“The Rule We Live By”
(Galatians 6:16-18)
Series: Set Free To Be Free (Galatians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
Take your Bibles and open to Galatians, chapter 6.
We are concluding today our series of messages through the Book of Galatians proper and yet I do plan to come back to the main theme of Galatians in the two remaining Sundays of October. We are commemorating 500 years of Reformation this month, culminating in Reformation Sunday on the 29th. The Book of Galatians was a key book during the Reformation and we’ll be talking about that the next two weeks.
This morning we will read and study the final three verses of Chapter 6. I want to back up and re-read from our study last week, verses 14 and 15 for review as they are helpful in understanding these final verses.
Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Pray. “Father, send your Spirit to help us as we study—that we would know Jesus Christ more fully, see His glory more clearly, and serve Him more faithfully, amen.”
The title of the message is, “The Rule We Live By.” I struggled a bit with that title because it ends in a preposition and strict grammarians say that’s a no-no. You’re not supposed to end your sentences with a preposition like, to or by or with. It’s far better to say, “The Rule By Which We Live,” but that sounded a bit wooden to me.
Winston Churchill, the great English Prime Minister and superb orator was supposed to have said once after dictating something: “Wait, that is a preposition; up with which I will not put!”
It’s become fairly commonplace to end sentences with prepositions in colloquial English and so I’m sticking with the title: “The Rule We Live By.” More importantly, what is the rule, the standard, the main truth by which we live? What is that rule?
That rule is found in verse 14 and that’s why I wanted to go back a couple verses and grab that and hold it up again. Verse 14: “But God forbid that I should boast (or glory in, or find life, or joy) except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” That’s the rule we live by. That’s the standard, the banner, the truth, the rule that governs the Christian’s life.
So when we talk about the “rule” by which every Christian is to live, we are talking about glorying in the cross as new creations in Christ. This is helpful to us as we study the remaining three verses of the letter, verses 16, 17, and 18. So here’s our first consideration this morning as we study together. First let’s consider:
I. The Christian’s Behavior (16)
Behavior is another way of saying, “the way we live,” which is what is meant by the term, “walk.” The Christian’s “walk” in the New Testament is a word that means, “the Christian’s life, conduct, or behavior.” See it in verse 16:
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
So Paul is concluding his letter by stressing again the importance of our living out our faith, walking, conducting ourselves in keeping with our convictions, behaving in a way that reflects our belief. The Christian walk is a walk “according to this rule.” Again what is that rule? We cannot hear it enough, verses 14 as well as 15 now, taken together. Hear this. It should thrill the Christian’s soul to hear these two verses, 14 and 15:
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
The Rule we live by: Glorying in the cross as new creations in Christ. As many as walk according to this rule, behave according to this rule, live according to this rule—they are the ones who enjoy peace and mercy upon them.
Now before we talk more about that specifically, note the last phrase in verse 16, “the Israel of God.” This is another way of talking about true believers, true Christians. From the context of chapters 3 and 4, we understand that the phrase “the Israel of God” is not a reference to ethnic Israel, the Jewish race, but rather all believers, Christians; they are the Israel of God.
Recall back in chapter 4 where Paul contrasts the Judaizers who insisted Christians should be circumcised in order to be saved with true believers who rest in Christ alone as Savior. He refers to the false teachers with true believers, referring to the true believers as, Galatians 4:26, “the Jerusalem above” the true Israelites, all who believe.
Clearer still in Galatians 3 where Paul teaches that all believers in Christ are adopted into God’s family as “sons of Abraham.” See it there in Galatians 3:7, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”
And again, at the end of that same chapter, chapter 3, right there at the end, verse 39,
Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Every person who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and rests upon Him alone as Savior—adding to our faith no works to merit God’s favor—every single person who truly believes is part of that glorious family, “sons of Abraham,” in fulfillment of God’s promise as far back as Genesis 12 and restated in Genesis 22 where God promises to make Abraham’s descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). And you are included in that number if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, children of Abraham, children of God!
You know the song, don’t you?! You really want to sing it, don’t you?
Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham…
So verse 16 in chapter 6 of Galatians is a reference to “true Israel,” which in this context refers to every believer in Christ. And it is best translated like this, “As many as walk (live/behave) according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, the Israel of God.” That’s the best translation because there’s a little Greek particle there that equates “the Israel of God” with those who are “walking.” As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy upon them, because they are the Israel of God, the new people of God!
Now we’re gong to come back to this matter of walking according to this rule, the rule we live by, we’re going to come back to this in a moment because this phrase really underpins everything else. Before we do, let’s look at the next two verses. We’ve considered the Christian’s behavior, secondly, consider:
II. The Christian’s Brand (17)
Look at verse 17:
17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
The word for “marks” is the Greek word “stigmata,” the word from which we get our English, “stigma,” a mark of shame of some kind.
Secular Greek used the word to refer to the literal branding of slaves. A mark, the owner’s name, for example, was branded upon the slave’s body, indicating who he belonged to. Stigma.
During the Middle Ages the church believed these marks, these stigmata, were supernatural impressions or marks, that appeared on the bodies of faithful Christians. St. Francis of Assisi, we are told, was once contemplating Christ’s crucifixion when the scars of Christ began to appear on his own body, his hands, his feet, his side. John Stott tells us that, “up to the beginning of the twentieth century no fewer than 321 claims to such ‘stigmatization’ had been made…”
Whatever we wish to make of those claims, Paul is almost certainly not talking about that sense of the term here. More likely he is referring to the literal marks he has on his body as a result of his living for Jesus Christ, scars and marks that were a different “branding” altogether, marks that showed he belonged to Jesus.
In his second letter to the church at Corinth, for example, he talks about his sufferings for Christ, his imprisonments for Christ, his beatings for Christ. Let’s turn there; it’s left just a couple pages:
2 Corinthians 11:24-25:
24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
And on he goes to relay other dangers and perils for Christ, his encountering thieves, bad guys—both Jews and Gentiles—perils by sea, in the city, in the wilderness, and so on.
But it was especially those beatings he had received for preaching Christ, five times he received the official beating of 39 lashes with a leather scourge, some sources indicating that the beatings were divided into thirds—13 to the breast, 13 to the left shoulder, and 13 to the right shoulder.
So 5 times he received the 39 lashes. Put another way: Nearly 200 times the crude leather scourge made contact with his body. By the time he writes this letter, at least some of those scourging had already taken place—to say nothing of the stoning he had received in Lystra, mentioned in Acts 14, stones hurled upon his body, those throwing the stones supposing Paul had died when they were finished.
So Paul could say that he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus. This is yet another support for our first point from last week, arising from verse 12, suffering persecution for the cross of Christ.
The false teachers, the Judaizers, had their “mark” upon their bodies, the mark of circumcision, that mark indicating their “brand” of religious belief. Paul had his own “marks,” hundreds of marks that he bore in his body, indicating his “brand” was that of relational belonging, of belonging to Christ.
Many Christians today wear Christian T-shirts or put bumper stickers on their cars, proudly promoting their “brand,” proudly wearing the brand of Christ. Some Christians even mark their bodies with tattoos, indicating their love for Jesus. And Paul’s body bore marks, imprints, or “tattoos” if you like, of persecution and suffering, branding him as a loving and loyal follower of Jesus.
In Paul’s case the marks in his body reflected sacrifice. Few, if any, Christians living in the West can point to marks in our bodies as evidence of our sacrificing for Christ, but we may have marks of a different sort that reflect our sacrificial love for Christ.
The blistered and calloused hands of a Christian young man may be evidence of his sacrificial building of a church on the mission field. Marks. The bank withdrawal for groceries to help a struggling widow may be a mark that a young Christian woman has recently helped someone less fortunate. Marks. A husband’s love for his wife and family, evidenced in his sacrifice of time he could have spent climbing the corporate ladder of fame and riches, choosing rather to joy in being the spiritual leader of his family, may be considered marks that a person loves Jesus more than the world—even if it means loss of promotion or position. Marks. The Christian’s brand. Behavior, brand, thirdly, blessing:
III. The Christian’s Blessing (18)
Paul concludes the letter with a blessing to all believers in Christ, verse 18:
18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Paul’s closing word of grace bookends the opening word of grace. Galatians 1:3, “Grace to you…” and now Galatians 6:18, “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Grace at the beginning, grace at the end, because grace is throughout. This letter emphasizes the grace of God!
We don’t deserve God’s favor and yet, He gives it to us freely. It is unmerited, God’s favor. That’s grace. God smiles upon us in spite of us, because He smiles upon us in Jesus Christ. It is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” that is with us, “with our spirit.”
Always remember that God accepts Christians and approves of Christians, not on the basis of our performance—because we often perform badly. God accepts us not on the basis of our religious performance, but on the basis of Christ’s performance in our stead, for us, as our substitute. So God gives to us the righteousness of Christ, and He does so freely. That’s grace. God’s unmerited, unearned, favor that is ours by faith. That is the Christian’s blessing.
So, the Christian’s behavior, brand, and blessing.
As we tie it all together now, the question remains: “How can we live by this rule, this truth from verses 14 and 15, namely that of glorying in the cross as new creations in Christ?”
The answer is by looking to Jesus, looking at Jesus, looking to the cross and seeing Christ. Boasting in the cross, pointing to the cross, smiling as we embrace the cross, all of this is how we live. We live by this rule, this cross, this Jesus!
We don’t do that naturally. We must be re-created. That’s verse 15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails (or matters for) anything, but (that is, here’s what matters) a new creation.”
You don’t naturally look to the cross. No born sinner anywhere on the planet naturally looks at the cross and naturally loves Jesus as Savior and Lord. Grace is required to rebirth us and reorient us to the One True God and His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s Spirit gets hold of us and we are new creations, looking to the cross.
Then, as new creations, we continue looking, go on looking, at the cross. We continue to see Jesus there. We continue to boast in, glory in, find life in, the cross. As the choir sang last week: “See the joy that’s set before us in the blinding cross of Christ.”
That’s the rule we live by! That’s the rule! “See the joy that’s set before us in the blinding cross of Christ!” You want joy? Look to the cross! You want happiness? Look to the cross! You want life? Look to the cross!
God forbid that I should boast in, find life in, anything else—namely the world! I look to Christ, “by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The world is a dead thing to me and I am a dead man to it.
And, when I do this, when I live by this rule, verse 16 says I will enjoy peace and mercy. The more I look to the cross throughout the day, meditating on Christ, the world becomes less attractive.
The world—the world’s toys, the world’s sins, the world’s approval. Remember: never ground your identity in the approval of the world—locating your self worth in the opinions of others, for example. That’s living according to the world. Don’t do that! The world has been crucified to you and you to the world. If you locate your self worth in the opinions of others then you’ll never enjoy peace and mercy. You’ll always be striving to be accepted and approved by others, rather than enjoying the acceptance and approval of God in Christ.
So never feel inferior or insecure. In Christ, and in Christ alone, our hope is found. He is our light, our strength, our song. Peace and mercy come in Christ alone.
Last week I shared this statement I believe the Lord gave me during my study: “The more we look at Christ the less we see the world.” The more we look at Christ, the less we see the world.”
We look to Christ by thinking about Him. We look to Christ by meditating upon Him. Our DQ is vitally important, our DQ, time of Daily Quiet. We begin the day that way. We focus on Jesus, look to Jesus, pray to Jesus, think about Jesus. But we must continue the spirit of our DQ throughout the day if we’re going to be happy in Jesus and avoid sin. We must continue to think about Him, look to Him, pray to Him, joy in Him. The more we look at Christ the less we see the world.
Providentially, I was reading the Puritan John Owen this week, a book we have in our church library. These books are supremely helpful in directing our gaze upon Christ throughout each day. This one is entitled, The Glory of Christ. Listen to this, from page 7:
John Owen, “The more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of the world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world.” Again, “The more I see the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of the world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to the world.”
That’s the rule we live by. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Find your love in Him. Your purpose in Him. Your soul’s satisfaction in Him.
Let’s pray: “We look to You Jesus. Help us to go on looking at You throughout the day, throughout the days of this coming week; regularly, frequently, often thinking of you while we are at work, at school, at home. Looking to the cross by thinking about You, loving You, living for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
We’re going to respond now to the truth we have heard. Appropriately, we are going to sing about Jesus Christ. As we sing, if you would like to come forward, come. You have questions about following Jesus and need to be saved, or you would like to be baptized or join the church, come. I’ll meet with you after the service and we’ll talk more about living for Christ. Remember: what counts before God is a new creation, being transformed by Christ alone.
We’re going to sing in a moment. And you may respond to the truth right where you are in thinking about Jesus, turning to Jesus in repentance. Saying, “God, forgive me for not directing my gaze to You, but directing it elsewhere. I have sinned. Forgive me in Christ.”
We’re going to respond now. So stand and let’s sing, and you respond however you need to respond.
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