Galatians 6:11-18 – Basic Christianity

This is the closing segment of this epistle. Paul began this letter with his usual greeting of grace. Here he concluded it with the same element of grace. Grace is God’s favor upon an undeserving people. The Gospel of grace is about God being merciful despite man’s unworthiness. Here, Paul dealt with basic Christianity. There are two vital matters: Firstly, the Christian faith is a matter of inward reality and not outward conformity (vv.12-13). Secondly, the Christian faith rests on divine action and not on human performance (vv.13-16).

Paul’s opponents, who had infiltrated the churches in Galatia, denied that salvation is by faith alone. Circumcision was their emphasis. This was first given as a seal in the Old Covenant which God made with His people, but the false teachers took this practice and was making a big deal out of it. They insisted that believers must also be circumcised. Here Paul gave us the reason for their insistence. He said that they were making a big showing in the flesh (v.12). For Paul, the truth of the matter was really neither about circumcision nor un-circumcision. It is about being a new creation in Christ (v.15).

By insisting that circumcision saves, the false teachers had made another mistake. Circumcision is human work. By their insistence, they were suggesting that Christ’s atonement was not enough. To them believers after circumcision were required to also obey the Law. Paul exposed the hypocrisy of the false teachers, for they themselves did not even keep the Law. In demanding circumcision and observance of the Law, they had made their religion one of human works. Paul strongly resisted this teaching. The false teachers insisted on this line of teaching because they wanted to avoid persecution. Paul, on the other hand, was not afraid of the attending problem, trials and hard times that came with preaching the Cross and Christ crucified.

Paul here also contrasted between the true and false religion. The false religion would promote outward performance and self-merit. True religion, on the other hand, rests on Christ’s finished work to make believers the new creation of God. In verse 16, we see three things concerning the Church. Paul referred to it as the Israel of God, and talked about a rule for the walk of life, as well as the experience of peace and mercy. The Church is referred to as the Israel of God because the true circumcision are Abraham’s offspring (Galatians 3:29). When he mentioned the rule, he was referring to the Cross of Christ as a measuring rod to guide the church. When believers walk by the standard of the Cross, they will experience the peace and mercy of God.

Finally, Paul concluded by talking about the marks he bore for Christ. They were probably the scars of the wounds he had received from being persecuted for Christ. These were marks that he gladly took, for they constantly reminded him that he belonged to Christ and had been set apart for His service. Paul closed by wishing that the Galatians would experience the grace of God.

We thank God for His initiative in our lives. Each of us become His new creation because He took the pain to begin His work of grace in our life. Let us make living for Christ an inward transformation rather than just outward performance.