The Nature of True Religion, Pt. II – Galatians 6:14-16

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. Gal 6:14-16

The truthfulness of a religion is authenticated by its message and its power. The message of Christianity is the gospel- the Son of God died on a cross and rose again to give eternal life to undeserving sinners who repent and put their trust in Him. (1Cor 15:3-4; Col 2:9-10) There is power in this message to transform sinners into saints. As we continue in this series on the nature of true religion, Apostle Paul’s concluding pronouncement of the power of the cross of Christ shown in the death, transformation, and reception in Christianity provides the evidence of the veracity of the gospel message.

Death. There is a stark difference between Christianity and other religions when it comes to life and death. Other religions teach to live your best life today, but Christianity teaches that you must die today to truly live in Christ. Just as a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die in order for it to bear fruit, Christian life must begin with your spiritual death through your repentance. (Jn 12:24) Without this death, your old nature remains, and there can be no transformation.

How can we die spiritually? In other words, how can I be a Christian? The answer is in v. 14- by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who confess Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in their hearts God raised Him from the dead will be saved. (Rom 10:9-10) You must die like Christ in order to be raised like Christ. The cross itself is not wonderful- it is the cruel emblem of pain and suffering – but the message of the cross is of hope and love, because through death of Jesus Christ, we can escape the wrath of God.

What must be dead? According to v. 14, the world must be crucified to us. In its context, the world is a life independent of God, self-sufficient and driven by self-will, that depends on reputation, esteem, and self-effort for righteousness. (Phil 3:4-6) We are all born with the world in our hearts- in total depravity – we have no possible way of pleasing God in our sinfulness. It is only by the message of the cross that the world can be crucified to us. As we receive the gospel message, the Holy Spirit “removes the heart of stone” and replaces it with “a heart of flesh”(Eze 36:26), that which is of God, and by this regeneration of our hearts we see the world as it is, and more so as we understand and obey the will of God. (1Jn 2:16-17) In any situation, we seek God’s glory and honor Him as Lord. We live in the world, but we are no longer controlled by the world. (2Cor 10:5; 1Cor 10:31) Along with the world, our old nature is crucified with Christ as we receive the gospel in our hearts. All sin springs from the desire to please self. ‘Dying to self’ means that we surrender our own will to God’s will. We are now free in Christ- free from the world, and free from the power of sin that ruled our old nature. We are free because Christ lives in us, and by this spiritual death, true transformation can follow.

Transformation. Apostle Paul states that apart from being new creatures through this new creation, everything else is meaningless. Christianity is true because we become a new creation in Christ through the life-giving power in the gospel message. (Ez 37:1,3,9) The gospel contains the doctrine of impartation- we were spiritually dead, with no power to free ourselves from sin and justify ourselves before God, but God made Jesus, Who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2Cor 5:21) In Jesus, God the Son took on human flesh to be our perfect substitute as He died in our place and rose again. In Christ there is new life. Though we will not be sinless until we are in heaven, sin no longer has dominion over our lives. We now live by faith in the Son of God Who died for us and rose again so that we could live to Him. (Gal 2:20) As a new creation, we now enjoy a blessed reception.

Reception. As we hold fast to the truth that salvation is in Christ alone, we receive God’s peace and mercy. (Acts 4:12) This is a marvelous gift from God. Our peace with God means peace in our hearts, because only He is the source of true peace. His wrath is no longer on those who are in Christ – in the place where there was once wrath, there is now divinest mercy. God adopts us to be His children and He becomes our Father. God did not have to show mercy to sinful men, but in His love He provided eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Jn 3:16) Through the gospel we are now reconciled with God and enjoy this gift of God’s mercy and peace. This is the power of the message of the cross we proclaim for all to hear and receive.