Galatians 6:11-18 is the closing portion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. This is where he takes everything that he has said and leaves his final impression upon it. He’s praying that the Lord would use it to help them change their ways.
As the final part of this book, if you have not already read the rest of the series, you can do so here. Be sure to start from the beginning because each of these posts builds upon the last. I write under the assumption that you have already read the others so please do so.
Large Letters
This final portion of the letter begins in verse 11. Paul says, “see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.” As the ESV Study Bible points out, “Paul has probably been dictating the letter to a scribe.”¹ It was very common in those days to speak what you wanted to say and have others actually write it for you. Here Paul wants to make sure that the emphasis isn’t lost.
Paul himself is writing the last part and he is apparently writing it in very large letters. “While it has often been suggested that he did so because he was afflicted with weak eyesight, it is more likely, given the tone of the letter, that the apostle sought in this way to give a final emphatic thrust to his message.”² It is the final cherry on top, so to speak.
A Good Showing in the Flesh
Galatians 6:12 continues with the heavy hitting. Paul says “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.” I’ve said this before in this series but I would pay good money to see the reaction of the Judaizers hearing this letter being read.
I just know their reaction was entertaining to say the least. Can you imagine Paul calling them out so directly? These letters were written to a specific church, yes. But they were also meant to be circulated around to other churches and read to the congregations. So it was not one church and then others caught wind of it; people read it over and over again. These Judaizers don’t want to deal with the persecution that comes with following Christ. They want conformity and uniformity among them all for the sake of ease and comfort.
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Boasting in Your Flesh
Paul doesn’t stop here. He continues in verse 13 saying that “those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.” Paul is blunt, saying that the only reason they want them to physically alter their body is so that they can boast that they’re the reason why they did it.
They wanted to take the credit for one’s conversion to their religion. “The legalists knew the offense of the Cross would be softened if they openly proclaimed justification by faith and works (i.e., circumcision) and if they could claim conversions to that position in Galatia.”³
Far Be It From Me to Boast
Galatians 6:14 says, “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 making sure that the priorities are clear. There’s nothing that the world can offer that would pull him away from the Lord.
“For the Judaizers the Cross was an object of shame; for Paul it was the object of glorying. They gloried in the flesh; he gloried in the Savior.”⁴ All Paul wanted was Jesus and the world to know Him. He was literally doing everything in his power for everyone to know and understand the love and freedom that comes from Jesus Christ.
The rest of the world, however, looked at him as if he was crazy for wanting more than what the world had to offer. This is the reality of following Christ. Yes, its beautiful and wonderful and the freedom is unmatched. And it’s going to be hard and people won’t like you and will talk about you. It’s important to remember that not only did Paul go through it, but Jesus did, too.
A New Creation
“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” Galatians 6:15. Y’all, none of it matters. The only thing that matters is Jesus. It doesn’t matter if you’re circumcised or uncircumcised. What matters is that you’re following Jesus and doing what it is that He called you to do.
As humans we get so caught up in focusing on the wrong thing. We get tied up in looking at what that pastor is doing or that influencer or that mom or that family. This happens instead of looking at Jesus and what He’s doing in not only their lives but also our own. It’s really easy to completely miss the plank in our own eye because we’re so obsessed with the speck in others.
“The only thing that matters is to be a part of the new creation by the new birth.”⁵ Just keep your eyes on Jesus. Let Him change you from the inside out and experience the freedom that Paul is talking about.
Peace and Mercy
Verse 16 continues. Paul says “as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” There’s a lot to say about the interpretations about the Israel of God but I won’t get into here. What really matters here is peace and mercy. These things “from God are available to those who walk according to this rule, that is, according to the message of salvation by grace through faith alone. This blessing is pronounced on believing Galatians and on believing Jews.”⁶ In walking by faith, in walking with the Holy Spirit, that peace and mercy gets to be ours.
When I tell you that life is insane right now, I mean it. If I were being real, panicking and worry feels like it really makes the most sense right now. Sometimes the fact that I’m not freaking out actually freaks me out. But the truth is that the peace I feel comes directly from Jesus.
If you’re anything like I was, that probably causes you to roll your eyes. But I’m telling you I’m being serious. The peace that I have doesn’t make sense. So when Paul says that peace and mercy are upon all that follow Jesus, it isn’t a passing remark. It is a peace and calm that nothing else can replicate. It’s hard to explain but once you experience it, it will change your life.
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The Marks of Jesus
Galatians 6:17 says “from now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” At first glance this can cause someone to raise their eyebrow. Marks of Jesus? Who do you think you are, Paul?
But let’s bring in some clarification. The marks he’s referring to are like the brands put on cattle to signify ownership. He was saying that what he went through left marks that showed that he was a slave to Jesus. “The false teachers, perhaps followed by some of the Galatian Christians themselves, have obviously [been] slandering Paul to some degree.”⁷ He’s asking them to stop slandering him, to give him and his ministry respect because what he does he does in the name of Christ.
Grace Be With Your Spirit
In the last verse, Galatians 6:18, he says, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” Despite his frustrations with them, Paul hasn’t given up on the Galatians. He not only refers to them as brothers, but asks the Lord to give them grace.
It can become easy to see things like this happen, especially today, and let our hearts harden. We get frustrated with people and what they do so we stop trying and shut them out. We believe that we are better than them somehow. And they do not deserve the same love and freedom that we have. This is a beautiful reminder that we are not to let that happen.
When we do get frustrated, we are to give it to the Lord. Maybe Paul was actually really angry and frustrated when writing this bit. But he said it in order to get his own heart back on the right track. It also encourages the Galatians to change their ways because he wasn’t snippy with them. Instead, he loved them and encouraged them calmly. If we all acted like this, we would have a much different experience in life.
“And uniquely among all of Paul’s epistles he ends with a reminder of his love for them, calling them brothers. How could the Galatians fail to respond in obedience to the persuasive and ultimately tender appeal found in this letter?”⁸
The End of the Study
After weeks of study, we’ve finally reached the end of the book of Galatians. As cheesy as it may sound, going through this book so deeply has changed something deep inside of me. I wish that I could explain it better than that. I used to be the person who would roll their eyes at those who would say such things. But I mean it from the depth of my soul.
I pray that this series has encouraged you to get into the Word for yourself. Remember that this is not the only time you should read this incredible letter to the Galatian church. Read it again and again, finding things that you didn’t notice before. For school assignments I have had to read through portions. And I am already noticing so much more than I have before.
The beauty of studying Scripture is that you are never done. It is never a task you can complete. That’s because it is not possible to know every single thing about it, and it is that exact reason why I am hungry to learn as much as I possibly can. I pray that you will experience that hunger. I pray that the Lord would light the fire inside of you to draw near to Him and get to know His Word deeper than you ever have before.
Footnotes
- Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2255.
- Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 610.
- Ibid., 611.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- ESV Study Bible, 2256.
- Campbell, “Galatians,” 611.
