The New Creation

​Isaiah 65:17-25; Galatians 6:11-18

In the book of Galatians, Paul makes several major contrasts:

• between false and true religion
• between false and true ministries
• between slavery and freedom
• between living for oneself and living for others
• between living for the praise of men and living for the glory of God

This last contrast is the focus of today's message from Galatians 6:11-18. Here Paul exposes what it looks like to live for the glory of God in two ways:

1. He exposes the motives of the false teachers. They wanted to boast and avoid persecution. They sought the approval of people.
2. Paul shows that the false teachers were hypocrites. They demanded of others what they themselves did not and could not do.

Then Paul contrasts those who sought glory for themselves with those who sought the glory of Christ. For them,

1. the cross of Christ is their only source of boasting.
2. the cross of Christ is where they are crucified to the world and the world to them.
3. the cross of Christ creates a new man. While physical circumcision changes nothing, God makes his people new from the inside out.
4. the cross brings peace and mercy to the church. 
5. the cross gives purpose to the scars of life. Paul didn't count his circumcision as an emblem of his apostleship.

Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion

1. While we don't boast in the flesh in the same ways that some first-century Christians did, what are some of the ways that Christians "boast in the flesh" today? How does that compare to what Paul boasted in (see Gal. 6:14)?
2. What are signs that a person is seeking the glory of men rather than the glory of God? How easy it is for you to detect these signs in your own heart?
3. What is the difference between receiving godly affirmation, which everyone needs, and receiving the glory of men?