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Galatians 6:12-18 reveals that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the Creator of the new creation, which is the ultimate issue of His cross and His grace.
Through His cross, Christ crucified not only the flesh but also the religious world with its rituals, including circumcision.
The cross of Christ did away with religion. In Galatians 6:14-15 Paul says, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.” The cross was truly an abasement, but the apostle made it his boast. The world has been crucified to us and we to the world. This has taken place not directly but through Christ, who was crucified. The word for at the beginning of verse 15 indicates that this verse is an explanation of the previous verse. Circumcision mentioned in verse 15, being a religious matter, shows that the world in verse 14 must be mainly the religious world, not the secular world. In Galatians Paul dealt with religious people who were concerned for the things of God but who also were misguided and in error and whose religion had become a world. On the one hand, the religious world was crucified to us; on the other hand, we were crucified to the religious world. By the cross we are separated from the religious world and are thus qualified to live in the new creation.
Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything to God. A new creation is what matters, and this new creation was brought forth by the cross of Christ. The old creation is our old man in Adam (Eph. 4:22), our natural being by birth, without God’s life and the divine nature. The new creation is the new man in Christ (v. 24), our being that is regenerated by the Spirit (John 3:6), having God’s life and the divine nature wrought into it (v. 36; 2 Pet. 1:4), having Christ as its constituent (Col. 3:10-11), and having become a new constitution. This refers to the nature, the inward and intrinsic organic constituent, of the church. Thus, the new creation is composed of sons; it is a corporate, divine sonship (Gal. 3:26; 4:5, 7) brought forth through Christ’s redemption, the Spirit’s regeneration, and God’s dispensing of Himself into us, and through our entering collectively as this new man into an organic union with the Triune God.
The old creation was old because it did not have God’s element; the new creation is new because it has God as its element. Although we are still the old creation, we experience the reality of the new creation when we walk according to the Spirit (5:16, 25). We are the new creation, and we should live by the new creation through an organic union with the Triune God. This new creation fulfills God’s eternal purpose, which is to express Himself in His sonship.
Circumcision is an ordinance of the law; the new creation is the masterpiece of life with the divine nature. The former is of dead letters; the latter is of the living Spirit. Hence, the new creation is what matters. Galatians exposes the impotence of both the law and circumcision. The law cannot impart life (3:21) to regenerate us, and circumcision cannot energize us (5:6) to live a new creation. But the Son of God, who has been revealed in us (1:16), can enliven us and make us a new creation, and Christ, who lives in us (2:20), can afford us the riches of His life that we may live the new creation. The law has been replaced by Christ (vv. 19-20), and circumcision has been fulfilled by Christ’s crucifixion (6:14). Hence, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation with Christ as its life is what matters. To be the new creation is the reason for and result of sowing unto the Spirit (v. 8). The keeping of the law and the practicing of circumcision are a sowing unto the flesh; they do not change the old creation. But sowing unto the Spirit makes us a new creation, which is re-created by the Spirit, transformed by the divine life, and constituted with the rich element of the processed Triune God by His mingling of Himself with us.
If we would live the new creation, we need to experience the cross. If we are still involved with the religious world, we will not be able to live a new creation. We should be able to say that the religious world has been crucified to us and that we have been crucified to the religious world. We should be able to testify that even if we were to try to go back to that world, we would be rejected by it, for we have been crucified to it. Even if Paul had desired to return to Judaism, the religionists would not have accepted him. Rather, they would have commanded him to leave, for he was in another world. To Judaism Paul had been crucified, and Judaism had been crucified to him. Between him and the religious world there was the separation of the cross. It is this separation which qualifies us to live a new creation. Everything practiced in the religious world is part of the old creation. But through the cross of Christ, we are finished with religion and are in another world, another realm. In this realm we live a new creation by the Spirit, not the old creation by the flesh.
Through His cross, Christ crucified not only the religious world but also the flesh. Through His death on the cross Christ dealt with the flesh. In 6:12-13 Paul speaks of the flesh and the cross of Christ: “As many as desire to make a good show in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised, but only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For neither do they that become circumcised keep the law themselves, but they desire you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” Circumcision, like the cross, is not a good show but an abasement. However, the Judaizers made it a good show as a boast in the flesh. The expression in the flesh in verse 12 means outwardly in the sphere of the flesh, which is condemned and repudiated by God. To be in the flesh is to be in our natural and external being without the inward reality and spiritual value that are in our regenerated spirit. In contrast to the Judaizers who boasted of circumcision in the flesh and compelled others to be circumcised so that they could boast in their flesh, Paul boasted in the cross of Christ through which the religious world and the flesh were crucified (v. 14). Because of the cross of Christ, the law, the flesh, and religion have all been terminated. If we see this vision, we will praise the Lord for the cross. By the cross we are set free from the law, the flesh, and religion.
We should boast in the cross of Christ and live a new creation. The cross of Christ is our boast. We boast in the fact that everything has been terminated on the cross. Since we boast in the cross, we cannot live in the old creation; instead, we must live in the new creation.
Christ created the new creation by His grace being with the believers’ spirit. In 6:18 Paul says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.” The grace of Jesus Christ is the bountiful supply of the Triune God (who is embodied in the Son and realized as the life-giving Spirit) enjoyed by us through the exercise of our human spirit. Grace is God the Father embodied in the Son who is realized as the Spirit. Ultimately, the Spirit is grace (Heb. 10:29). This Spirit, the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, now dwells in our spirit. Thus, our spirit is the only place where we can experience grace. In order to receive and enjoy grace, we need to turn to our spirit and remain there, recognizing the Lord as the Head and the King, respecting His position, and honoring His authority. We need to see that the throne of grace is in our spirit (4:16). Whenever we come to the throne of grace by turning to our spirit and calling on the name of the Lord, we should enthrone the Lord, giving Him the headship, the kingship, and the lordship within us (Col. 1:18; Rev. 4:2). God’s throne is the source of the flowing grace. Whenever we fail to enthrone the Lord, dethroning Him, the flow of grace stops (22:1). If we enthrone the Lord Jesus within us, the Spirit as the river of water of life will flow from the throne of grace to supply us and we will receive grace and enjoy grace (Heb. 4:16; cf. Rev. 22:1-2).
We need to be those who receive and enjoy the grace of the Lord in our spirit. The receiving of Christ as the Spirit of grace is a lifelong, continuous matter. Day by day a marvelous divine transmission should take place: God supplies the Spirit of grace bountifully, and we receive the Spirit of grace continually (Gal. 3:2-5; John 3:34). The way to open ourselves to the heavenly transmission in order to receive the supply of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit of grace is by exercising our spirit to pray and call on the Lord (1 Thes. 5:16-18; Rom. 10:12-13). As we receive and enjoy the Triune God as our grace, we will gradually become one with Him organically; He will become our constituent, and we will become His expression (2 Cor. 1:12; 12:9).
The mark of God’s economy is that Christ today is the grace of God in our spirit. Our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit is the focus of God’s promised blessing. It is in our spirit that we experience and enjoy the Spirit as the central blessing of the New Testament. Hence, we need the grace of the Lord, which is the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit (Phil. 1:19), to be with our spirit. If we do not know our human spirit, which has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we have no way to enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. We need to learn to exercise our spirit and to walk in our spirit in order to enjoy the grace of Christ, which is Christ Himself for our enjoyment.
Christ, the Spirit, the new creation, and our spirit are the four basic items revealed in Galatians as the underlying thought of God’s economy. Christ is the center of God’s economy, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. When Christ is realized through the Spirit in our spirit, we become the new creation. The new creation is Christ living in our spirit. Hence, our spirit is vital for us to live the life of the new creation for the fulfilling of God’s purpose.
The grace of Christ is with the spirit of the believers who walk by the rule of being a new creation. In Galatians 6:16 Paul says, “As many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” The rule Paul mentions in this verse refers to the rule of being a new creation, of living by the Spirit through faith, having the Triune God as our life and living, in contrast to keeping the law by observing ordinances. We need to walk by the rule which is the Triune God processed to be our life and living. To live in this way by the new creation is our rule.
To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the new creation. In 5:25 Paul charges us to walk by the Spirit, and in 6:16 he charges us to walk by “this rule.” This indicates that to walk by this rule is to walk by the Spirit. In other words, the rule is equal to the Spirit. To walk by such a rule is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. Only this kind of living and walk which is by the Spirit is part of the new creation.
We should walk by the principle of the new creation, the mingling of God with man. The basic principle of the new creation is that we should live by the divine life (2:20; John 6:57). In order to be the new creation, we must enter into an organic union with the Triune God. Everything outside this union is part of the old creation. To live the new creation is to walk by the divine life and divine nature as a governing principle. Walking by the principle of the new creation is mysterious because it is an organic matter altogether related to life (3:8). When we have this walk, we are a new creation not only in position and nature but also in daily practice. If we would live the new creation, we must do everything in oneness with the Triune God, and the element of God must be wrought into us (15:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:17). To live the new creation is to live, walk, have our being, and do all things, great or small, with the element of God. In all that we do, we should act not in ourselves but according to our regenerated spirit filled with the divine element.
Moreover, the rule in Galatians 6:16 is that of sowing unto the Spirit to live the new creation. This rule is to aim at the processed Triune God as the Spirit and to walk by Him (v. 8). We should not aim at self-correction or self-improvement; such things are not the new creation. The meaning of the new creation is that God, the divine Spirit, mingles Himself with us and constitutes us with Himself to make us new. When we aim at the Triune God and walk by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the Spirit imparts the divine element into us and reconstitutes us with it. As a result, we no longer remain the old creation but become a new creation with a divine element wrought into us. The ultimate issue of this will be the New Jerusalem. The new creation is a matter of God’s chosen people taking the all-inclusive Spirit as their goal, aiming at Him, being one spirit with Him, and, as a result, having the divine element transfused into them to reconstitute them and make them new.
The grace of Christ is with the spirit of the believers who walk by the rule of being a new creation, bearing the brands of Jesus in their body. In 6:17 Paul says, “Henceforth let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the brands of Jesus.” In ancient times, when a person became a slave, his owner would brand him with a branding iron. This branding on the slave’s body produced a scar, which was a mark signifying ownership. Paul considered himself a slave of Christ. Just as a slave might bear a brand mark testifying that he belonged to a certain owner, Paul bore in his body the brands of Jesus. It was as if the name of Christ had been branded upon him again and again as a testimony and declaration that Paul belonged to the Lord.
With Paul, a slave of Christ (Rom. 1:1), the brands were physically the scars of his wounds received in his faithful service to his Master (2 Cor. 11:23-27). Spiritually, they signify the characteristics of the life that he lived, a life like the one the Lord Jesus lived on this earth. Such a life is continually crucified (John 12:24), does the will of God (6:38), does not seek its own glory but the glory of God (7:18), and is submissive and obedient to God, even unto the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). The apostle followed the pattern of the Lord Jesus, bearing the brands, the characteristics of His life. In this he was absolutely different from the Judaizers. Whereas the Judaizers, who boasted in circumcision, desired to make a good show, a good appearance, in their flesh, the apostle bore the brands of Jesus in his body.
As previously mentioned, the spiritual significance of the expression the brands of Jesus is that Paul lived a crucified life. As we read the four Gospels, we see the portrait of a man constantly living a crucified life; this kind of life is a brand. Thus, when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He bore such a brand. He was persecuted, ridiculed, despised, and rejected. However, He did not say anything to defend Himself. Instead, living a crucified life, He bore a brand to show that He belonged to the Father. Paul followed the Lord Jesus to live this kind of life. In Philippians 3:10 he refers to “the fellowship of His sufferings.” As one who lived in the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings, Paul bore the brands of Jesus as the sign that he lived a crucified life. Because he was persecuted, despised, ridiculed, rejected, and condemned, he could truly say that he bore the brands of Jesus.
As long as we take the way of the cross, we too will be opposed by others. If we are faithful to live a crucified life, opposition will rise up again and again. In Galatians 4:29 Paul says, “As at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.” This word indicates clearly that those who are according to the flesh will persecute those who are according to the Spirit. Just as the Lord Jesus and Paul were persecuted because they lived a crucified life, the same will happen to us if, by the Lord’s mercy and grace, we follow their footsteps to live such a life. When we are despised, rejected, condemned, ridiculed, and mocked, we bear the brands of Jesus.
Anyone who enjoys the Lord’s grace to walk by the rule of being a new creation and who leaves religion as the Lord Jesus did is destined to bear His brands. This is because Jesus was put outside the camp of Judaism and was crucified outside the gate of the city of Jerusalem; this kind of suffering is a brand of Jesus (Heb. 13:12-13). We should be those who bear such a brand of Jesus, leaving any kind of religion and living a life absolutely in Christ. We should have nothing to do with religion; instead, we should only be in Christ, a living person, and always live the life of Jesus, a life under the killing of the cross.
Galatians places strong emphasis on the cross and the experience of crucifixion, in order to deal with the negative items, such as the law, the flesh, the “I,” the religious world, slavery, and the curse, thereby bringing in the positive items that are revealed in this book: Christ, the Spirit, the sons of God, the heirs of promise, and the new creation. It is significant that at the end of Galatians, Paul speaks of the grace of the Lord being with the believers’ spirit, their walking by the rule of being a new creation, and their bearing the brands of Jesus in their body. Through the cross of Christ the law, the flesh, and religion were terminated so that we might possess the Spirit in our spirit and that through the Spirit, the realization of Christ, we might be the new creation, bearing the brands of Jesus and enjoying the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in our spirit.
