposing that of this sort, there is absolutely no law that exists, 24 and those of Jesus the anointed have crucified their own flesh together with the strong emotions and lustful desires. 25 If we are alive by Breath, we should also be walking by Breath, 26 not becoming boastful, provoking one another, envying one another’, (Galatians 5 v 23b - 26).

There is no law in existence, including divine law, that comes down to oppose and condemn practical benevolent love, joy, wholeness, forbearance, useful kindness, goodness, entrustment, mildness and enlightened self-control. By co-working with God and carrying across these qualities from within into their speech and behaviour as a result of the indwelling of the set-apart Breath of God, Christians walk around in the Breath and bring the Messiah to completion, being transformed into his image or likeness. And those that are of Jesus, the anointed of God, by being immersed in union with the Messiah by means of the set-apart Breath, have crucified the flesh. They do not look to their natural, fleshly ability or strength to try to observe the written codes and regulations of Sinai Covenant law as means to obtaining or maintaining divine judicial approval. Nor do they willingly follow or submit to the raw passions, energies and impulses within their fleshly constitution in the way that they did before God brought them forth. 

Paul appeals once again to logical consistency. Christians have not been brought to a position of divine approval by means of their human nature, natural ability, or their attempts to observe the written codes of Sinai Covenant law. They have been brought forth by the work of the set-apart Breath leading them to perceive and entrust the Messiah, immersing them in union with God’s anointed deliverer. So Paul says, ‘Be consistent. If we are brought to Life by means of the set-apart Breath, then we should also be walking around by means of Breath. It is inconsistent for us to turn back to rely on our own ability – our flesh - to observe the injunctions of divine law in order to maintain divine judicial approval’. 

Finally he adds a few more practical considerations. Walking around within the sphere of the set-apart Breath not only means that Christians begin to display the qualities – the fruit – that he has listed over the previous few verses, but also it means that Christian do not do not happily indulge in certain other behaviours. The Breath is in opposition to the flesh, so if Christians are walking in the Breath then they are ‘not becoming boastful, provoking one another, envying one another’, (verse 26). This is a similar point to one that he makes in I Corinthians. There is indeed a desire for excellence in Christians, a desire for godliness, but such an aim must not lead to divisions, schisms, or to Christians boasting or provoking one another. Christians who are ambitious for honour may indeed provoke other Christians, whom they regard as inferiors, by a having a proud and contemptuous manner toward them. They may look on some other Christians with contempt, pass by some other Christians with disdain, as if they are beneath their notice, and this provokes hard feelings and even hatred. This was the problem at Corinth. 

Sometimes the opposite happens. Christians don’t celebrate the good of others, either desiring their portion, or being troubled that they fare so well. Both errors are traceable to one and the same root - the excessive wish to be thought well of by others.