As we read the New Testament, it doesn’t take long to realise that first generation Christians of the first century faced the same issues we do today. Time, different cultures, and advancing technology has not changed the aggression of the world towards Jesus Christ. Nor have they changed the deceptive desires of the human heart that challenges everything true of God and His Son.
As the apostle Paul concludes his letter to the Galatian church, in which he had defended the true gospel, he inserts a short statement of personal testimony. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).
From the earliest days of the church, God’s enemy has operated against the gospel from within the church, turning people away from Christ to a different gospel (Gal 1:6). This alternative message was a distortion of the gospel (Gal 1:7), which was contrary to the gospel that Paul had taught them (Gal 1:8-9). You see, a false gospel always puts man and their self-righteous ideas and actions at the centre of the message to earn acceptance with God. Whereas through the true gospel we know that a person is not justified (declared innocent) by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16).
Therefore, after all that Paul could write to the Galatian church, urging them to return wholly to the Christ-centred gospel, he states his personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Paul knew that there is no place for self-promotion before the Lord. Jesus Christ’s crucifixion was, and remains, the only truth worthy of boasting about. Just as credit card fraud seeks to rob you of your money through misrepresentation, so the enemies of Christ seek to rob you of a forgiven and innocent standing before God through misrepresenting the gospel.
Those teaching a false gospel will usually take one of two approaches. Either they will make works and rules a requirement of salvation, or they will permit sinful worldly living to continue without obedience to Christ as Lord. But Paul’s authenticity is seen in his declaration that the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Worldly values that inspire worldly behaviour, which is contrary to Jesus Christ, are dead to the Christian through faith in Jesus as our substitute on the cross. Love for Jesus Christ replaces love for sin. Desire to be Christlike are to overrule any lingering desires of the sinful flesh.
This is at the heart of Paul’s testimony, Jesus’ accomplishments on the cross were now Paul’s centre of life. No passion was permitted to become greater than his passion for Christ. Paul’s integrity was now dictated by a Christ-centred gospel which could not be compromised or diluted in any way. Living as a new creation in Christ (Gal 6:15. Cf. 2Co 5:17) was non-negotiable for Paul. Any message that deviated in the slightest was to be considered worldly and fraudulent. Paul stated the same to the Corinthian church; for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, sweet, and uncomplicated, as it calls for repentant belief in its message of Jesus Christ who took God’s wrath for sinners on the cross. May God grant that we all be people of such Christ-centre belief with a clear testimony of Christ to share.
