May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

 Good morning. Yesterday we talked about these people getting others to become circumcised that they may boast.  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. Here Paul is boasting about what Jesus did, not what he did. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Following or not following the law will get you nowhere; only being completely changed within and without will. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. The Greek word translated “and” can sometimes be translated as “even” or “namely”. The word “and“ means the joining of two different things. The words “even“ and “namely“ mean something more explicit about the same thing. So Paul is probably not talking about two different things, Christians and Jews, but rather calling Christians the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus. My Bible says that in ancient times the Greek word was used of the brand marks that identified slaves or animals. Paul had many marks on his body from beatings and the stoning he had received for preaching Jesus, and Him crucified. That is the end of the book of Galatians. Father help us to remember to not boast in our achievements but to boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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