Galatians 6:11-13 – Beware of Those Living By The Flesh
Rather than leaving the closing lines of this letter to be dictated, Paul takes the pen and writes it himself to show the Galatians just how much he personally cares about this letter and how they respond to it. He really wants his readers to sit up and pay attention at this point. So what’s the message of this final section? It’s quite simple. It’s that there are two different types of people in the world. There are those who boast in the flesh. And there are those who boast in Jesus Christ.
In vs 12-13 he gives us three characteristics of the first type of people. They are those who boast in the flesh. In other words, their big concern is how their actions appear to others. Their big concern is what other people think of them. Their eyes aren’t on God and on what he thinks of them – but on other people. And obviously someone who’s aim is to please man will live very differently from someone who wants to please God. If someone wants to please man the most important question won’t be: ‘is what I’m teaching true’ — but, ‘is it popular?’ We see something similar in the second half of v13. ‘They desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh’. The great concern of these false teachers wasn’t the salvation of those in the churches. It wasn’t their eternal spiritual good. It was so they could boast at having brought people over to their side. It was so that they could count heads. It was to make themselves look better.
The second mark is: ‘They would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ’. We could sum it up by saying that they will always choose sin over suffering. And this second mark really follows on from the first one. They’re concerned not just with what other people think of them, but what other people might do to them.
The final mark of false teachers that we see in these verses is that they’re hypocrites. Look at v13. Those who talked so much about law-keeping — they didn’t even keep it themselves. Often this final characteristic isn’t easy to spot. But look out for a disconnect between what someone teaches, and how they live their life. Of course, we all fall short. But if someone’s life and teaching are going in completely different directions, you’ll know something’s badly wrong.
Questions
- What are three characteristics of those who boast in the flesh?
- How do we see these today?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would be on guard against boasting in the flesh.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.