In Galatians 6.14 the Apostle Paul is concluding his letter to the loved churches of Galatia. He said— “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
The word for “glory” here is kauchaomai which literally means to “boast”. It is a very interesting usage. The word “glory” in the New Testament is more often from the word doxa, which is translated not only glory, but also: honor, praise, dignity, worship, and glorious. Here though, it means living with ‘head up high’. Paul has been speaking of boasting as in pridefully. He is specifying here a ‘boasting from a particular vantage point by having the right base of operation to deal successfully with a matter’ (see HELPS Word-studies). The first century greeks used it as we use the word ‘confidence’. Paul is making it abundantly clear that he is not prideful about his ministry, but rather has his confidence in the cross of Jesus. His outlook and head-up-high is toward the cross and not himself. He refers to living with God-given confidence.
Paul’s only glorying is in Jesus and what He did on the cross. That and only that gives him his confidence. Could we conclude then that we lose confidence when our heads are not held up high in focus on that same cross? In other words, we lose our true God-given confidence when we lose sight of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Paul spoke of this often: Romans 8.1-3, 1 Corinthians 2.2, 1 Peter 2.24. In all of these and in the totality of his epistles we read the same synopsis of his life… Jesus and his cross. Like the 1 Corinthians 2.2 passage— “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” That one teaching opens up the entirety of God’s word. Over simplified? Well, I guess not. The Holy Spirit apparently had him write it?!
What else matters? Without the cross, there is nothing else but man’s religion. It is the cross of Jesus we must first come to, to know him for who He really is. It is there we begin to know the extent of his love and passion for us. It is there we begin to see the focus of our ministries while here in this world. It is there we discover our calling, our election, our purpose, our why and how. Paul said… “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Amen.
He wasn’t done with that though. He goes on to explain that through this Jesus (“by whom”) a decision was made for him and one was made by him. The decision made for him is simple: “the world is crucified unto me”. Crucifixion is death. It is an excruciating, final, horrific, not able to be undone… death. He said the world is that much dead to me. Because of what Jesus did on the cross for me, I am dead to the world. I cannot go back, I cannot be it’s friend, and I cannot love it any longer. The “world” here is not the people of the world that Jesus came to die for; He loves them. (John 3.16). It is in reference to the system they are caught in. It is the system of Satan and he is the god of it (2 Corinthians 4.4). Look what the world did to Jesus! They crucified Him, only because they hated the truth and the light. The world seeks the dark and loves the lie they propagate. We are the light of the world (Matthew 5.14) just as He is the light of the world. He is the truth and placed the Spirit of Truth within us. The world should be dead to us. Why would you cheat on Jesus with that? Paul also said— “and I unto the world”. I am dead to them. The world hates the works of Jesus, because they are, again, the kingdom of darkness and wickedness. This world offers only what their god can offer— “…steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” (John 10.10). They are not your friend, but guess what, they already know you aren’t their friend. In John 15.18-19 Jesus describes this very thing— “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” I am already dead to it; it should be just as dead to me.
“Know” in the bible usually means intimacy. Intimate knowledge of someone or something. It means not only ‘close’ but the closest of close. Notice what John said in 1 John 3.1— “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” The world wasn’t close to Jesus and won’t be with us… if we are close to Him! Ouch! Did you see that?! Remember that Paul said the world is crucified to me and I am to it. Remember then that crucifixion is an excruciating, final, horrific, not able to be undone… death. To be called the children of God, we should be just as dead to this Satan system as it is to us. We do not belong.
If you want to glory in something, make sure it isn’t your own life, your own stuff, or your own self-aggrandizement. See the example of Paul the Apostle who died to this world so that He could serve God without reservation. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9.23). Dead men don’t care. Dead men don’t seek what they want… they are dead. This is why Paul could say I am already dead to this world; and it is just as dead to me. His confidence was in the cross of Jesus and that sacrifice was sufficient for His eternity. Therefore, he remained steadfastly focused on the eternal.
What could compare to the glory we will witness one day? Why trade that away for the world’s cheap knock-off supply of the temporary?
Today is a great day to die. Die to your self. Die to this world. Die to the flesh. Die to the temporary. Live for the eternal.