Jesus was the source of paul's glory

JESUS WAS THE SOURCEOF PAUL'SGLORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Galatians 6:14 14
May I never boast except in the cross
of our LORD Jesus Christ, through which the world
has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Cross Of Christ
Galatians 6:14
W.F. Adeney
I. THE CROSS AS AN OBJECT OF GLORYING.
1. St. Paul canglory in nothing else. Yet he had whereofto glory. His birth, his
education, and his religious devotions had been sources ofpride to him. His
Christian attainments, his apostolic authority, his missionary triumphs, and
his brave endurance of persecutions, might be taken as reasons forself-
glorification. But he rejects the whole. Plainly no Christian inferior to St. Paul
can have anything in himself to be proud of.
2. The glorying only begins in looking awayfrom self to Christ. Men talk of
glorying in their crosses. ButSt. Paul boasted, not in his own cross, but only in
the cross ofChrist. He made nothing of his sufferings for Christ; all his
interest was absorbedin Christ's sufferings for him. All the brightness of
Christian experience centres in Christ.
3. The grand source of glorying is the cross of Christ. The cross was the
symbol of shame; it has become the tokenof what we most reverently adore.
So complete is the transformation of ideas that we can with difficulty
understand the paradox as it would strike the contemporaries of St. Paul
when he spoke ofglorying in the cross. It is as though we spoke ofpriding
ourselves on the gallows. This cross, this instrument of shameful death has
become the emblem of Christianity. Gleaming in gold on the spires and domes

of our cathedrals, it typifies the most vital truth of Christianity. The glory of
the cross is not a merely mystical sentiment. It springs from evident facts:
(1) the fidelity of Christ as the goodShepherd, who would not forsake the
flock and flee before the wolf;
(2) the patience, gentleness,and forgiving spirit of Christ on the cross;but
(3) chiefly the love of Christ in suffering shame and anguish and death for us.
There are some who would dispense with the doctrine of the cross;but a
crosslessChristianity will be a mutilated, impotent gospel, robbed of all
efficacy, shorn of all glory.
II. THE CROSS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF DEATH. The cross does not
change its nature by winning its glory. Still, it is a cross - tool of pain and
death. It is no less than this to the Christian as it was no less to Christ. For
Christianity is not a calm acceptanceofwhat Christ has done in our stead; it
is union with Christ, first in his death and then in his victory.
1. The cross means the death of the world to us. Before that glory of Divine
love in human passionall lesserlights fade and perish. As we look upon the
cross the world loses its hold upon us. In the vision of truth and purity and
love even to death, the threats of the world's hurts lose their terror and the
fascinations ofits pleasures their charm.
2. The cross means our death to the world. Joinedwith Christ by faith, we
have the old self killed out of us. Hitherto the powerof the lowerworld has
draggedus down to sin and trouble. But in proportion as we are united to the
Crucified we ceaseto have the feelings and interests which chain us to the
earthly. St. Paul describes a magnificent ideal. No man on earth has fully
realized it. It must be the aim of the Christian more and more to be one with
Christ, that the cross may pass more deeply into his soultill all else melts and
fades out of experience. These two aspects ofthe cross - its death-power in us,
its glory in Christ - are directly related. For it is only after it has been the
instrument of death to us that we can rise in the new life and see it as the one
absorbing objectof glory. - W.F.A.

Biblical Illustrator
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14
The glory of the Cross
Emilius Bayley, B. D.The Cross ofChrist is the keyto St. Paul's life; and that
life is itself the best human exponent of the Cross ofChrist. He saw no ground
for boasting, or rejoicing, or living, save in that. By "the Cross" is to be
understood the atoning death of which it was the instrumental cause. It stands
for "Christcrucified."
I. THE CROSS OF CHRIST THE HIGHEST EXHIBITION OF THE
GLORY OF GOD.
1. It exhibits in a specialmanner the justice of God.
2. It exhibits in a specialmanner the love of God.
3. It reveals in perfectharmony the justice and the love of God.The pardon
which God has provided for sinners is a propitiated pardon — a pardon for
which a price has been paid, even the blood of the Son of God. Justice is thus
upheld in its integrity: mercy is shielded from the charge of conniving at
unrighteousness (Romans 3:21-26).
II. THE CROSS OF CHRIST THE BEST SECURITYFOR THE
HAPPINESS OF MAN.
1. It secures pardonand reconciliationfor the sinner. Nothing to be done, but
to believe the overture of mercy, and become reconciledto God. Man has
nothing to bring of his own, and nothing is askedfor. The Cross provides a
present salvationfor all who believe in the crucified Son of God.
2. It supplies the believer with a two-fold power;
(1)the power of a new motive, viz., love;
(2)the power of a new life — the life of the spirit.Henceforth the love of Christ
constrains him; the law of the Spirit of life has made him free from the law of
sin and death, and the righteousness ofthe law is fulfilled in him who walks
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
III. CONCLUDING INFERENCES. The Cross ofChrist may further be
viewed —

1. As supplying the only safe rule for faith and practice.
2. As demanding courage in confession.
3. As securing grace for action.
(Emilius Bayley, B. D.)
The Cross ofChrist the Christian's glory
Robert Bond.I. WHAT IS IT TO GLORY IN ANY OBJECT, AND WHAT
ARE THE OBJECTSIN WHICH THE APOSTLE WOULD NOT GLORY?
1. To glory in an objectimplies —
(1)That we have a sincere regard, a high esteem, and a real affectionfor it.
(2)That we are deeply interested in it.
(3)That the object affords us joy and consolation.
2. The objects in which the apostle would not glory.
(1)Worldly wisdom.
(2)Worldly riches.
(3)Worldly honours.
(4)Self righteousness.
(5)Eminency of gifts.
(6)His privileges as a Jew.
(7)His usefulness as a minister of the gospel.
II. THE OBJECT IN WHICH HE DETERMINEDTO GLORY. The Cross.
III. HIS REASONS FOR THUS GLORYING.
1. Becauseit gives a full and copious description of the Redeemer's person.
2. Becauseit gives an ample relation of the blessings procured for man, by the
life and death of Jesus Christ. Reconciliationwith God; pardon, holiness, joy,
victory over the world, eternal life.
3. Becauseit gives a glorious display of the Divine perfections. Divine love;
infinite mercy; resistless power;incomprehensible wisdom; inflexible justice;
spotless purity.
4. Becauseit gives a grand manifestation of the Divine Persons in the
Godhead.
5. Becauseit gives a brilliant exhibition of the Redeemer's conquest.
6. Becauseit procured the glories ofheaven.

(Robert Bond.)
The Cross our only boast
R. Newton.Strong language — the result of strong emotion. Used by St. Paul
on hearing that the Galatians, among whom he had planted the standard of
the Cross, were now trying to concealits odium if not to abandon it
altogether.
I. THE MEANING OF THE TERMS HE EMPLOYS.
1. The sacrificial, meritorious, victorious "Cross."
2. "Glorying." Notmere acquaintance, approbation, or cordialattachment;
something higher than all this — exultation, boasting, rejoicing. "Callme
madman," he says, "despise me, mock me, because I make my boastin the
Crucified! seize me by the hand of violence, drag me to your dungeons, load
me with chains, lead me to the stake:still I will rejoice. Among friends or foes,
in liberty and in bonds, in life and in death, I will glory still in the Cross of
Christ."
3. "Only" in the Cross will he glory. Notin his lineal descent, or his affinity to
the JewishChurch; not in his literary attainments or learning: these are
insufficient for the hope and salvationof guilty man.
(1)In nothing inconsistentwith the Cross.
(2)All glorying consistentwith the Cross must be made subservient to it.When
he glories in infirmities, tribulations, etc., it is because Christ is glorified in
and by them. So also he would glory in the Advent of Christ, when He came to
destroy the works of the devil; in the life of Christ, so immaculate, benevolent,
useful; in the teaching of Christ, so wise, important, Divine; in the splendour
of the miracles of Christ; in the triumphant resurrectionof Christ; in the
ascensionof Christ, when He took human nature with Him into heaven; but
only in so far as these lookedforward or back to the sacrificialdeath of
Christ, without which they would all have been in vain.
II. REASONS FOR THIS RESOLUTION.
1. The Cross is the grand consummation of all the preceding dispensations of
God to man.
2. The splendid scene ofa decisive victory over the Lord's enemies and ours.
3. The meritorious, procuring cause ofevery blessing to Adam's fallen race.
4. The most powerful and only effectual incentive to all moral goodness.
(1)The pattern of moral excellence there exhibited.

(2)We must have grace to imitate.
(R. Newton.)
The Cross a glorious spectacle
Bishop Atterbury.Behold our Divine High Priest, offering up the great
sacrifice required for the redemption of the souls of men; the very Son of God
pouring forth His own blood upon the altar, an atonementfor the sins of the
whole world. Behold this, and you will acknowledgethat though there was
never any spectacle so sad, yetnever was there any so glorious, so worthy of
contemplation by men and angels. And considerto what mighty results that
dark hour of His humiliation and anguish is giving birth; and despise the vain
pomp of the world in comparisonof the splendour of His sufferings. For there,
as He hangs on the accursedtree, is the great Captain of our salvation fighting
our battles and vanquishing our enemies;there is He, for us, bruising the head
of Satan, taking the sting from death, robbing the grave of victory, disarming
hell of its terrors. Surely the vain glories ofearth, when in contrastwith those
real triumphs of the Saviour's Cross, must lose their attraction in the view of
every Christian; can we look on Him whom we have pierced and see Him
stretchedon His Cross, for us enduring the pain, despising the shame of it,
and yet regard with satisfactionthat scene ofvanity and sin which occasioned
Him thus to suffer? Can we love the world and the things that are in the
world, while our view is fixed on Him who gave Himself expressly that He
might deliver us from this present evil world; that He might see us free from
the enchantment, the enslavement, of its false allurements and hollow
delights?
(Bishop Atterbury.)
The Cross reveals God's heart
Alex. H. Craufurd, M. A.The realglory of the Cross, for a deep soul like that
of Paul, consists in this — that it is the best revelationof the heart of God. It
often seems much easierto get at the mind of God than at His heart. His mind
is "writ large" for most of us in the nightly majesty and order of the starry
heavens;but for His heart we searchvainly in the bewildering labyrinths of
external nature. As the intellect spells out eachsingle word that tells it of the
thoughts of God, the heart remains too often unsatisfied, and cries aloud with
bewildered Job, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" Like some
fainting and forlorn wanderer in a parched and arid desert, the heart still
yearns for "the fountain of living waters," stillcries aloud, "I thirst, I thirst."
Unable to recognize its true God, its real Father, in those hard, unpitying laws
which science reveals, the heart of man cries despairingly, like its greatLord

on Calvary, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsakenme?" Now the
teaching of Christ's life and death is that God has a heart as well as a mind;
that, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary, love is the source and
root of all things — strongerthan hate, mightier than sin, more enduring than
hell. Christianity dares to go down into the lowesthell of degradation, and
preach the everlasting gospelto souls fast bound in the misery and iron of
inveterate evil. In order to meet our very sorestneeds, our religion reveals a
Being who, needing nothing Himself, finds His deepesthappiness in
perpetually giving. Christianity boldly declares the naturalness of self-
sacrifice in God; for this, surely, is the meaning of the declarationthat "God
is love." And thus entrenched for ever in the very heart of God, the Christian
spirit is not dismayed either at the stony-hearted apathy of nature or the
manifold activity of the powers of evil. Even as the Christian pilgrim sinks
down fainting in. some cheerless wilderness,he is for ever heard exclaiming
with one of old, "If God be for us, who can be againstus?"
(Alex. H. Craufurd, M. A.)
Self-renouncementthrough the Cross
John Irwin, M. A.I. THE NATURE OF HIS GLORYING. And the word itself
is for most of us, at first thought, of evil odour and association. Forwhere men
and women have been given to boastand glory, it has ordinarily been
assumedto be the outworking of personalpride or the dictate of personal
vanity, a pretension to greatness oran aping of superiority that most men and
moralists have resentedas offensive and loved to discipline with contempt and
humiliation. Now, I do not deny that there is a kind (I will not say a degree)of
that self-appreciation, right and proper, not to be repressedin ourselves or
censuredin our neighbours; but in practice about one of the best safeguards
in young or old, for nobility and purity of character. A man should always
have so high an opinion of his own honour that he would not stoopto
dishonour; and so goodan estimate of his own worth that he will scorn to
degrade himself by a mean or vulgar or discreditable action. But that opinion
we all have a right to form of ourselves, simply as men, apart from any
circumstances peculiarto us personally. Now, that is what we callthe self-
conscious type of glorying, which you know is very common, and is not by any
means an insignificant force and factorin society, and among the ordinary
working motives of men. And there are at leasttwo natural checks to it which
we must mention, though only incidentally and on our path to higher truths.
First, considerthe inconceivable littleness of the very best that you or I can be
or do, compared with the immensities around us, in which we are less than a
speck upon the mountain. "What impression do I make in Europe?" inquired

a petty chief in the centre of Africa, from a daring traveller who visited his
hut. Surrounded by barbaric honours, he little thought that two hundred
miles awaythey had never heard his name. But, again, remember that what
distinguishing qualities may be yours admit of two interpretations. Either you
may regard them as lifting you up to superior honour, in which case ofcourse
you glory; or you may think of them as burdening you with unusual
responsibility, which aspectofthe matter can surely only work humility. For
if God Almighty has given you peculiar endowments of mind or property, or
appointed you a place where in some measure you will be the light and leader
of men, ah! my friend, let others think it a glorious thing to be the pilot of a
vesselamid the cruel rocks and breakers, where the safetyof five hundred
lives may depend upon your skill; or the captain of an army, where the
destruction of tens of thousands may result from one trivial blunder. But for
you, if in societyyou are in any sense a pilot or a captain, to strut in conscious
self-appreciation, is to show yourself unworthy of the trust, incapable of
realizing the responsibility, and self-condemnedof moral inferiority before
the eye of men. God forbid that in aught pertaining to myself I should glory.
However, I find there is a saving clause in our text — "Save in the Cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ" — which redeems the matter of glorying from
unqualified condemnation. Glorying, when selfishor in the leasttainted with
selfishness, is contemptible; when it is unselfish, it may simply be sublime. To
take a simple example. Have you never known some leal-heartedold nurse,
for instance, who in the days of her infancy attended some little boy for pay,
and gave him besides a true affectionthat could not be rewarded by the gold
she gotthen or ever for her services. He grew up in her hands, and passedout
to a brilliant careerat school, in college, andin the world. Those old
affectionate eyes followedhis bright course day by day. He was no child of
hers. He was never likely to lift her from her lowly station. She had no claim
or hope to share his renown. But every hour his name was on her lips; every
paper was searchedwith eager hope to find some mention of his praise;and
when it comes on to the hour of her sicknessand pain and death (I am not
imagining a story), the message fromthe far-awayplace of his fame will
strengthen her heart for the laststruggle, and the thought that he will come to
follow her hearse forecastsa brightness on her grave. The old creature
unselfishly glories in him who was her charge, and that boasting is not
despicable, but humanly beautiful and even grand. So, who does not know
that "the poor swearing soldier" may come so to glory in his country's flag,
and his regiment's honour, and his captain's renown, that he will step forward
to be shotdown into the ditch, that unpraised and unnoticed there his body
may support the feet of gallant comrades on their way to victory. His glorying

is unselfish, and for that reasonnot despicable, but sublime. And I am deeply
convinced, brethren, that no life of yours or mine canever be so fine and
potent as it is capable of becoming, so long as it contents itself by merely
restraining this Galatianvanity, and does not go on to replace it by apostolic
enthusiasm. In other words, to make the best of our lives, they must be utterly
consecratedto some cause outside themselves.
II. We pass on to considerTHE BASIS OR SUBJECT OF THE APOSTLE'S
GLORYING. "I glory in nothing but a cross." Butthis paradox, though at the
time a" stumbling-block" and "foolishness,"is by no means a permanent
difficulty of the gospel. Foroften and often throughout the course of history
you find things that visibly were weak and contemptible transfigured by
splendid principles behind them into a glory that has burned their image on
the minds of men for ever. A simple example will serve. One of the notable
traditions of the world is that of the gallant burgher of Flensburg, who, on his
way to have his battle-wounds dressed, paused, with Sidney's very
exclamation, "Thy need is greaterthan mine," to empty the contents of his
own flask into the lips of a dying enemy. But perhaps you have heard how,
when his noble offer of help was replied to only by a desperate wound from
the hand of him whom he was denying himself to befriend, he still persistedin
his mercy; and just muttering, "Rascal, Iwould have given you the whole
bottle, but now you shall only have the half," drained off a part himself, and
with the reststill easedthe thirst of his unworthy foe. The woodenbottle,
pierced with an arrow, which his king, on making him a noble, gave him as his
armorial bearings, was itself of no great concern. But behind that trifle, you
see, there lay a deed and a principle which have lifted it among the noblest
emblems of chivalry, and made it a thing in which the hero's sons might
"glory," while a whisper of his deed lingered in tradition or a tinge of his
blood was in the veins of men. But what are those transfiguring principles
behind the symbol? Of these two principles, love and sacrifice, the Cross is the
external token, and from them, for the apostle and all men, it derived its
meaning and its glory.
1. Love.
2. Sacrifice.
III. But now, IN WHAT SENSE WAS THE WORLD CRUCIFIED TO THE
APOSTLE, AND HE TO THE WORLD, BY DEVOTION TO THE CROSS
OF THE SAVIOUR? What is the meaning of this language? Well, I fancy we
have all seen, in common life, something very like it; and borrowing an
illustration, it may be possible to paint the truth in other colours than its own.
Perhaps you have knownsome young neighbour of yours very fond of singing,

very fond of reading, very fond of drawing and sketching, and passionately
fond of society. She is now only a few years older, nothing more. But how
comes it that the only songs she cares fornow are simple lullabies; and all the
pictures she makes are little rapid ones, to be crushed the next hour by baby
fingers; and tales of half a page are her only literature? Besides,she does does
not now much care for society. There is a transformation, and by that infant
life given in charge to her the world that once was hers is become dead to her
and she dead to the world. Is not this something akin to the greatapostle's
transformation? I repeat that the problem of the Christian life for you and me
is likely somewhatdifferent to what it was for this first greatmissionary. Him
the Cross ofChrist severedoff entirely from the world's pleasures and
business. You and me it sends back with purified motives to the world's
pleasures and business. The question is, In what way should I be dead to the
world, and the world dead to me? One often wonders why it is that men and
women, capable of such high and varied enjoyments and with things so
beautiful and goodaround them, are yet able on the whole to enjoy life so
little, and in grasping natural good, find it become ashes in their hands; and
the glory of what they coveted, when they have gotit, becomes darkness to
their eyes. I do not believe there are half the men of your acquaintance who
have tried hard to make the most of the world, and have succeededsplendidly,
who, if askedin private conference seriously, willnot answerthat substantial
happiness rarely advancedwith upward movement; and that their outward
triumphs have very largely been inner disappointment. What is the meaning
of that old lament on the folly of the sons of men? Is it God's way of
commentary on what apparently is the sentiment of our text, namely, that
every man's goodconsists in dying to the ordinary affairs of time? I was just
thinking over these commonplace matters lastnight, brethren, when, looking
out of my own window, I saw a dark crescentcreeping over the surface of our
lovely full moon; on and on it spread, till it blotted out her whole mild light,
leaving her a big ashy ball hanging out from the sky, and the earth in
comparative darkness. The fault of last night's eclipse is not altogetherto be
chargedupon the beautiful moon. It was our ownearth that swung itself in
betweenher and the sun, preventing the solarrays from getting at our
attendant, and then, of course, she had a natural revenge upon us, in not being
able to reflect them back upon ourselves again. But the darkness of the moon
was just our own shadow falling upon her surface, and blotting out her
beauty. Brethren, I could not help feeling it was a symbol of what often
happens in my own life and that of thousands about me. This belief of my
heart never wavers, that God Almighty has made all things of which the world
is composedto bless and please and gladden the lives of His dear children. His

love is reflectedfrom every one of them. But we fling upon them the shadow
of our own selfishness andvices, and then, in return, they throw back upon
our hearts the dark eclipse-shade ofsorrow and disappointment. Forinstance,
we win wealth: and if we got it righteously, and used it nobly and usefully, let
us not talk the common cant about its powerlessnessto yield a pleasure that
will not cloy, and afford a true and solid satisfaction. Butwe getit by "shady
dealing," or we use it selfishly, to the hardening of our own hearts, or cruelly,
to the injury instead of the blessing of others; and is it wonderful that God's
love is not reflectedin the glitter of our gold, and that the light of our
prosperity is darkness? How much of the eclipse ofour lawful joy is the
shadow of our own guilt and selfishness? ButI repeat again, it is not
necessary, oreven probable, that your call, like that of Saul of Tarsus, is to
become, as if crucified by Christ's Cross, deadto secularaims, common
pleasures, and domestic comforts and attachments. Your vocationmay be to
live in and enjoy these for your owngood and the benefit of men. And I know
of no lawful business, the lowliest, that cannotbe so administered as to do
essentialservice to that gospelcause whichis wide enough (if we were wide
enough to understand it) to embrace all tendencies of goodto the souls or the
bodies of men; whose Author not merely taught the consciences,but fed the
hunger of His followers, andto which every part of man is redeemed and
precious.
(John Irwin, M. A.)
False grounds of boasting
John Bulmer, B. D. , Mus. Bac.Putting out of sight their specialreference, it
will be a legitimate use of these words to regard them, in a generalview, as
condemnatory of all vainglory, as conveying to all persons who would boast
themselves in things unworthy to be made ground of exultation. It is natural
to man, in entire accordance withthe law of his corrupt nature, thus to glory.
He will pride himself on something that he has, or does, or is, too often unduly
valuing himself on the score ofit. Eachhuman excellence, eachworldly
advantage, will, in turn, serve to elate the mind of its possessor. One man will
esteemhimself on accountof his personal qualities, moral or intellectual;
another will regardwith complacencyhis rank and influence, his wealth, or
other favourable outward circumstance. All which various things, unsuitable
wherein to glory, are briefly summed up in the words of the prophet
Jeremiah, and at the same time contrastedwith that which is the one goodand
lawful ground of all human boasting:"Thus saith the Lord: let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not
the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he

understandeth and knowethMe, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-
kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth" (Jeremiah9:23,24). Thus,
no human worth or greatness, no earthly satisfactionorcomforts, nothing in
the shape of good, that our present mortal life can yield, may be acquiescedin
as an end, and rejoiced in for its own sake;on the contrary, man's real
satisfactionand rejoicing must be in his God. As a sinner, more especially, his
joy will consistherein, that he has "seenthe salvationof God" as revealedin
the gospelofHis Son, Jesus Christ; and the language ofexultation most
becoming to him will be that uttered of old by the blessedVirgin: "My soul
doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoicedin God my Saviour." But,
although the talents, of whatever kind, which God has given to eachof us, do
not afford ground or excuse for self-complacency, still, rightly used, there is a
lawful satisfactionin their possession. Recognizedas from the hand of God,
enjoyed in His fear and love, and diligently improved to His honour and glory,
they may well be rejoicedin as the instruments of our happiness. It is only
when they are thanklesslyreceived, or used without reference to the purpose
of Him who bestowedthem, that they lose their value to us, or become worse
than valueless. And the guilt of such ingratitude is only equalled by the folly of
men's priding and vaunting themselves in the possessionof that of which they
have no certain tenure, and which, at any moment, may, in just judgment, be
withdrawn from them.
(John Bulmer, B. D. , Mus. Bac.)
No Christianity without the CrossThatcelebrateddivine, JonathanEdwards,
in giving his interesting diary of the life of Brainerd, the greatAmerican
apostle, who was the means of converting thousands of the wild Indians,
records that for some time poor Brainerd, in simplicity and not in guile,
thought that the best way to make men sober was by preaching to them the
attributes of God, laying hold of the functions of conscience, andkeeping the
Cross in the background. It is a remarkable fact that he found the whole
system a failure; he could not produce one sober man. "Then," he says, "I
bethought me that I would go and preach Jesus Christ; and many a hard face
relaxed, many an eye shed tears that had never wept before, and I found that
the bestway to make men soberwas to make them spiritual;" and from
henceforth he gloried in and held forth nothing but the Cross.
Mistakenconcealmentof the Cross
H. Melvill, B. D.It is recorded of some of the Romish missionaries, thatin
their endeavours to bring overthe heathen to Christianity, they scrupulously
kept the crucifixion out of sight, considering.thatsuch a topic would create
prejudices with those whom they wished to convince;and it is well known that

the Moravianmissionaries — men of extraordinary piety and zeal —
laboured for a long time in Greenland without at leastgiving prominence to
the doctrine of the Atonement, believing it necessaryto clearthe way, and
prepare men's minds, before they advancedthe truth of Christ's death — a
truth so likely, as they thought, to give fatal offence, even to the most
degradedand barbarous. In eachcase the same feeling was at work — the
feeling that there is something very humiliating in the Cross, and that human
reason, and yet more, human pride must recoil from the thought of being
savedby One who died as a malefactor;and you must all be aware that this
doctrine is not one which commends itself at once to those whom it promises
to rescue;on the contrary, it almostinvariably excites opposition, because
instead of flattering any one passionit demands the subjugation of all. Yet
Christianity is valuable and glorious on those very accounts onwhich, in
common estimation, it must move the antipathies of its hearers. He who keeps
back the doctrine of the Cross, is all the while withholding that which gives its
majesty to the Christian religion, and is striving to apologisefor its noblest
distinction. Instead of admitting what may be styled "the shame of the Cross,"
we should boldly affirm and exhibit its glory. The doctrine has only to be
fairly exhibited and fully expanded, in order to its attracting the warmest
admiration.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
Meanness ofself-boasting
H. W. Beecher.IfI were a pupil of Titian, and he should design my picture,
and sketchit for me, and look over my work every day, and make suggestions,
and then, when I had exhausted my skill, he should take the brush and give
the finishing touches, bringing out a part here and there, and making the
whole glow with beauty, and then I should hang it upon the wall, and call it
mine, what a meanness it would be! When life is the picture, and Christ is the
Designerand Master, whatunutterable meanness it is to allow all the
excellencesto be attributed to ourselves!
(H. W. Beecher.)
Christ crucified the preacher's theme
J. A. James.The pulpit is intended to be a pedestalfor the cross, though, alas!
even the cross itself, it is to be feared, is sometimes used as a mere pedestalfor
the preacher's fame. We may roll the thunders of eloquence, we may dart the
coruscations ofgenius, we may scatterthe flowers of poetry, we may diffuse
the light of science,we may enforce the precepts of morality, from the pulpit;
but if we do not make Christ the greatsubjectof our preaching, we have

forgottenour errand, and shall do no good. Satantrembles at nothing but the
Cross:at this he does tremble; and if we would destroyhis power, and extend
that holy and benevolentkingdom, which is righteousness,peace,and joy in
the Holy Ghost, it must be by means of the Cross.
(J. A. James.)
Glorying in the Cross
Richard Watson.The doctrine of the text is, that the death of Christ, as an
expiatory sacrifice, is the glory of the true Christian. This is that greattruth
which there have been so many strenuous efforts in all ages to subvert. At first
it was opposedby Jewishzealots, and by Gentile philosophers; and at present
it is equally opposedby pharisaic speculatists in religion, who have no
adequate views of the evil of sin, and the rights and honour of the Divine
government. It is, however, the key-stone of the Christian arch; and it
therefore becomes us to hold it in its place.
I. REASONS FOR GLORYING IN THE CROSS.
1. We glory in the doctrine of the Cross — the justification of guilty men
through a propitiatory sacrifice — because ofits antiquity. Antiquity is no
excuse for error. Its hoariness, like that of age, cannotof itself claim
reverence. The oldness of an opinion is no proof of its truth. No opinion which
affects the foundations of a religion, or stands connectedwith a sinner's
acceptancewith God, can be true, if it be new; if it be not as old as the human
race itself, consideredas fallen creatures. We glory in the antiquity of this
doctrine. It was taught by patriarchs and prophets; the law of ceremonies was
its grand hieroglyphical record;the first sacrificeswere its types; the first
awakenedsinner, with his load of guilt, fell upon this rock, and was
supported; and by the sacrifice ofChrist shall the last savedsinner be raised
to glory.
2. We glory in the doctrine of the Cross, becauseit forms an important part of
the revelationof the New Testament. This is indeed our principal reasonfor
boasting in it; for that which is revealedby God must be truth and goodness.
3. We glory in the Cross of Christ as affording the only sure ground of
confidence to a penitent sinner. When preachedto the brokenin spirit it
strikes hope into the deepestdarkness ofdespair. It is life to the dead.
4. We glory in the Cross because ofits moral effects.
II. Let us attempt to derive some IMPROVEMENT from the whole.
1. Is there any personhere, who, allured by the infidelity or semi-infidelity of
the age, has denied or derided this doctrine? You are ashamedof the faith of

your forefathers;and what do you glory in now? In your new rational
discoveries?
2. But I address more who hold and respectthis doctrine. But do you still
cherish the love of sin, and live under its power? O the intolerable hell of the
reflection, that you have slighted a Redeemer!
3. I grant that practicallythe doctrine of the Cross is too often made to
encourage indifference to religion.
4. Lastly, I recommend you to consider, that the grand practical effectwe are
to expect from the death of Christ, after we have receivedremissionof sins
through His blood, is to become crucified to the world; and that the world
should be crucified to us. Happy state of those who yield to the full influence
of the Cross!
(Richard Watson.)
The Cross a reality in our faith
Canon G. E. Jelf.Outwardly we make much of the cross;we place it, and we
rightly place it (for we are not ashamedof the symbol of our salvation), over
the sacredtable of our Lord, remembering the sacrifice ofHis death. We
carve it, in polished marble or beautiful stone, for the gables ofour churches
or the graves which contain the blesseddead. We emboss it in wood or ivory
on our prayer-books. We wearit, in gold, or silver, or jet, or bronze, on our
breast. The Victoria Cross is our most prized decoration. The Geneva Cross
protects our ambulances. The Church of England Temperance Societyadopts
the cross as its badge. A combination of three crossesmakes up the Union
Jack, ournational standard, our prints are setin cross frames. All sorts of
notices have the cross for their border. Very many, following the early
Christians, use the signof the cross, in the midst of the congregation. Lovely
flowers and ripened corn are put togetherinto this shape for the harvest
ornamentation of the sanctuary;and pictures of our dying Lord, as He hung
for us upon the tree of shame, are common things in our homes. Yet, after all,
do we, as a nation, do we, as a Church, do we, as individual Christians, really
glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I. IS FAITH IN AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR INFLUENCING THOROUGHLY,
OR AT LEAST MORE AND MORE, YOUR DAILY LIFE AND
CONVERSATION?The factthat Christ died for us — for you, for me — is
just as true and certainfor us as it was for St. Paul. But do we, as he did,
make Christ the greatreality of the spiritual world, and determine thankfully
to live and die for Him?

II. DOES THE CROSS BECOMETHE TRUE MEASURE FOR OUR SELF-
CONGRATULATION? How could we plume ourselves on our cleverness, or
our quick progress, orour skill in music, or our powerof language, orthe
influence which we have gained by money, or by eloquence, or by social
talents, if we did but recollectthat the triumph of the Son of God was won by
His emptying Himself of His glory and bending to the lowestplace — the
death of the slave and the malefactor, apparently smitten of God and afflicted
by the hiding awayof His face? Truly, the higher we are, the more we are to
humble ourselves, in order to grow like unto Him.
III. IS THE CROSS ABASING US, specially in the place where God's honour
dwelleth, and wherein the presence ofour once crucified, now glorious Lord,
does chiefly manifest itself?
IV. IS THE CROSS MYSECRET JOY? Doesit really represent the attitude
of my soul towards God? How deeply many of us must feel, that we want less
of the Cross on the heart, and more of it in the heart! We want, not so much
the display of the form, as the proof that we are not ashamed of the thing,
when we are with the men and women of the world.
V. IS THE CROSS OUR CHIEF HELP IN TROUBLE — that whereonwe
can stay ourselves whenall our earthly friends are takenaway — because it
invites us in our sorrow to "the fellowshipof His sufferings"?
(Canon G. E. Jelf.)
Three crucifixions
C. H. Spurgeon.I. CHRIST CRUCIFIED. In this Paul gloried so as to glory in
nothing else, for he viewed it —
1. As a display of the Divine character(2 Corinthians 5:19).
2. As the manifestationof the Saviour's love (John 15:13).
3. As the putting away of sin by atonement(Hebrews 9:26).
4. As the breathing of hope, peace, and joy to the desponding soul.
5. As the greatmeans of touching hearts and changing lives.
6. As depriving death of terror, seeing Jesus died.
7. As ensuring heaven to all believers. In any one of these points of view, the
Cross is a pillar of light, flaming with unutterable glory.
II. THE WORLD CRUCIFIED. As the result of seeing all things in the light of
the Cross, he saw the world to be like a felon executedupon a cross.
1. Its charactercondemned(John 12:31).

2. Its judgment, contemned. Who cares forthe opinion of a gibbeted felon?
3. Its teachings despised. What authority can it have?
4. Its pleasures, honours, treasures rejected.
5. Its pursuits, maxims, and spirit eastout.
6. Its threatenings and blandishments made nothing of.
7. Itself soonto pass away, its glory and its fashion fading.
III. THE BELIEVER CRUCIFIED. To the world, Paul was no better than a
man crucified. If faithful, a Christian may expectto be treated as only fit to be
put to a shameful death. He will probably find —
1. Himself at first bullied, threatened, and ridiculed.
2. His name and honour held in small repute because ofhis associationwith
the godly poor.
3. His actions and motives misrepresented.
4. Himself despisedas a sort of madman, or of doubtful intellect.
5. His teaching described as exploded, dying out, etc.
6. His way and habits reckonedto be puritanic and hypocritical.
7. Himself given up as irreclaimable, and therefore dead to
society.Conclusion:
1. Let us glory in the Cross, becauseit gibbets the world's glory, and honour,
and power.
2. Let us glory in the Cross, whenmen take from us all other glory.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Reasonsfor glorying in the Cross
Albert Barnes.Itis a subjectof rejoicing and glorying that we have such a
Saviour. The world lookedupon Him with contempt; and the Cross was a
stumbling-block to the Jew, and folly to the Greek. But to the Christian this
Cross is the subject of glorying. It is so because —(1)of the love of Him who
suffered there;(2) of the purity and holiness of His character, for the innocent
died there for the guilty;(3) of the honour there put on the law of God by His
dying to maintain it unsullied;(4) of the reconciliationthere made for sin,
accomplishing what could be done by no other oblation, and by no powerof
man;(5) of the pardon there procured for the guilty;(6) of the fact that
through it we become deadto the world, and are made alive unto God;(7) of
the support and consolationwhich go from that Cross to sustain us in trial;

and(8) of the fact that it procured for us admission into heaven, a title to the
world of glory. All is glory around the Cross. It was a glorious Saviourwho
died; it was glorious love that led Him to die; it was a glorious objectto
redeem a world; and it is unspeakable glory to which He will raise lostand
ruined sinners by His death. Oh, who would not glory in such a Saviour!
(Albert Barnes.)
The Cross the foundation of the Bible
Bishop Ryle.If you have not yet found out that Christ crucified is the
foundation of the whole volume, you have hitherto read your Bible to very
little profit. Your religion is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a
keystone, a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, a
lamp without oil. It will not comfortyou; it will not deliver your soulfrom
hell.
(Bishop Ryle.)
Andrew Murray.Do not be satisfiedwith so many others only to know the
Cross in its powerto atone. The glory of the Cross is, that it was not only to
Jesus the path to life, but that eachmoment it canbecome to us the power that
destroys sin and death, and keeps us in the powerof the eternallife. Learn
from your Saviour the holy art of using it for this. Faith in the power of the
Cross and its victory will day by day make dead the deeds of the body, the
lusts of the flesh. This faith will teachyou to count the Cross, with its
continual death to self, all your glory. Because youregard the Cross not as one
who is still on the way to crucifixion, with the prospectof a painful death, but
as one to whom the crucifixion is past, who alreadylives in Christ, and now
only bears the Cross as the blessedinstrument through which the body of sin
is done away(Romans 6:6, R.V.). The banner under which complete victory
over sin and the world is to be won is the Cross.
(Andrew Murray.)
The Cross ofChrist
H. Melvill, B. D.And we reckonit of importance, that we should occasionally
shift the ground of debate:and that thus, in the place of admitting what may
be styled, "the shame of the Cross,"we should boldly affirm and exhibit its
glory. With all our admissions, that at the first hearing there would be
something repulsive in the doctrine of Christ crucified; we believe that this
doctrine has only to be fairly exhibited and fully expanded, in order to its
attracting the warmestadmiration.

I. THE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD GLORY IN THE CROSS OF
CHRIST.
II. THE STRENGTHOF THE PARTICULAR REASON BY WHICH ST.
PAUL JUSTIFIES HIS BOASTING. Now we need hardly observe to you, that
so far as Christ Jesus Himself was concerned, it is not possible to compute
what may be called the humiliation, or the shame of the Cross. It is altogether
beyond our power to form any adequate conceptionof the degree in which the
Mediatorhumbled Himself when born of a woman, and taking part of flesh
and blood. We read nothing of shame in His becoming a man; but we do read
of His shame as dying as a malefactor. Indeed, we are not so to exult as to lose
those feelings of godly contrition which a sight of the cross should always
produce. But, nevertheless, though of all men perhaps St. Paul was the least
likely to forget or underrate the cause of sorrow presentedby the Cross, this
greatapostle could speak of glorying in the Cross — yea, could shun as a
greatsin, the glorying in anything beside. Why think ye was this? We would
first observe, that the greaterthe humiliation to which the Son of God
submitted, the greateris the demonstration of the Divine love towards man.
We show you, then, the Cross!Aye, the blazing of the sun, or the milder
shinings of the moon, or the processesofvegetation, or the seatings of mind,
are not a thousandth part so demonstrative of the love in which sinners are
beheld as this emblem of shame, this memento of ignominy. We proceedto
observe to you, that although to the eyes of sense there be nothing but shame
about the Cross, yetspiritual discernment proves it to be hung with the very
richest triumphs. It is necessaryto be admitted, that in one point of view there
was shame, degradation, and ignominy in Christ dying on the cross;but it is
equally certainthat in anotherthere was honour, victory, and triumph. We
are told that "through death Jesus Christ destroyedhim that had the power of
death, that is, the devil," and that "He made peace by the blood of the Cross."
We know that in dying the Redeemerbroke off the yoke from the neck of the
human population, wrenched from Satanthe sceptre which he had long
wielded as the godof this world, and scatteredthe seeds ofimmortality amid
the dust of the sepulchres. Indeed, I know you may tell me, that the result may
be glorious, and yet the means through which it is effecteddegradedand
ignoble; and we can wellbelieve, that had the Redeemerappearedat the
head of the heavenly hosts;had He come the first time as He shall the second,
with a thousand times ten thousand of ministering spirits; and had He met
Satanand his angels with all the retinue of evil, and overthrown them in some
such battle as that of Armageddon in the last day; we can wellbelieve that
those who now see little but shame in the Cross would have exulted in the

victory of the Cross. Yet what is called shame is one greatelement of glory. It
would have been comparatively nothing, that as the leaderof the celestial
army Christ should have overthrown the enemies of God and man. The
splendid thing is, that He trod the wine-press alone, and that of the people
there was with Him none. To have destroyeddeath by living would have been
wonderful; but to have destroyedit by dying — oh, this is the prodigy of
prodigies, the glory of glories!But hitherto we have spokenonly
comparatively: we have rather shownthat we canhave no such greatcause
for glorying as the Cross, than that we should glory in nothing but the Cross.
It is to the latter extent that the apostle carries his determination. It is a truth
which we have frequently laboured to setplainly before you, that we are
indebted to the mediation of Jesus for all we have in the present life, as well as
for all we hope for in the next. Yes, man of science, thine intellect was saved
for thee through the Cross!Yes, father of a family, the endearments of home
were rescuedby the Cross!Yes, admirer of nature, the glorious things in the
mighty panorama retain their place through the erectionof the Cross!Yes,
ruler of an empire, the subordination of the different classes, the links of
society, the energies ofgovernment, are all owing to the Cross!And when the
mind passes onto the considerationof spiritual benefits, where canyou find
one not connectedwith the Cross? If we canaffirm all this of the Cross (and
there is no exaggeration, forevery blessing we have, and every hope we
possess, is derived to us through the sacrifice ofthe Mediator), then to glory in
the Cross is to glory that God giveth us all things richly to enjoy; that He
heareth our prayers; and that to understand, to know Him aright, is to love
Him. It is to glory that there is yet fertility in the soil, yet strength in the
intellect, that grace is bestowedonus here, and that a kingdom is ready for us
hereafter. I observe in the lastplace, that there is a specialreasongiven by the
apostle for his glorying in the Cross;and which, though perhaps included in
those which have been advanced, yet demands. from its importance, a brief
and separate consideration. St. Paul gloried in the Cross, because by it "the
world was crucified unto him, and he unto the world." What are we to
understand by this two-fold crucifixion? The world was to St. Paul as a
crucified thing, and St. Paul was to the world as a crucified thing. They were
dead one to the other. The apostle regardedthe world, with its pomps, its
shows, its pleasures, its riches, its honours, with no other feelings than those
with which he would have regardeda malefactorfastenedto a cross, and
whose condition could present no desire for participation; or the world
appearedno more glorious, no more attractive to Paul than it would to a man
in the agonyof dissolution, who, suspended on the cross, wouldlook down
with a kind of insensibility on objects which before were precious in his sight.

Thus the world was to the apostle as a crucified thing; or, to express the same
idea somewhatdifferently, the apostle was to the world as a crucified man: so
that if we put awaythe metaphor, the thing affirmed is, that St. Paul was
completely a new creature, with affections detachedfrom things below, and
fixed on things above; and he ascribes to the virtues of the Cross this change
in himself, and then considers the change as a sufficient vindication of his
resolution, that he would glory in nothing but the Cross. Fora moment let us
examine these points; they are full of interesting instruction. It is one of the
greatfruits of Christ's passionand death, that the life-giving influences of the
Holy Ghostare shed on us abundantly. It is, therefore, through the Cross that
we become new creatures, crucifiedto the world, and the world crucified unto
us; and it is through the sacrifice presentedon the cross that those influences
are derived to us, without which they could do nothing for our moral
renovation. There is more to be said than this. Would you learn to despise the
pomps and vanities of earth, to hate sin and to withstand evil lusts? Then must
you be much on the mount of crucifixion; much with Jesus in His last struggle
with evil. Who would yield to a corrupt passion, who would indulge himself in
unlawful gratification, who would hearkento base temptations if his eye were
on Christ, "woundedfor our transgressions andbruised for our iniquities"?
The sight of Jesus piercedby and for our sins is the greatpreservative against
our yielding to the pleadings of corrupt nature. So true is it, that by the Cross
of Christ the world is crucified to us, and we unto the world. Can a stronger
reasonbe assignedwhy we should glory in the Cross of the Redeemer? By
nature we are prisoners — we would glory in being free; we are powerless —
we would glory in being mighty; we are doomedto eternalmisery — we
would glory in being heirs of happiness. Liberty, strength, immortality, all
flow out of the crucifixion of the world to man, and of man to the world.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
The Cross ofJesus Christ
J. H. M. D'Aubigne, D. D.To glory is one of the most characteristic
propensities of our nature. It is seenin every class ofsociety, and in every
portion of the human race. From the highestdignitary to the lowestbeggar,
from the enlightened and refined citizen to the savage in whose mind scarcely
a spark of reasonappears, alldiscoversomething in which they think they can
glory. And in what do they glory? In foolish toys, of which they should rather
be ashamed than proud. God designedto give man something in which he
could reasonablyglory: He gave him "the Cross ofJesus Christ." This
meditation will be devoted to the examination of the new right of glorying
which has been granted to man. On this subject there are two opinions: one is

the apostle's opinion, which we shall sustain. The other is the opinion of the
world, which we shall refute.
I. THE APOSTLE'S OPINION.
1. The first reasonwhich led him to glory in the Cross was becausehe saw the
characterand glory of Godfully displayed in it.
2. But if St. Paul gloried in the Cross ofChrist because it revealedto him all
the glory of God, he gloried in it quite as much because it taught him his own
wretchedness. Letthe proudest of men draw near; let him stand at the foot of
that cross erectedforhis salvation, and what will become of his pride? The
Cross destroys that deceiving glass whichmagnifies us in our own eyes.
3. He glories in it especiallybecause itraises him to the level of true greatness.
4. But notice the motive which the apostle himself assigns. "Godforbid," he
says, "that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." This, my brethren, is
indeed a glorious advantage ofthe Cross of Jesus Christ. Yes, my brethren,
the death of the Redeemeris the only thing that canmake you hate your own
evil nature. It is the true remedy for your disease. Butthe Cross ofChrist will
also crucify the world to you; that is, it will destroy in you all the attractions of
the vanities of this world. You cannot love both the Cross and the world. But
the lastmotive which induced St. Paul to exclaim, as he was advancing into
Asia, Greece,orItaly, or crossing the sea, that he desired no other glory, was
his conceptionof the power of that Cross, andof the triumphs which awaitit.
The greatapostle knew that it was all-sufficient to give immortality to those
who had fallen into the deepestmisery. He knew that it had redeemeda great
people, both in the cities of Galatia, to which he wrote, and in Greece,Rome,
and Jerusalem. He knew its future destiny, that kings and nations would come
and prostrate themselves before it, that "the people would bring their sons
and their arms;" and that it had receivedthe ends of the earth for an
inheritance.
II. THE OPINION OF THE WORLD. Is this your language? If such was St.
Paul's opinion, what is yours? There is perhaps no truth which encounters so
much opposition from the world as this. How many there are who say, on the
contrary, I will glory in anything rather than the Cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ! And why is it thus? Perhaps you ask, "Is it necessaryto think so much
of the Cross, whenthere are so many other subjects in religion of more
importance than this?" Of more importance than the Cross!We might here
remind you of what we have just said, but we prefer to refute you by your own
words. You wish to set aside the Cross as a thing of little importance; and yet

you exclaim, "We cannot conceive ofsuch a thing as that Cross, that expiatory
death of God's only Son; it is too much for our reason." How cansuch
decisions be made to agree? How canthe Cross be at once so contemptible
and so astonishing? If it so greatly surpassesyour comprehension, why do you
esteemit so lightly? "But," you will say, "it is this that perplexes us. If the
Cross be true, then it is certain that the foundation of all our pretensions must
give way, and that we must glory in it alone. But is it true?" But, without
seeking a witness in heaven, is not earth itself sufficient? Think of the most
striking events of antiquity; not a vestige of them remains, and it is only
through the ancientchronicles which have been handed down to us that we
are acquaintedwith their existence. But it is not so with the expiatory death of
Christ; this fact is living in the world. The present state of the world bears
testimony concerning it. It is from the blood which flowedfrom that cross that
all those nations have sprung which have unfurled the sacredbanner overthe
globe which they rule. Among them everything speaks ofit. Shall we tell you
why you will not know it? Becauseyoudo not feel the need of it. This is the
point to which the whole case refers. We seize with eagernessthe aid which we
think to be necessary, but we despise it if we think it superfluous. The Cross of
Jesus Christ is designedto purchase eternalhappiness for you; but you would
fain purchase it for yourselves. The Cross ofJesus Christ is designedto
procure sanctification;but you would fain procure it yourselves. But perhaps
you say— as some may say with truth — "I do not deny the Cross of Christ."
That is true; you believe it, but partially. You do not deny the fact, but you
evade it. You dare not believe, fully and openly, that the Son of God was
nailed to the cross for your sake;and therefore, so far as its influence on your
heart is concerned, it is a fact of no importance. Forsakethis ruinous semi-
Christianity. Any form of Christianity of which Christ crucified is not the
centre to which everything tends and from which everything proceeds is a
false Christianity. Why should you not believe what St. Paul believed?
(J. H. M. D'Aubigne, D. D.)
The methods of glorying in the Cross of Christ
Bishop Atterbury.I. First, I am to show that whatever excellencies, outward
advantages, orprivileges it may be our lot to enjoy, yet it misbecomes us, as
we are Christians, to glory in them. I do not saythat we are to be insensible of
such advantages, to have no relish of them, no complacence inthem; for
neither reasonnor religion require such a conduct from us. They are the good
things of life, given us by the Author of all good, on purpose that we should, in
due measure and season, enjoythem. They may be used, if they are not over-
valued; if we do not suffer our affections to cleave too closelyto them, and our

minds to be in any degree elatedand swelledby a reflectionupon them. The
Christian religion, by the tendency of all its doctrines (particularly that of
Christ crucified), by the manner of its progress, and the mean characters of
those who first promulgated and embraced it, seems to have been so
throughout contrived as effectuallyto mortify and beat down any undue
complacence we may have in ourselves on such occasions.
II. Secondly, it highly becomes us to glory in the Cross of Christ, as I proposed
in the secondplace to show;for since by the alone merits of His Cross we gain
all the advantages ofthe Christian dispensation, are reconciledto God, and
made capable of heaven and happiness, we cannotbut glory in that Cross, if
indeed we value ourselves upon our being Christians.
III. Thirdly, by what methods, and in opposition to what enemies of the Cross
of Christ, we are obliged to glory in it.
1. Now, the first step requisite towards our complying with this obligationis,
frequently to meditate on the sufferings and death of Christ. We glory in
nothing but what we esteemand value; and what we value much we shall be
apt often and attentively to consider (1 Timothy 3:16). We should turn it on all
sides, and considerit as the proper subject of our awe and wonder, our joy
and pleasure, our gratitude and love, till we have warmed our hearts with a
lively sense of the inestimable benefits conferredon us by the means of it.
2. A secondsteptowards fulfilling our obligation to glory in the Cross of
Christ is, if we endeavour to imitate the perfect example He hath set us, and to
form in our minds some faint resemblancesofthose meek graces andvirtues
which adorn the characterof our suffering Saviour. And this step is a natural
consequence ofthe former; for imitation will in some degree spring from
attention.
3. A third instance and proof of our glorying as becomes us in the Cross of
Christ is, if we frequently and worthily celebrate the memorial of His death,
the blessedsacramentofHis body and blood.
4. In the fourth place, we may be said, very properly said, to glory in the
Cross of Christ, when we zealously assertand vindicate the true doctrine of
His satisfactionagainstall the enemies and opposers ofit; againstthe false
notions of the Jews, andthe false religionof the Mahometans;againstthe
mischievous opinions of some deceivedor deceiving Christians; againstthe
vain pretences of reasonand philosophy; and againstthe proud insults and
blasphemies of atheists and infidels.
(Bishop Atterbury.)

The Surety's Cross
H. Bonar, D. D.The death of the cross has always been, above every other,
reckonedthe death of shame. The fire, the sword, the axe, the stone, the
hemlock, have in their turns been used by law as its executioners;but these
have, in so many cases, beenassociatedwith honour, that death by means of
them has not been reckonedeither cursed or shameful. Not so the cross. Not
till more than four thousand years had gone by did it begin to be rumoured
that the cross was not what men thought it, the place of the curse and shame,
but of strength and honour and life and blessing. Thenit was that there burst
upon the astonishedworld the bold announcement, "Godforbid," etc. From
that day the Cross became "a power" in the earth; a powerwhich went forth,
like the light, noiselesslyyet irresistibly, smiting down all religions alike, all
shrines alike, all altars alike;sparing no superstition nor philosophy; neither
flattering priesthood nor succumbing to statesmanship;tolerating no error,
yet refusing to draw the swordfor truth; a powersuperhuman, yet wielded by
human, not angelic, hands; "the powerof God unto salvation." Letus look at
the Cross as the Divine proclamation and interpretation of the things of God;
the keyto His character, His word, His ways, His purposes;the clue to the
intricacies of the world's and the Church's history.
I. IT IS THE INTERPRETEROF MAN. By means of it God has brought out
to view what is in man. In the Cross man has spokenout. He has exhibited
himself, and made unconscious confessionof his feelings, especiallyin
reference to God— to His Being, His authority, His character, His law, His
love. The Cross was the public declarationof man's hatred of God, man's
rejectionof His Son, and man's avowalof his belief that he needs no Saviour.
If any one, then, denies the ungodliness of humanity, and pleads for the native
goodness ofthe race, I ask, Whatmeans yon Cross?
II. IT IS THE INTERPRETER OF GOD. It is as the God of grace that the
Cross reveals Him. It is love, free love, that shines out in its fulness there (1
John 3:16). Nor could any demonstration of the sincerity of the Divine love
equal this. It is love strongerthan shame, and suffering, and death; love
immeasurable, love unquenchable. Truly, "Godis love." But righteousness as
well as grace is here. We learn God's righteous characterin many ways. We
learn it from its dealings with righteousness,as in the case ofall unfallen ones;
we learn it still more fully from its dealings with sin, as in our fallen world;
but we learn it, most of all, from its dealings with both of these at once, and in
the same person, on the Cross ofChrist; for here is the righteous Sonof God
bearing the unrighteousness of men.

III. IT IS THE INTERPRETER OF LAW. It tells us that the law is holy, and
just, and good;that not one jot or tittle of it canpass away. The perfectionof
the law is the messagefrom Calvary, even more awfully than from Sinai. The
powerof law, the vengeance oflaw, the inexorable tenacity of law, the
grandeur of law, the unchangeable and infrangible sternness oflaw — these
are the announcements of the Cross.
IV. IT INTERPRETS SIN. The Cross took up the ten commandments, and on
eachof their "Thou shalts" and "Thou shalt nots," flung such a new and
Divine light, that sin, in all its hideousness of nature and minuteness of detail,
stoodout to view, as it never did before, "the abominable thing" which
Jehovahhates. It showedthat sin was no trifle which God would overlook;
that the curse was no mere threat which God could depart from when it suited
Him. It showedthat the standard of sin was no sliding scale, to be raisedor
loweredat pleasure;that the punishment of sin was no arbitrary infliction;
and that its pardon was not the expressionof Divine indifference to its evil.
V. IT INTERPRETS THE GOSPELThatgoodnews were on their way to us
was evident from the moment that Mary brought forth her first-born, and, by
Divine premonition, called His name "Jesus." Goodwillto men was then
proclaimed. But not till the Cross is erected, and the blood is shed, and the life
is taken, do we fully learn how it is that His work is so precious, and that the
tidings concerning it furnish so glorious a gospel.
VI. IT INTERPRETS SERVICE.We are redeemed that we may obey. We are
setfree that we may serve — even as God spoke to Pharaoh, "LetMy people
go, that they may serve Me." But the Cross defines the service, and shows us
its nature. It is the service of love and liberty; yet it is also the service of
reproach, and shame, and tribulation. We are crucified with Christ. It is not
His cross we bear. None but He could bear it. It is a cross of our own; calling
us to self-denial, flesh-denial, and world-denial; pointing out to us a path of
humiliation, trial, toil, weakness, reproach, suchas our Mastertrod.
(H. Bonar, D. D.)
J. Philip.Let us look for a very little to the expression, "the Cross of Christ."
This, my brethren, has different meanings in Scripture. Sometimes it signifies
simply the woodencross to which our Saviour was nailed — the accursedtree
on which He hung; sometimes, again, it is used in a figurative sense, to signify
those sufferings which our Saviour endured on the cross — the death which
He died on it. In a wider sense still, it is employed to designate the whole of
His sufferings both of His life and death, of which sufferings His death was the

consummation. Lastly, the expressionis not unfrequently used to denote the
doctrine of Christ's Cross;in other words, the way of salvationthrough a
crucified Saviour; and it is in this sense chiefly that we are to understand it in
the verse before us.
I. Let us considerthe nature and descriptionof Paul's feelings towards the
Cress ofChrist. "Godforbid," he says, "that I should glory, save in the Cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ." You all know, my brethren, what it is to glory in
any object. It is just to have a very high esteemfor it. For example, if we speak
of a man glorying in his goodname, his riches, or his friends, we just mean
that he esteems these things very highly, that he sets a greatvalue upon them.
The consequenceis that he thinks and talks continually about them, and
nothing soonerexcites his indignation than to hear them undervalued or
dispraised. When Paul says, then, that he gloried in the Cross ofChrist, you
are simply to understand him as meaning that he placeda high value upon it,
that he prized it greatly. The consequencewas, thatthat Cross was the all-
engrossing theme of his meditation, his conversation, and his preaching.
Observe, however, more closelythe nature of the apostle's glorying, as
describedin the text: "Godforbid that I should glory, save in the Cross ofour
Lord Jesus Christ. This shows his glorying in the Cross to have been an
exclusive glorying. The Cross not only appearedto him as an objectworthy of
esteem, but it appearedto him as the only such object. We often see men taken
up with severalobjects at once. No doubt there cannotwell be more than one
objecton which the mind is supremely set, but there may be others on which a
considerable share of attention is at the same time bestowed, and for which a
strong attachmentis also conceived. It filled his whole soul; it displacedand
shut out every lesserobject. Some of the Judaizing teachers among the
Galatians, while professing Christianity, were yet glorying more in some of
the institutions of the law and in the proselytes they made than in the grand
doctrines of the Cross;and Paul, with specialreference to these, says in the
text, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross." The gloryof the
Cross appearedto him so greatas to eclipse everyother object. Although, as
the Scriptures say, there is one glory in the sun, and another glory in the
moon, and another glory in the stars, for one stardiffereth from anotherstar
in glory, yet such is the superlative glory of the sun, that when once it has
risen and attained its meridian splendour all those lesserlights disappear.
II. Let us now point out some of the grounds of the apostle's glorying,
especiallythe one statedin the text. Notwithstanding the ignominy usually
attachedto the death of the cross, there was something transcendently
glorious in the death of Christ. Neverwere the Divine perfections so

conspicuouslydisplayed as in that event. The mighty changes whichthe
preaching of that Cross had produced, the wonderful effects which it had
wrought on a dark and benighted world, might well have made him glory in
its behalf. Was it not a glorious sight to see the wilderness and solitary place
made glad, and the desert rejoicing and blossoming as the rose? to see the
parched ground becoming a pool, and the thirsty land turned into springs of
water? But while the apostle thus gloriedin the effects produced by the Cross
upon others, his glorying as mentioned in the text seems to have had especial
reference to the effects it produced upon himself. "Bywhich," he says, "the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." But what was it that
produced such a change as this upon the aspectof the world to him? It was
just, my brethren, the Cross of Christ. No soonerwas it beheld by him than
the world lost its charms. The light which shone from the Cross atonce
revealedto him the true nature of all earthly things; it showedhim a
hideousness and ugliness in them that he had never discerned before. Many
things, you know, appearsmooth and beautiful in the dark but once let in the
light upon them, and they immediately weara very different aspect. So it was
in the case ofPaul. He thought at one time that the world was all fair and
lovely, because he viewed it through a thick and darkening medium, the veil of
unbelief. But when that veil was takenaway, and when the flood of light
which streams from Calvary's Cross was letin upon his soul, what a changed
aspectdid the once lovely scene beginto wear!But this was not the only effect
which the Cross of Christ produced on him. It not only made the world dead
to him, but him likewise deadto the world: "by which the world is crucified to
me, and I unto the world." Not only did the world become changedto him,
but he became changedtowards it. Notonly did it lose its charms, but he lost
his desires afterit. He now viewed its pleasures, its joys, its amusements, with
as little relish and delight as a man hanging on a cross wouldview the richest
delicacies andmost inviting fruits that might be spread out before him. The
current of his affections was completelychanged, and the direction they had
takenwas just the very reverse of that in which they had formerly been
flowing.
(J. Philip.)
W. H. Wardwell.This is the keynote of the Epistle, so that it may be calledthe
"Crucifixion Epistle." It reflects the glory of the Cross as presentedin this
chosenchampion of the Cross. And how?
1. In Paul's conversion.

2. The preaching of Paul reflects the glory of the Cross. This is the centre and
circumference of his thought.
3. The sufferings of Paul. He died daily.
4. The triumphs of Paul reflectthe glory of the Cross.
(W. H. Wardwell.)
The Cross ofChrist
D. Thomas, D. D.Every man has an objectof glory — the avaricious, wealth;
the vain, distinction; the ambitious, power; the self-righteous, virtue; the
philosophical, wisdom; the Christian, his Lord.
I. THE CROSS IS THE HIGHEST OBJECT OF HUMAN GLORY. Glorying
implies —
1. The highest appreciation of it. Paulvalued it more than talents, learning,
connections, influence, life. He lookedupon it —
(1)Theologically— upwards towards God.
(2)Morally — downwards on man.
2. A personalinterest in it.
3. A delight in professing it.
II. THE CROSS IS THE MIGHTIEST INSTRUMENT OF HUMAN
POWER.
1. What world it does not crucify.
(1)The physical.
(2)Philosophic.
(3)Artistic.
(4)Commercial.
(5)Social.
2. What world it does crucify — the corrupt moral world as animated by the
spirit of —
(1)Practicalatheism.
(2)Animalism.
(3)Selfishness.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
The glories of the Cross

Bishop Beveridge.I. WE HAVE NO OCCASION TO GLORY IN
ANYTHING WITHOUT THIS.
1. All men are naturally apt to glory in something.
2. There is nothing on earth but some one glories in it.
3. Many glory in wisdom, power, and riches (Jeremiah 9:23, 24); but
(1)these are folly, weakness,and poverty (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)in
themselves;
(2)are only useful as they glorify God, their real owner(1 Corinthians 4:7).
4. Some glory in their goodworks, but these are nought save as wrought by
the strength of the Cross, which, therefore, is the proper objectof our glory
through them.
II. WHAT INFINITE CAUSE WE HAVE TO GLORY IN THE CROSS,
AND IN THAT ONLY.
1. Its glory in itself consists in —
(1)The dignity of the Crucified.
(2)The atoning efficacyof the crucifixion.
(3)Its results, in the triumphant enthronement, intercession, andsovereignty
of the Son of God.
2. Its glory in relationto us. Hereby —
(1)Our sins are pardoned.
(2)We are justified.
(3)God is reconciled.
(4)The blessings ofthe covenantensured.
(5)The Holy Ghostgiven.
(6)The new creationeffected.
(Bishop Beveridge.)
A. F. Ewing., J. C. Galloway, M. A.I. PAUL GLORIED IN THE CROSS AS A
MAN GLORIES IN A GREAT AND WIDE-REACHING TRUTH.
1. There were truths in Judaism in which Paul once gloried, which possessed
vast breadth and stimulating power.
2. But they all paled before this.

II. Paul gloried in the CROSS AS A MAN GLORIES IN A GREAT TRUTH
WHICH HE HAS MADE HIS OWN.
1. Paul not merely possessedthe truth.
2. It possessedhim.
III. Paul gloried in the Cross BECAUSE IT WAS A GREAT PARADOX.
1. He had a peculiar affinity for paradoxes (2 Corinthians 6:9; 2 Corinthians
12:10;2 Corinthians 4:8).
2. This being Paul's tendency, the central paradox of Christianity was the very
thing for him.
(1)It was the triumph of weakness.
(2)This weak and despisedCross was to destroy the world without, and
(3)to conquer the world within.In conclusion:
1. There are four stagesofassentwhich we can give to any truth like that of
Christ's Cross.
(1)Understanding it.
(2)Accepting it.
(3)Comforting ourselves by it.
(4)Glorying in it.
2. Ii is impossible to understand the cross fully until we glory in it.
3. It is impossible to glory in it unless we are willing that the world should be
crucified to us and we to the world.
(A. F. Ewing.)It is not safe to judge by first appearances,otherwise we shall
deem the Cross repulsive.
I. ST. PAUL'S JUDGMENT ON THE CROSS.
1. The Cross was not a thing to be tolerated, but to be exulted in.
2. The Cross exceededallthings within his knowledge.
(1)He knew the philosophy of the day.
(2)He had seenthe achievements ofits art,
(3)and the military force of Rome.
(4)He had been a Pharisee.
3. He chose the Cross in preference to them all.
II. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH IT RESTED.

1. Notmerely the supernatural manifestations which invested it with
grandeur.
2. But mainly its spiritual significance.(1)The Cross is a revelation of the
glory of God. God's glory does not lie in His power or possessions, but
(a)in His righteousness;
(b)His love. The Cross sets this forth.(2) The Cross displays the true greatness
of man — Love for God and man.(3) The Cross is adapted to the chief
exigencyand other needs of men.
(a)Guilt;
(b)the need of a redeeming fact;
(c)the need of fellowshipwith a living person.(4)Its actualresults.
(a)Its first function in the apostolic age.
(b)Its ameliorating influence on the race at large.
(J. C. Galloway, M. A.)
I. ALMOST ALL MEN HAVE SOMETHING WHEREIN TO GLORY.
1. Men glory so as to become boastfuland full of vainglory.
2. Men are ruined by their glory.
3. Men glory in their shame.
4. Some glory —
(1)in physical strength, in which the ox excels them;
(2)in gold, which is only clay;
(3)in gifts, which are only talents which have been entrusted to them, and so
glory in the transient and the trifling.
5. Men rob God of His glory.
II. Paul had a rich choice of things in which he could have gloried.
1. Amongst the Jews he
(1)might have been an honoured rabbi;
(2)might have gloried in his genius, religious attainment.
2. As a Christian he might have gloried in
(1)his sufferings;
(2)his zeal;
(3)his work for Christ.

III. PAUL GLORIED IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. He does not here sayhe
gloried in Christ, though he did with all his heart. He might have gloried in —
1. The Incarnation.
2. Life.
3. Ascension.
4. Secondadvent.Yet he selectedthe Cross as the centre of the Christian
system. Learn:
1. The highest glory of our religion is the Cross.
2. To think of it till by the power of the Spirit we can say, "Godforbid," etc.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. THE CROSS IS THE TRUE SYMBOLOF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
1. What it seemedto the Jew. A symbol
(1)of failure;
(2)of servitude.
2. What is it to the Christian?
(1)The culmination of the Incarnation;
(2)a means of partaking of the Divine love.
II. GLORYING IN THE CROSS IS A SIGN OF TRUE RELIGION. It is —
1. To believe that religioncentres round a person.
2. To feel that Christ has entirely changedour relations to God.
(1)It has abolishedcircumcision.
(2)It has made the new nature the desideratum.
III. GLORYING IN THE CROSS IS AN EVIDENCE OF PRACTICAL
RELIGION.
1. By it the Christian is crucified to the world and the world to the Christian.
2. By it the believer obtains deep and lasting satisfaction.
3. By it is evolved the love which is the inspiration of self-sacrifice.
(S. Pearson, M. A.)
The Cross
W. Jackson.I. JUSTIFIESTHE FACT OF THE INCARNATION TO THE
REASON AND COMMENDS IT TO THE HEART.

II. CONTAINS THE HIGHEST AND FULLEST REVELATION GOD HAS
MADE OF HIMSELF TO MAN.
III. IS THE ONLY FOUNTAIN WHENCE FLOWS A SUPPLY ADEQUATE
FOR THE DEEPESTNEEDSOF HUMANITY.
IV. IS THE MIGHTIEST INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS OF MAN FOR
THE UPLIFTING OF HIS BROTHER.
(W. Jackson.)
Christ the means of self-crucifixion
D. Clarkson.I. BYHIS MIGHTY WORKING WITHIN US.
II. BY LOOKING UPON HIM AS AN EFFECTUALENGAGING
EXAMPLE.
III. BY BEHOLDING IN HIM INFINITELY MORE AND BETTER
THINGS THAN THE WORLD CAN AFFORD.
IV. BY PONDERING THAT IT WAS OUR SINFUL LIVING IN THE
WORLD FOR WHICH CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED.
V. BY ACCEPTING CHRIST AS OUR SURETY, who died for us to the
world, undertaking that we should die in Him.
(D. Clarkson.)
Moralcrucifixion
Owen.I. Of the world.
II. To the world.
(Owen.)
The double sacrifice
W. B. Pope, D. D."The Cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ" refers to His vicarious
sacrifice. "Bywhich the world is crucified unto me," etc., refers to his own
interior crucifixion in the fellowship of Christ to all things outside the new
creation. But the two are now one; and the sanctified apostle glories in the
Cross because,through its virtue, condemnation is gone and sin destroyedin
the unity of his Christian experience This is the pith and heart of this grand
apostrophe, too often forgotten by those who fail to mark that it is the
conclusionof the whole matter. Some there were who despised the vicarious
death of Christ, and made it of none effect;some there were who, unduly
trusting in that, explained awaythe necessityofan interior passion. Against
both this apostle of the Cross protests with holy vehemence. And the force of

this protestis this — that the one without the other is not enough: that eachis
the complement of the other, and that their union is their perfection.
(W. B. Pope, D. D.)
Our Cross
Luther.The Cross of Christ is divided through the world. To eachhis portion
ever comes. Thou, therefore, O my soul, castnot thy portion from thee, but
rather take it to thee as thy most precious relic, and lay it up, not in a goldor
silver shrine, but in a golden heart — a heart clothedwith gentle charity, with
patience, and suffering submission.
(Luther.)
Salvationat the Cross
T. Guthrie, D. D.I have read how, in the burning desert, the skeletons of
unhappy travellers, all withered and white, are found, not only on the way to
the fountain, but lying grim and ghastly on its banks, with their skulls
stretchedover its very margin. Punting, faint, their tongue cleaving to the roof
of their mouth, ready to fill a cup with gold for its fill of water, they press on
to the well, steering their course by the tall palms that stand full of hope above
the glaring sands. Already, in fond anticipation, they drink where others had
been saved. They reachit. Alas! sad sight for the dim eyes of fainting men, the
well is dry. With stony horror in their looks, how they gaze into the empty
basin, or fight with man and beastfor some muddy drops that but exasperate
their thirst. The desertreels around them. Hope expires. Some cursing, some
praying, they sink, and themselves expire. And by and by the skydarkens,
lightnings flash, loud thunders roll, the rain pours down, and, fed by the
showers, the treacherous waters rise to play in mockerywith long fair tresses,
and kiss the pale lips of death. But yonder, where the cross stands up high to
mark the fountain of the Saviour's blood, and heaven's sanctifying grace, no
dead souls lie. Once a Golgotha, Calvaryhas ceasedto be a place of skulls.
Where men went once to die, they go now to live; and to none that ever went
there to seek pardon, and peace, andholiness, did Godever say, Seek ye Me in
vain.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
EXPOSITORY(ENGLISHBIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14)Godforbid that I should
glory.—There is a stress upon the pronoun “I,” which, in the Greek, stands
first, in emphatic contrastto the party who had been the subjects of the last
verse. They make their boastin a mere external; but for me—far be it from
me to make my boastin anything but the cross of Christ.
The cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ—i.e., “inthe death and passionwhich
Christ underwent for me.” The Apostle is aware that in this he is putting
forward a startling paradox. The cross ofChrist was “to the Jews a
stumbling-block.” They attachedto it only ideas of ignominy and shame, and
yet it is preciselythis of which the Apostle is most proud. He is proud of it as
the ground of his salvation, and therefore as the cardinal objectof all his
hopes and aims.
By whom.—It seems better, on the whole, to adopt the marginal rendering:
whereby. The antecedentis thus not Christ, but more especiallythe cross of
Christ. It is the intense contemplation of a crucified Saviour through which
the Christian dies to the world.
The world.—Bythis is meant here the world of sense, the sphere of outward
and sensible things, at once with its manifold temptations to sin and with its
inadequate methods of escaping from them—mere external rites, such as
circumcision.
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/galatians/6-14.htm"Galatians 6:14. But
God forbid that I should be actuatedby any such selfish or worldly views, or
should glory — Should boastof any thing I have, or am, or do, or rely on any
thing for my acceptancewith God; save in the cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ
— In what Christ hath done and suffered for me; by whom — Or, as the
words may be understood, by which cross;the world is crucified to me — All
the things and persons in it are to me as dead things, and therefore as nothing;
and I unto the world — I am dead to all worldly pursuits, cares, desires,and
enjoyments. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the clause, Bythe reliance
which I have for justification on Christ’s sufferings and death, and by the
believing views I have thereof, I am made indifferent to all things here below;
“so that I view the world, as little impressed by all its charms, as a spectator
would be by any thing which had been gracefulin the countenance of a
crucified person, when he beholds it blackenedin the agonies of death; and
am no more affectedby the objects round me, than one who is expiring would
be struck with any of those prospects which his dying eyes might view from
the cross onwhich he was suspended.” Or, more concisely, the world is
crucified to believers, in that, by the firm expectationof eternal life, grounded
on Christ’s cross, that is, on his death and resurrection, the world, like the

dead carcassofa crucified malefactor, is stripped to them of all its vain
allurements. And they are crucified to the world by Christ’s cross, in that “it
inspires them with such principles, and leads them to such a course of life, as
renders them, in the eyes of the world, as contemptible, and as unfit for their
purposes, as if they were dead carcasses. All believers, therefore, after the
apostle’s example, justly glory in the crucifixion of their Master, not only as it
is the foundation of that assuredhope of pardon which they entertain, but as
it is an effectualprinciple of their sanctification.” — Macknight.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary6:12-15 Proud, vain, and carnal
hearts, are content with just so much religion as will help to keepup a fair
show. But the apostle professeshis ownfaith, hope, and joy; and that his
principal glory was in the cross ofChrist. By which is here meant, his
sufferings and death on the cross, the doctrine of salvationby a crucified
Redeemer. By Christ, or by the cross ofChrist, the world is crucified to the
believer, and he to the world. The more we considerthe sufferings of the
Redeemerfrom the world, the less likely shall we be to love the world. The
apostle was as little affectedby its charms, as a beholder would be by any
thing which had been gracefulin the face of a crucified person, when he
beholds it blackenedin the agonies ofdeath. He was no more affectedby the
objects around him, than one who is expiring would be struck with any of the
prospects his dying eyes might view from the cross on which he hung. And as
to those who have truly believed in Christ Jesus, allthings are counted as
utterly worthless comparedwith him. There is a new creation; old things are
passedaway, and new views and dispositions are brought in under the
regenerating influences of God the Holy Spirit. Believers are brought into a
new world, and being createdin Christ Jesus unto goodworks, are formed to
a life of holiness. It is a change of mind and heart, whereby we are enabled to
believe in the Lord Jesus, andto live to God; and where this inward, practical
religion is wanting, outward professions, ornames, will never stand in any
stead.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleBut God forbid - See the note at Romans 3:4. "For
me it is not to glory exceptin the cross ofChrist." The objectof Paul here is
evidently to place himself in contrast with the judaizing teachers, andto show
his determined purpose to glory in nothing else but the cross ofChrist. Well
they knew that he had as much occasionforglorying in the things pertaining
to the flesh, or in the observance ofexternal rites and customs, as any of them.
He had been circumcised. He had had all the advantages ofaccurate training
in the knowledge ofthe Jewishlaw. He had enteredon life with uncommon
advantages. He had evinced a zealthat was not surpassedby any of them; and

his life, so far as conformity to the religion in which he had been trained was
concerned, was blameless;Philippians 3:4-8. This must have been to a great
extent known to the Galatians;and by placing his own conduct in strong
contrastwith that of the Judaizing teachers, and showing that he had no
ground of confidence in himself, he designedto bring back the minds of the
Galatians to simple dependence on the cross.
That I should glory - That I should boast; or that I should rely on any thing
else. Others glory in their conformity to the laws of Moses;others in their
zeal, or their talents, or their learning, or their orthodoxy; others in their
wealth, or their accomplishments;others in their family alliances, andtheir
birth; but the supreme boastand glorying of a Christian is in the cross of
Christ.
In the cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ - In Jesus the crucified Messiah. It is a
subject of rejoicing and glorying that we have such a Saviour. The world
lookedupon him with contempt; and the cross was a stumbling-block to the
Jew, and folly to the Greek. Notes, 1 Corinthians 1:23. But to the Christian,
that cross is the subjectof glorying. It is so because:
(1) Of the love of him who suffered there;
(2) Of the purity and holiness of his character, for the innocent died there for
the guilty;
(3) Of the honor there put on the Law of God by his dying to maintain it
unsullied;
(4) Of the reconciliationthere made for sin, accomplishing what could be done
by no other oblation, and by no power of man;
(5) Of the pardon there procured for the guilty;
(6) Of the fact that through it we become deadto the world, and are made
alive to God;
(7) Of the support and consolationwhich goes fromthat cross to sustainus in
trial; and,
(8) Of the fact that it procured for us admission into heaven, a title to the
world of glory. All is glory around the cross.
It was a glorious Saviour who died; it was glorious love that led him to die; it
was a glorious objectto redeem a world; and is is unspeakable gloryto which
he will raise lost and ruined sinners by his death. O who would not glory in
such a Saviour! Compared with this, what trifles are all the objects in which
people usually boast! And what a lessonis here furnished to the true

Christian! Let us not boastof our wealth. It will soonleave us, or we shall be
takenfrom it, and it can aid us little in the greatmatters that are before us. It
will not ward off disease;it will not enable us to bear pain; it will not smooth
the couchof death; it will not save the soul. Let us not glory in our strength,
for it will soonfail; in our beauty, for we shall soonbe undistinguished in the
corruptions of the tomb; in our accomplishments, for they will not save us; in
our learning, for it is not that by which we can be brought to heaven. But let
us glory that we have for a Saviour the eternalSon of God - that glorious
Being who was adored by the inhabitants of heaven; who made the worlds;
who is pure, and lovely, and most holy; and who has undertaken our cause
and died to save us. I desire no higher honor than to be savedby the Son of
God. It is the exaltation of my nature, and shows me more than anything else
its true dignity, that one so great and glorious sought my redemption. That
cannot be an object of temporary value which he soughtby coming from
heaven, and if there is any object of real magnitude in this world, it is the soul
which the eternal Sonof God died to redeem.
By whom the world is crucified unto me ... - See the notes at Galatians 2:20.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary14. Translate, "Butas for me (in
opposition to those gloriers 'in your flesh,' Ga 6:13), God forbid that I," &c.
in the cross—the atoning death on the cross. Compare Php 3:3, 7, 8, as a
specimenof his glorying. The "cross,"the greatobjectof shame to them, and
to all carnalmen, is the great objectof glorying to me. Forby it, the worstof
deaths, Christ has destroyed all kinds of death [Augustine, Tract36, on John,
sec. 4]. We are to testify the power of Christ's death working in us, after the
manner of crucifixion (Ga 5:24; Ro 6:5, 6).
our—He reminds the Galatians by this pronoun, that they had a share in the
"Lord Jesus Christ" (the full name is used for greatersolemnity), and
therefore ought to glory in Christ's cross, as he did.
the world—inseparablyallied to the "flesh" (Ga 6:13). Legal and fleshly
ordinances are merely outward, and "elements ofthe world" (Ga 4:3).
is—rather, as Greek, "has beencrucified to me" (Ga 2:20). He used
"crucified" for dead (Col2:20, "deadwith Christ"), to imply his oneness with
Christ crucified (Php 3:10): "the fellowship of His sufferings being made
conformable unto His death."
Matthew Poole's Commentary For my part I have no such ends, I have no
ambition to glory in you as my converts; all that I desire to glory in, is in the
doctrine of the gospel, and my sufferings for the propagationof it, and my
conformity to Christ in suffering for preaching the gospel. Bythe cross of

Christ
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world; I care no more for the
world than it careth for me; the world despisethand contemneth me, and the
doctrine of the cross whichI preach and publish in it, and I contemn it, with
all its vain pomp and splendour. And this I do through the
cross ofChrist, remembering how the world dealt with Christ, and how little
he regarded the world: or, through the grace of Christ, who hath enabled me
to it, for the particle translated
by whom, may be indifferently translated by whom or by which.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBut Godforbid that I should glory,.... The
apostle, on the contrary, expresses his aversionto glorying in anything these
men did; not in his outward carnal privileges, as a Jew;nor in his moral, civil,
and legalrighteousness;nor in his gifts and attainments; nor in his labours
and success, as ofhimself; nor in the flesh of others, or in any outward
corporealsubjectionto any ordinance, legalor evangelical;his glorying and
rejoicing were rather in the spirituality, the faith, hope, love, patience, order,
and steadfastness ofthe saints, than in anything in the flesh, either his own or
others: and indeed he chose not to glory in any thing,
save in the cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ; meaning either the infirmities,
reproaches, tribulations, and persecutions, whichhe endured for the sake of
Christ, and the preaching of his Gospel;or the Gospel, the doctrine of the
cross ofChrist, and salvation by it: or rather a crucified Christ himself, whom
he preached; though counted foolishness by some, and was a stumbling to
others: he gloried in him, and determined to know, and make known, none
but him, in the business of salvation; he gloried in him as crucified, and in his
cross;not in the woodof the cross, but in the effects of his crucifixion; in the
peace, pardon, righteousness, life, salvation, and eternalglory, which come
through the death of the cross;he gloried in Christ as his wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, andredemption:
by whom the world is crucified to me: so that he feared not the worstmen,
and things in it, any more than he would one that was fastenedto a cross, or
dead; since Christ, by his crucifixion and death, had overcome the world, the
prince of it, the men and malice of it, the sin that was in it, and had made him
more than a conqueror also;his faith in a crucified Christ overcame the world
likewise;so that he lookedupon it as the Israelites saw the Egyptians, dead on
the sea shore;nor did he affectand love, but trampled upon and despised, as

crucified persons generallyare, those things in it which are the most alluring
to the flesh, the lusts of it; the doctrine of grace, of a crucified Christ, taught
him to deny the riches, honours, pleasures, profits, and applause of the world;
which were to him as dross, in comparisonof the knowledge ofChrist Jesus
his Lord: the ceremoniallaw also, the elements of the world, were dead unto
him, being nailed to the cross ofChrist, to be of no further use and service
unto men:
and I unto the world; that is, am crucified to the world, as the Syriac and
Arabic versions express it; that is, he was despisedby the world for the sake of
a crucified Christ, as the world was by him, in comparisonof him; the world
had no affectionfor him, as he had none for the world; and as the ceremonial
law was dead to him, so he was dead to that, through the body of Christ, and
had nothing to do with these beggarly elements, nor they with him, which
sense is confirmed by the following words.
Geneva Study Bible{10} But Godforbid that I should {m} glory, save in the
cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world.
(10) He does not dwell in comparing himself with them, showing that on the
other hand he rejoices in those afflictions which he suffers for Christ's sake,
and as he is despisedby the world, so does he in the same way considerthe
world as wicked. And this is the true circumcision of a true Israelite.
(m) When Paul uses this word in goodsense or way, it signifies to rest a man's
self wholly in a thing, and to content himself in it.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/galatians/6-14.htm"Galatians 6:14.
By way of contrast, not to the national vanity of the Jews (Hofmann, in
accordancewith his interpretation of Galatians 6:13), but to the καυχάσθαι
which the pseudo-apostles hadin view, Paul now presents his own principle:
“from me, on the other hand, far be it to glory, exceptonly in the cross of
Christ.”
ἐμοὶ μὴ γένοιτο καυχ.]mihi ne accidat, ut glorier. On this deprecating
expressionwith the infinitive, comp. LXX. Genesis 44:7;Genesis 44:17;
Joshua 22:29;Joshua 24:16;1Ma 13:5; 1Ma 13:9-10;Ignat. Eph. 12;Xen.
Cyr. vi. 3. 11: ὦ Ζεῦ μέγιστε, λαβεῖν μοι γένοιτο αὐτόν, Anab. i. 9. 18; Dem.
33:25;Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 366.
In the words εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ down to κόσμῳ, observe the defiant

enthusiasm, which manifests itself even in the fulness of the expression. How
very different the conduct of the opponents, according to Galatians 6:12!
Nothing but the cross of Christ is to be the subject of his καυχᾶσθαι;nothing,
namely, but the redemption accomplishedon the cross by Christ constituted
the basis, the sum, and the divine certainty of his faith, life, hope, action, etc.
Comp. Php 3:7 ff.; 2 Corinthians 5:15 ff.; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians
2:2, et al. Thus it is a truly apostolic oxymoron: καυχᾶσθαιἐν τῷ σταυρῷ. The
cross is “τὸ καύχημα τῶνκαυχημάτων,”Cyril.
διʼ οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρ. κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ reveals the cause why he may not
glory in anything else:“through whom the world is crucified to me, and I (sc.
ἐσταύρωμαι)unto the world,” that is, “by whose crucifixion is produced the
result, that no internal fellowship of life longerexists betweenme and the
world: it is dead for me, and I for it.” By Calvin, Bengel, Winer, Usteri,
Hofmann, Holsten, Matthias, Reithmayr, and others, διʼ οὗ is referred to the
cross. But it is more pertinent to refer it to the fully and triumphantly
expressedsubjectimmediately preceding, τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶνἸησοῦ Χριστοῦ
(Vulgate, Erasmus, Beza, Luther, and many others, including de Wette,
Ewald, Wieseler):through whom, that is, according to the context, by means
of whose crucifixion. This effectis dependent on the inward fellowshipwith
the death of Christ (Galatians 2:19 f.; Romans 6) commencedby faith, and
maintained by the Holy Spirit. By this fellowship Paul is transplanted into an
entirely new relation of life, and feels that all the previous interests of his life
are now stripped of their influence over him, and that he is now completely
independent of them. Comp. Php 3:7 ff.
ἐμοί] for me, denotes the ethicalreference of the relation. See Bernhardy, p.
84.
κόσμος (without the article; see Winer, p. 117 [E. T. 153])finds its explanation
from Galatians 6:15 (οὔτε περιτομὴ, αὔτε ἀκροβυστία), namely, the organic
totality of all relations alooffrom Christianity, lookedupon, indeed, as a living
power, which exercisesauthority and swayover the unconverted, but in the
case ofthe convertedhas become dead through his admission into the
fellowship of faith and life with the crucified Lord; that is, has ceasedto
influence and determine his thoughts, feelings, and actions. Thus the world is
crucified to him by means of the crucifixion of Christ. Comp. Colossians2:20;
Ephesians 2:2 f.; 1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 Corinthians 7:33-34;Jam 4:4; 1 John
2:15 f.

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