Glory In The Cross

Q: What does the Bible say about glorying in the cross?

The Bible teaches that we should glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it signifies the pivotal point of redemption. In Galatians 6:14, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that he will only glory in the cross of Christ. This declaration highlights the centrality of the cross in the Christian faith, serving as the foundation of our salvation. Glorying in the cross means exalting and rejoicing in the doctrine of the cross, which encapsulates the gospel message of Christ's atoning work. It is not merely a historical event, but a profound spiritual truth that signifies Christ's sacrifice and the resultant reconciliation of believers to God.

Q: Why is the doctrine of the cross important for Christians?

The doctrine of the cross is crucial as it reveals God's love, secures justification, and removes the curse of the law for believers. The doctrine of the cross is foundational for Christian theology as it encapsulates God's plan for salvation. It reveals God's love, as seen in Romans 5:8, demonstrating how Christ died for sinners. Furthermore, through Christ's death, believers are justified, meaning they are declared righteous before God without any wrongdoing on their part. The cross also serves to remove the curse of the law, providing believers with peace and reconciliation with God, as articulated in Romans 8:1, where it states that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Thus, the cross becomes the source of hope and life for Christians.

Q: How do we know that salvation comes through the cross?

Salvation through the cross is affirmed in Scripture, which emphasizes that redemption is secured by Christ's sacrificial death. The assurance of salvation through the cross is rooted in the explicit teachings of Scripture. The Apostle Paul asserts that there is no other means of reconciliation and acceptance with God except through the crucifixion of Christ, as stated in Romans 3:24-26. The blood of Christ is portrayed as the ultimate sacrifice that satisfies divine justice. This substitutionary atonement is central to the gospel message, reaffirming that our salvation is entirely achieved through the merits of Christ's death rather than human effort or legal obedience. Therefore, believers can confidently affirm that they are saved through faith in the cross's power to redeem.

Q: Why did Paul emphasize the cross in his teachings?

Paul emphasized the cross as it represents the ultimate expression of God's love and the basis for justification and sanctification. Paul emphasized the cross in his teachings as it was the crux of the gospel he preached. He recognized that the cross signifies God's profound love for humanity, as demonstrated by Christ's willingness to die for sinners. This sacrificial death brings about justification, allowing believers to stand righteous before God. Moreover, Paul stated that all his past achievements and circumstantial glory paled in comparison to the significance of the cross (Philippians 3:8). By focusing on the cross, Paul aimed to remind believers of the power of God’s love and the transformative nature of salvation, directing their boast and confidence towards Christ rather than human efforts or rituals.

Galatians chapter 6 verse 12
through 16, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh,
they constrain you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid 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. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature does, is the way it should read. And as many
as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy,
and upon the Israel of God. I want to speak this morning
on verse 14 primarily. But God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now then,
almost all men have something wherein to glory. Man has this irresistible tendency
to glory in something. Many glory in their shame, some
glory in their physical strength, not realizing that the ox and
the horse is mightier than they, and some glory in their wealth,
and some in their gifts that they have in this life. But to
live, I believe, for personal glory is to be dead while we
live. Now in 1st Corinthians 3 and
verse 21 Paul said, therefore let no man glory in man. Let
no man glory in man. And then again in 1st Corinthians
1 and verse 3 he said that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. If a man's going to glory, let
him glory in the Lord. And so our tendency then is to
glory in something. We're going to glory, exalt something,
we're going to boast and rejoice in something. And so therefore,
my friend, our wisdom will be to find a glory worthy of an
immortal mind. That will be our wisdom, is to
find something that is worth glorying in. Something that is
worthy of our glory, of our boasting, something that is worthy of our
rejoicing, of being exalted, something that's worthy. Now
the Apostles said in verse 12 here, there's many that desire
to make a fair show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. There are those that lived in
Paul's day that they didn't want to be shut up to that message
of the cross of Christ. They just wouldn't want a glory
in that. They would rather glory in an
outward ceremony or a ritual. But Paul said, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
had found that which was worthy of glorying in, and he gloried
in that. Now the Apostle Paul, I believe,
had a choice of things in which he could have gloried. He had
many things, I believe, in which he could have gloried. We could
read in Philippians chapter 3, if you would want to turn there,
we could read verses 4 through 7. Where the Apostle Paul says,
though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
he says, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrews, as
touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless,
But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for
Christ." Now then, there are many things Paul could have boasted
of. He could have boasted of his
past life before he met Christ, of his education and of his abilities
that he had, and he could have certainly boasted of his revelations
that he had been given to him, those revelations that were given
to him by the Lord. You remember on one occasion
he was caught up into the third heavens and he said he saw things
that was not lawful for him to speak of. He could have rejoiced
in that and he could have boasted of that and he could have gloried
in that, but the Lord sent him a messenger of Satan lest he
be exalted above measure. and then we know that his ministry
and labors he could have glory in that because you know he said
my labors he said I labored more abundantly than they all speaking
of all the apostles he said yet not I but it was the grace of
God that was in me that enabled me to labor like this like I
have and his ministry was a ministry that touched the gentile worlds
His ministry was a ministry that still touches today him being
the writer, the author of nine of the books of the New Testament.
And so Paul could have gloried in this, but he did not glory
in that. And also, I think he could have
gloried in his sufferings for Christ. You know, Paul was a
man who suffered greatly. One of the first things that
God revealed to him upon saving him was when he sent Ananias
to baptize Saul of Tarsus and to speak to him, he said, I want
you to go and show him what great things that he must suffer for
my sake. And we know that Paul suffered
all of his life as he was in the ministry. We know that he
suffered greatly being shipwrecked and being imprisoned and being
whipped with the cat of nine tails and being persecuted as
he was. He was a man who suffered greatly
for the cause of Christ. Him saying on one occasion, I
suffer all things and endure all things for the elect's sake. that they might obtain the salvation
that is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. But when he was
converted to the faith of Christ, when he was brought out of his
old life, his past life, and brought into fellowship with
Jesus Christ the Redeemer, we know as soon as he was converted,
that he no longer gloried in his former religion and his former
zeal. He would say, God forbid that
I should glory in my birth or in my education. God forbid that
I should glory in my knowledge or my proficiency in Old Testament
scripture. God forbid that I should glory
in my orthodox rituals or the orthodox rituals that I practice
as an unbeliever. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice if you
will brethren, Paul does not say that he gloried in Christ,
though he did so with all of his heart. He didn't say I gloried
in Christ, but he declares here that he gloried most in the cross. He said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in the
eyes of men was the very lowest and the most inglorious part
of the history of Jesus Christ our Lord, the part of the cross.
Now yet Paul chose that point which is most assailed by its
foes, that which is the world's derision. He chose the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ in which to glory. Now God forbid that
I should go saving the cross, he says, of our Lord Jesus Christ. So learn this. Learned this this
morning that the highest glory of our holy religion as believers
is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to glory
anything, if you want something that's worthy to glory in, to
boast in, then glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the history of grace begins earlier and goes on later, but in the
middle stands the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of two eternities,
this, beloved, is the hinge of past degrees and future glories. This is the pivot point. The
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is, I say, the pivot point. Well, what does Paul mean by
the cross here? He says, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross. What does he mean by the cross?
Well, he's not talking about the historic fact that Christ
died upon the cross here. Now, the knowledge of that fact
is essential to the salvation of a soul, but it is not necessarily
salvation in itself. Neither is Paul referring to
the literal wooden cross. Now this is very important that
you understand this. He's not referring here to the
literal wooden cross upon which Christ died. Because Paul was
not an idolater. He was not a worshipper of religious
relics. He knew that there was no superstitious
spiritual value in that piece of wood upon which the Lord Jesus
Christ hung on Golgotha's hill. He knew that. And so he was not
saying that he gloried in that wooden cross that Jesus hung
on. And he certainly is not suggesting
that we glory in some sign or some symbol, a representation
of or form of the cross. Certainly he's not suggesting
that. When Paul speaks of the cross, Now listen to me now,
when he speaks of the cross, he is talking about the glorious,
soul-saving doctrine of the cross. He's talking about the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about blood atonement.
He's talking about legal propitiation or legal satisfaction. He's talking
about substitutionary redemption. He's talking about free justification
for all of the elect of God. free and eternal justification
of God's people. He's talking about the doctrine
of the cross. Well how did Paul glory in the
cross? How did he do that? Well the
word glory means to exalt It means to boast of, it means to
rejoice in, and so Paul exalted, he boasted of, and he rejoiced
in the sin atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cursed
tree. That's exactly how that he gloried
in the cross. Now notice, let me say just a
word or two about that. Number one, he exalted the doctrine
of the cross as the only theme of Holy Scripture. Now if you
just listen carefully to me this morning, I don't mean to be teaching
a class on theology, but if you listen, you'll learn something
this morning. The Apostle Paul exalted the
doctrine of the cross as the only theme of Holy Scripture. And the one subject of his preaching,
1 Corinthians 2 and verse 2 says, I determine not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now brother, sister,
Paul saw Christ crucified as the whole counsel of God. That's
the way he viewed this subject of the doctrine of the cross.
It's the whole counsel of God. It's the message of all the types. It's the message of all the promises
and all the prophecies of the Old Testament. It's the basis
for the hope of sinners. It's the motive of all godliness
and it's the message that Paul was especially and specifically
sent to proclaim in this world. The doctrine of the cross, the
message of Christ and Him crucified. And this man rejoiced in the
cross. This man rejoiced in the cross,
the gospel of Christ, he rejoiced in it as the only ground of his
confident hope in this world. He rejoiced in the doctrine of
the cross as the only grounds of acceptance with God. He rejoiced
in it. Now he counted all his religious
works His knowledge and experience to be nothing but dung that he
might be found in Christ robed in his righteousness and washed
in his blood. Now then, notice secondly, he
preached the cross of Jesus Christ. He boasted, when he did so, of
Christ's death. He boasted of it as the only
means of reconciliation and acceptance with God, the only means of salvation
for guilty sinners. No other way for a sinner, according
to the Apostle Paul, to be justified but to be justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. To be
justified freely, according to Paul, was to be justified without
cause on the behalf of the sinner. The sinner does not cause his
justification. We're justified through freely. freely, without cause, as far
as we're concerned, through the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, beloved,
if righteousness cannot be gained by man's obedience to the law
of God, and it cannot be, it cannot be because Paul said if
righteousness came by the law, then Christ was crucified in
vain. Christ was crucified in vain. That no man can be saved by anything
else that he might do. And so Paul boasted in the doctrine
of the cross because it's the whole salvation of God's elect. Nothing can save a man's soul.
Nothing can bring a sinner to God. Nothing can make a sinner
acceptable in the sight of God but the cross, the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Mark it down. Now I want you
to think with me a little bit. The world looks upon Christ crucified
with contempt. They do. The world at large looks
upon the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified with contempt. Blood atonement is a crude, barbaric,
outdated doctrine in the opinions of most people. Well, this brings
me to say this. To the religious world, the cross
of Christ is a stumbling block. Self-righteous religionists,
while they talk about the death of Christ as a noble gesture
of love and self-denial and sing about it in their cathedral choirs,
see no need for or value in the blood atonement. They see no
need for it, they see no value in Christ's shed blood. Now listen to me, they have no
awareness. of personal depravity, the religionist,
the whirling religionist. He has no awareness of personal
depravity, of moral inability and sin, and because they have
no knowledge of themselves and no knowledge of the holiness
and the righteousness and the justice of God, They, because
of their sophisticated, educated, philosophical ideas, the world
has no use for the cross of Christ and considers it to be utter
foolishness. The cross of the Lord Jesus means
nothing to this world. It means nothing to one who has
not been quickened by God's Spirit, not one who has been enlightened
by the Spirit of God. Only to them is the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ of great value to the point where one
would boast in it, and where one would rejoice in it, and
where one would exalt it. It's good enough, they would
say, the people of the world for Bible-thumping religious
fanatics who are in their own opinion, the world's opinion
that is, ignorant and unlearned and superstitious. They have
no knowledge of God and they see no sin in man. Anything they
see as evil is thought to be nothing more than the result
of social problems. They say the only problem we
have in this world is that people don't have enough money. The
only problem we got in this world is that there's not enough housing.
The only problem there is in this world is there's not enough
wealth to go around. And we can solve all the world's
problems, the religion says. We can solve all the world's
problems by giving the prodigal son a better job in the foreign
country. All we have to do is get him a better job, get him
a better position. All we got to do is give men
more money and more means. Make things better for men in
this world. Educate them better. We got to
build better hospitals. We need better schools. It's
what we need. My friend, listen to me. We know
that the problems of this world cannot be cured by social reform
and by social redemption. But this world thinks it can.
Now hear me out, they may or may not, that is the people of
this world speak respectfully of Jesus of Nazareth and they
may talk about his unjustified crucifixion. but they see no
need for or value in the blood atonement of a crucified substitute. No value in it. No need of it. That's why religionists, you
don't find them glorying in the cross. That's why you don't find
them boasting of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on Calvary. They don't rejoice in it because
they see no value of it. but to the believer, the child
of God, the child of grace, to that one born from heaven, to
that one who has the Spirit of God within his soul, to that
one who's been enlightened by God's Spirit to see himself and
to see the Lord as he is. Listen to me now this morning.
They see everything in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are truly born of God,
glory in the cross, not the physical cross as we've stated, but the
doctrine of the cross, the effectual blood atonement by Christ, our
substitute. They rejoice in it and glory
in it, and it's everything to them. We rejoice in it, we trust
in it, we sing about it, we give praise to God for it, and we
live upon it. We live by that truth. Christ
was crucified for us. This is our meat and drink. This
is what we put on the Lord's table. When we take the Lord's
Supper, we put the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ and
we put the wine, we put the loaf and the wine, we break the loaf,
symbolic of his broken body and his shed blood. Listen to me
now, that's what we put on the table. This is what the house
feeds on. This is what the church feeds
on. This is what we get strength from. This is all that we live
on. is the crucified substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I don't come out here to
you and try to get you to do this and say no to that, say
no to something else and say yes to this and yes to that.
My friend, listen, a man needs strength to be able to say no
in this world to the sin and to the temptations of this world.
He needs something within him. He needs strength. And the thing
that he needs to derive his strength from and the thing he will derive
strength from as a child of grace in this world is when he comes
to this table and when his meat and his drink is the crucified
Lord Jesus Christ. And when he comes to appreciate
the message of the doctrine of the cross, when he knows something
about effectual redemption, the blood atonement and free justification,
when he knows something about that, he's got some strength
within him to say no when he's in the world and to do what is
right in the world. But we cannot be sending people
out and say, do this, do that, do something else, and they don't
have any strength for it. But I'm telling you this, this
is what's on the table, brother, sister. This is what's on the
table. It's Christ and Him crucified. It's His doctrine. And so we
rejoice in that, we trust in it, we sing about it, and we
give praise to God for it. There is glory in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a glorious Savior who
died. It was glorious love that compelled
Him to die. He accomplished a glorious redemption
by His death. His death reveals the glory of
God in saving sinners. And by the merits of His blood
atonement upon the cross, He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will raise
a great multitude of lost and ruined sinners up to everlasting
glory in the pure heaven. The Lord Jesus is going to do
it. The Lord Jesus will do it. Now
the glory of the cross is seen in the effects of Christ's death
upon God's elect. It's seen the glory, I say, of
the cross. It's seen in the effect that
the death of Christ has upon God's people. What has been the
effect of the death of Jesus Christ upon God's elect? Well, beloved, they have, and
I've mentioned this word this morning several times, but they
have justification. They are completely, this morning,
given right standing with God, accepted in Christ. They have
a standing just as if they'd never sinned before God. That
means nothing to anybody who don't know their sinnerhood,
but a man or woman, boy or girl, that knows and has been made
to feel by the Holy Spirit of God that they're sinners. And
a sinner is a sacred thing, the Holy Spirit has made him so.
And when a man knows himself to be a sinner before God, then
this is wonderful information. that we have through the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ eternal everlasting justification. We have regeneration. We're no
longer dead. We're no longer dead. We're no
longer in sin's death. We're alive in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have life. Because we have
him who is life dwelling in us by faith the Lord Jesus Christ
Eternal life we have the cause of the cross my brother my sister
eternal life that means life that'll never end Eternal life. I mean that that means down at
the end of this little thing we call life There's something
that is called in the Bible eternal life And God's people have that
life. They have it eternally. It cannot
be taken away from them. Jesus said, no man can take it
from... I give it to them. No man can take it from eternal
life. And this is because of the cross.
Others can if they want glory in ceremonial religion, legal
obedience and personal holiness. We glory in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Well then why? I've come to this,
why did Paul glory in the cross? Well let me give you this morning,
in summing this up and closing this out, let me give you five
answers to that question. Why did Paul glory in the cross? Why? Now you listen to me now
as I give these things to you. Number one, because it is a compassion
revealed. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is compassion revealed. Now my friend, would you know
the love of God? Would you know it? Would you
like to see the love of God? Would you like to feel the love
of God? Would you like to know something
about the love of God? Then look into the death of Christ
upon the cursed tree. Look into the death of Christ
upon that tree. Only there can it be truly realized
that God is love. In Romans 5 and 8, it talks about
the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
In John 3, 16, it says that God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. In 1 John 3 and 16, it talks
about the fact that greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends. In 1 John 4, it talks
about in His love, not that we love God, but that God loved
us and gave His Son to be a satisfaction for our sins. If you want to
know something about the love of God, you must go to the cross. I'm telling you that Paul gloried
in the cross because it is compassion revealed. If you want to know
something about God's love, look at that cross. He was dying there
for me. He was suffering all that cruel
agony for me. He loved his people unto the
death. He was willing to die in order
that they would not die. He was willing to die in order
that they would live and that eternally. And we need to realize
that. It is compassion revealed. Number two, it is respect of
the eternal covenant. Now hear me, long before the
world began, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit entered
into a covenant of grace by which the salvation of God's elect
was infallibly secured. Now, brother, sister, you've
got to appreciate this point. I'm talking about a covenant
respected. That God so respected that covenant
that He entered into with His Son and the Holy Spirit. That agreement that they entered
into before the foundation of the world. Wherein the Father
said, I've got a people, I'm going to give them to the Son,
and the Son said, I'll go down to earth, and I'll live a righteous
life for them, and then I'll die for their sin. I'll pay for
their sin. I'll be raised from the dead
and I'll ascend back yonder here to heaven and I'll be seated
at your right hand and make intercession for them until they're all gathered
out of the world below and are put into here our presence above. The Holy Spirit said, I will
go down also, and I will work. I will work in the hearts of
all of you. Let that salvation which the
Father planned and the Son purchased and bought, I'll work it in their
lives. I'll bring them to regeneration.
I'll bring them out of their ignorance of spiritual truth.
I'll bring them into the light. I'll manifest to them what The
Father purposed and the Son procured. I'll manifest it to their hearts
and they'll know Me. and they'll know the truth. Now,
Lord Jesus Christ, by His obedience and death, even the death of
the cross as our substitute, He fulfilled and ratified that
everlasting covenant. In Hebrews 13 and 20, His blood
that He shed upon the cross is referred to as the blood of the
everlasting covenant. I'm telling you, Paul gloried
in the cross because it was a covenant respected. Aren't you glad that
the Father was willing, the Son was willing, the Holy Spirit
was willing to bring this contract, this covenant to fruition? Aren't you glad that the Son
of God was willing to come and die that agonizing and cruel
death? Aren't you glad of that? You
can glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ because it
shows the respect that God the Son had to this covenant that
had been made before the world began. Now hear me out. Number three, it is a conquest
realized. Paul gloried in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ because it was a conquest realized. Now, brother, sister, this is
tremendous. You get this. You follow this,
if you will. Now, listen, upon the cross,
Christ justified his elect. I believe in eternal justification. That every one of those that
were in Christ when He died upon the tree, that they were justified
from the time Christ died. They were justified. And even
the sheep of Christ born into this world, before they reach
the time of repentance and faith in God's sight, are already justified
and already glorified in God's sight. Because it happened at
the cross. I'm telling you that the cross
of the Lord Jesus is a conquest. Realize! Hear me! All of the
elect of Christ, that they were justified. Now listen, and the
Lord conquered Satan. He conquered Satan. And there
is a degree, or there is a sense, in which Satan at this time,
and in gospel days, the glorious silver day of the blowing of
the gospel of salvation, that Satan is bound. that he cannot
hinder the gospel from reaching God's elect. God's elect, every
one of them. Listen, Satan was conquered and
it was procured that the Spirit's effectual call would reach every
one of God's elect. I'm talking about the conquest
of the cross. Now listen to me, brother, sister.
God's got a family out here in this world. Many of these lost
sheep have not yet been brought into the fold. You and I experienced
one time the finger of God in our hearts bringing us, drawing
us nigh, bringing us into the fold, bringing us out of the
world's death and sin into life and liberty in Christ. But at
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ it was determined That the Spirit's
call would be effectual, that everyone of God's elect would
be brought to experience that which Jesus Christ purchased
for them on the cross. That all be brought to experience
it. Now this is something that we
can rejoice in. Hear me out this morning. I want
to bring you the fourth point and that's this. Because at the
cross there was a Paul rejoiced and he gloried, boasted in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ because it is a curse removed. At the cross there was a curse
removed. Now hear me this, the blood of
Christ cannot fail to save every soul for whom that blood was
shed because the blood of Christ poured out unto death upon the
cross has fully removed the curse of the law from God's elect.
Fully removed it. Romans 8 and verse 1 says, there
is therefore now Right now, no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus. There is no judgment awaiting
those that are in Christ Jesus. Now beloved, the reason why that
there is no further curse upon us because of our sin and our
failures and our weaknesses is because Christ was made a curse
for us. and he bore in his own body upon
the cruel tree that curse in our room and stood in place.
Now hear me out, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never
be discovered to be a miscarriage. It will not. I'm telling you,
the curse is removed from all God's elect. It's removed. It's
removed every one of them. Even the one who's not yet been
brought into the fold, the curse has already been removed. It's
removed. As far as God is concerned, it
happened at the cross. Now beloved, listen, if you get
a clear sight and a clear view of the things that I'm preaching
to you this morning, then you will see why it is that Paul
is glorying in the cross. of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is indeed a curse removed. He shall see of the prevail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Now that's four things. I promised
you five. Now notice, in verse 16 of this
same sixth chapter of the book of Galatians, I want to say this,
Paul gloried in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ because
it is a comfortable rule. a comfortable rule. Now, in verse 16 here, he says,
and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them
and mercy and upon the Israel of God. Now, Paul is still talking
about the glory of the cross here in this verse. He says,
as many as walk according to this rule. What rule is he talking
about? Well, he's talking about the
rule of the cross, of course, brother and sister. Peace shall
be on them. Now hear me, all who live under
the rule and dominion of the cross find peace in their heart. This, listen to me, a sinner
can find peace if he lives under the rule of the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are not under the rule
of the mosaic law. There's scripture after scripture
in the book of Romans and Galatians that spells that out. That we're
not living under that lesser light anymore. The sun has come
up, brother and sister. The sun has come up and the Lord
Jesus Christ has arisen with healing in His wings. This is
daytime. We're not living under that old
dim light anymore. We're living under gospel sunshine. And we're living in victory,
and we're not under the rule of religious predations. Taste
not, handle not, and touch not. We're all living under them rules
now. Not the people of God, but we
do gladly as the Lord's people live under that blessed, comfortable
rule of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people are
motivated by love to the Christ that died on that gory tree in
their place, in their room instead. And the scripture says this,
it says in 1 Corinthians 6 and 20, it says you're not your own,
you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit which are His. And that is the rule
of the cross, my brother, my sister. That's the rule of the
cross. We are motivated and we seek in all things to be conformed
to the example of Christ and Him crucified. In Philippians
3 in verse 10, We read these words, listen to these words,
that I may know him, Paul says, and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death. Now that's the rule of a child
of God. It's a comfortable rule because
we're being motivated daily by that one who was motivated by
love to die for us. to be spent in order that we
might be rich, he became poor. And so we're motivated by that
rule. And I'll tell you something here this morning, brother, sister,
any time that it takes more than that, love to Christ who loved
you and gave himself for you. Motivated to the point where
that you live unto Him who died for you and rose again. And when
it takes more than you, you're bought with a price. Therefore
glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His. When
it takes more than that, then I say that whatever men use to
keep people under subjection, to keep them in line, whatever
the preacher uses to club you over the head and over the back
to keep you doing what he says is right, I'll tell you something,
it'll be of no avail. Mark it down, it'll be of no
avail. If this don't do it, there isn't
anything that will. When it comes to the place where
this rule, where this rule of a new creature because of the
cross of Christ, when this rule no longer applies and you can't
live under it and won't live under it. It's because you're
not a child of grace. It's because you don't have the
working of God's Spirit in you. It's because you're not one of
his sheep. That's what the problem is. Let anybody, let them come
along and beat you in subjection if they want to. They'll never
make a sheep of Christ out of you because you're a goat. It's
this rule My brother, my sister, that prevails. It's a comfortable
rule. Now this is the reason why Paul
gloried in the cross. These five reasons that I've
given you here this morning. And I hope this morning that
you've been able to get these fixed in your heart. Because
these are the things, my brother, my sister, that really will help
us to see why it is that in this church we make such a fuss over
Christ and Him crucified. Why that He's the one theme of
our preaching, Christ and Him crucified. I hope this morning
that this message has been a help and been a blessing to you. It
was a real encouragement to me. to prepare it and to preach it
to you this morning. I boast in this. I rejoice in this. I exult. of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His death on that glory tree because of the things that I
gave you, the reasons, and I believe these would, Paul was here preaching
this morning, he'd stand up and give you the same reason, he
said this is the reason why I glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. May God bless these truths to
your heart. Larry's going to lead us in a hymn at this time. Let's all stand and sing page
number 382, I know whom I have believed.

Glory In The Cross

What does the Bible say about glorying in the cross?

Why is the doctrine of the cross important for Christians?

How do we know that salvation comes through the cross?

Why did Paul emphasize the cross in his teachings?

Sermon Transcript

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Glory In The Cross

What does the Bible say about glorying in the cross?

Why is the doctrine of the cross important for Christians?

How do we know that salvation comes through the cross?

Why did Paul emphasize the cross in his teachings?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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