Galatians - To The Churches In Galatia
Week 26: Boast in the Cross

If we look to use Galatians for its intended purpose, we can gain so much valuable understanding from it. The end of the letter is more than a wrap-up; it is a reiteration of the letter’s entire aim. Galatians 6:14 is one of the best verses in Galatians and most of the Bible, because it explains the meaning and the power of the cross. (NIV) “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” It seems that this WHOLE letter, the WHOLE last 26 weeks is a call to boast in the cross of Christ alone! We can only boast in the cross, however, if we truly understand what it means.

• What does it mean to boast in something?
• What does it mean to boast in the cross?

The cross was a device used in the ancient world to brutally kill people. The early church never hung crosses or carried crosses (like many churches do today,) because they believed it was too grisly and humiliating a remembrance for the “Lord of Glory,” Jesus. There were many who refused to believe in Jesus BECAUSE of the cross. They mistakenly thought God would never allow His messiah to be killed in such a demeaning way; therefore, Jesus could not be the savior.

• Describe what the cross means to you when you think of it.

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” This means we are to see the cross as the source of every good in our lives and in the life of the world. It also means we are to put zero confidence in anything else, knowing the cross alone secures our future with God.

• What objects or people do you boast in? What do they provide you?

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and 1 John 2:2.
• Propitiation means to make favorable.
• Expiation implies the removal or cleansing of sin.

Propitiation includes expiation and reminds us that not only has Jesus removed our stain of sin and shame, but He has also brought us into a favorable standing with God.

• How do you think propitiation and expiation affect you personally?

The Central Importance of the Cross. What Paul says is, “I under no circumstances, ever, will do anything but this.” The whole point of Galatians and the Gospel…there is only one thing that’s necessary and nothing else comes close: the cross. This doesn’t mean we are to disregard everything else Jesus said or did, , but that nothing else comes even remotely close to the cross.

• What is the doctrine of the Cross? Do you take it seriously?
• What is the language of God’s love, restoration, and reconciliation?
• What if everything besides the cross was stripped away from you – how do you think you’d respond or live?

How do you know you understand the cross? Have you been offended by it? The only way to understand the cross is to understand what we have been saved from. Most people, when they understand the cross, are first offended by it because it exposes who we are and who God is. Peter was offended, Paul was offended, John the Baptizer’s disciples were offended, and so are we—if we are honest. The cross is the greatest monument to our impotence and wickedness. Dr. Roger Nicole says, “For Jesus to die voluntarily is insane unless there is no other way to save us.”

The cross is offensive because it stands against all schemes of self-salvation and pride. What we boast in is the center of who we are. Martin Luther once asked, “When you fail, how do you protect yourself if not for the cross?” Paul is saying that we need to boast in the cross, because only in that will the created world have no power over us.

• What is FIRST IMPORTANCE in your life?
• In what ways have you been offended by the cross?
• In all honesty, who do you want to think doesn’t deserve the grace of the cross?
• How offensive is it to realize that you are no better than that person/ group?
• What have been your takeaways from the Galatians series?