"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 (Gal 6:14)."

I. Introduction

The 'cross' is an expression that is used in more than one meaning in the Bible. The cross sometimes means that wooden cross, on which the Lord Jesus Christ was nailed and put to death on Calvary. This is what Paul had in his mind's eye, when he told the Philippians that Christ "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2:8). But this is not the cross in which Paul boasted here. The cross sometimes means the afflictions and trials which believers in Christ have to go through, if they follow Christ faithfully, for their religion's sake. This is the sense in which our Lord uses the word when He says, "He who takes not his cross and follows after Me, cannot be my disciple" (Matt 10:38). This also is not the sense in which Paul uses the word when he writes to the Galatians. He knew that cross well–he carried it patiently. But he is not speaking of it here.

But the cross also means, in some places, the doctrine that Christ died for sinners upon the cross–the atonement that He made for sinners, by His suffering for them on the cross–the complete and perfect sacrifice for sin which He offered up, when He gave His own body to be crucified. In short, this one word, "the cross," stands for Christ crucified, the only Savior. This is the meaning in which Paul uses the expression, when he tells the Corinthians, "the preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness" (1 Cor 1:18). This is the meaning in which he wrote to the Galatians, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." He simply meant, "I boast in nothing but Christ crucified, as the salvation of my soul." This is the point I now wish to talk about in this article.

II. The Important of Cross of Christ for Believers

1. The Apostle Paul Boast of

There are many things that Paul might have boasted in, if he had thought as some do in this day. He never boasted in his national privileges. He was a Jew by birth, and, as he tells us himself, "A Hebrew of the Hebrews" (Phil 3:5). He never boasted in his own works. None ever worked so hard for Christ as he did. He was "more abundant in labors" than any of the apostles (2 Cor 11:23). No man ever preached so much, traveled so much, and endured so many hardships for Christ's cause. None was ever made the means of converting so many souls, did so much good to the world, and made himself so useful to mankind. No Father of the early Church, no Evangelical, no Reformer, no Missionary, no minister, no layman –no one man could ever be named, who did so many good works as the Apostle Paul. But did he ever boast in them.

He never boasted in his knowledge. He was a man of great gifts naturally, and, after he was converted, the Holy Spirit gave him greater gifts still. He was a mighty preacher, and a mighty speaker, and a weighty writer. He was as great with his pen as he was with his tongue. He could reason equally well with Jews and Gentiles. He knew many deep things. He had been in the third heaven, and "heard unspeakable words" (2 Cor 12:4). He had received the spirit of prophecy, and could foretell things yet to come. He was a bold man. He was a self-denying man–in hunger and thirst often, in cold and nakedness, in watching and fasting. He was a humble man. He thought himself less than the least of all saints, and the chief of sinners. He was a prayerful man as well as thankful man. His thanksgivings and his prayers walked side by side.

Paul never boasted in his Churchmanship. He was himself a chosen apostle. He was a founder of churches, and an ordainer of ministers–Timothy and Titus, and many elders, received their first commission from his hands. He was the beginner of services and sacraments in many a dark place. Many a one did he baptize; many a one did he receive to the Lord's Table; many a meeting for prayer, and praise, and preaching, did he begin and carry on. He was the setter up of discipline in many a young Church. Whatever ordinances, and rules, and ceremonies were observed in many Churches, were first recommended by him. But he didn't ever boast in his office and Church standing.

2. Need to Understand the Cross of Christ.

Apostle Paul said, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," in the Epistle to the Galatians. Jesus Christ crucified was the joy and delight, the comfort and the peace, the hope and the confidence, the foundation and the resting-place, the ark and the refuge, the food and the medicine of Paul's soul. He loved to think of what Christ had done, and Christ had suffered, –of the death of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the atonement of Christ, the blood of Christ, the finished work of Christ. This was the sun of his soul. This is the subject he loved to preach about. He was a man who went to and fro on the earth, proclaiming to sinners that the Son of God had shed his own heart's blood to save their souls. He walked up and down the world to tell people that Jesus Christ had loved them, and died for their sins upon the cross. Remember how he says to the Corinthians, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first important: that Christ died for our sins..." (1Cor 15:3). "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1Cor 2:2).

This is the subject he loved to dwell upon when he wrote to believers. It is wonderful to observe how full his epistles generally are of the sufferings and death of Christ. His heart seems full of the subject. It is the golden thread that runs through all his doctrinal teaching and practical exhortations. He seems to think that the most advanced Christian can never hear too much about the cross. This is what he lived all his life, from the time of his conversion. He tells the Galatians, "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20). What made him so strong to labor? What made him so willing to work? What made him so unwearied in endeavoring to save some? What made him so persevering and patient? The answer is: he was always feeding by faith on Christ's body and Christ's blood. Jesus crucified was the meat and drink of his soul.

Depend upon it, the cross of Christ, –the death of Christ on the cross to make atonement for sinners, –is the centre truth in the whole Bible. This is the truth we begin with when we open Genesis. The seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head is nothing else but a prophecy of Christ crucified. This is the truth that shines out, though veiled, all through the law of Moses, and the history of the Jews. The daily sacrifice, the passover lamb, the continual shedding of blood in the tabernacle and temple, –all these were emblems of Christ crucified. This is the truth that we see honored in the vision of heaven before we close the book of Revelation. "In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts," we are told, "and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain" (Rev 5:6). Even in the midst of heavenly glory we get a view of Christ crucified. Take away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book. It is like the Egyptian hieroglyphics without the key that interprets their meaning, –curious and wonderful, but of no real use.

You may know a good deal about the Bible; you may know the outlines of the histories it contains, and the dates of the events described, just as a man knows the history of India; you may know the names of the men and women mentioned in it, just as a man knows Caesar, Alexander the Great, or Napoleon; you may know the several precepts of the Bible, and admire them, just as a man admires Plato, Aristotle, or Seneca: but if you have not yet found out that Christ crucified is the foundation of the whole volume, you have read your Bible hitherto to very little profit. Your Christianity is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a key-stone, a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, a lamp without oil It will not comfort you. It will not deliver your soul from hell because the cross of Christ is only way to go to heaven.

You may know a good deal about Christ, by a kind of head knowledge. You may know who He was, and where He was born, and what He did; you may know His miracles, His sayings, His prophecies, and His ordinances; you may know how He lived, and how He suffered, and how He died: but unless you know the power of Christ's cross by experience, –unless you know and feel within that the blood shed on that cross has washed away your own particular sins, –unless you are willing to confess that your salvation depends entirely on the work that Christ did upon the cross, Christ will profit you nothing. The mere knowing Christ's name will never save you. You must know His cross, and His blood, or else you will die in your sins. There are hundreds of places of worship, in this day, in which there is everything almost except the cross. There is carved oak, and sculptured stone: there is stained glass, and brilliant painting: there are solemn services, and a constant round of ordinances: but the real cross of Christ is not there. Jesus crucified is not proclaimed in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. And hence all is wrong. Friends, beware of such places of worship.

There are thousands of religious books published in our times, in which there is everything except the cross. They are full of directions about how to live, moral and ethics, holy living or Christian life, but the real cross of Christ is left out. The Savoir, and His dying love, are either not mentioned, or mentioned in an unscriptural way. And hence they are worse than useless. Friends, beware of such books. St Paul gloried in nothing but the cross. Strive to be like him. Set Jesus crucified fully before the eyes of your soul. Listen not to any teaching which would interpose anything between you and Him. Do not fall into the old Galatian error: think not that any one in this day is a better guide than the apostles. Let not the vague talk of men, who speak great swelling words about Christian life, and the church, and the ministry, and make you loose from the cross. Churches, ministers, and sacraments, are all useful in their way, but they are not Christ crucified.

3. Christians Ought to Glory in the Cross of Christ

There is nothing so sanctifying as a clear view of the cross of Christ! There is no school for learning contentment than can be compared with the foot of the cross. The cross of Christ is the grand peculiarity of the Christian religion. Other religions have laws and moral precepts,–forms and ceremonies,–rewards and punishments. But other religions cannot tell us of a dying Savior. They cannot show us the cross. This is the crown and glory of the Gospel. This is that special comfort which belongs to it alone. Miserable indeed is that religious teaching which calls itself Christian, and yet contains nothing of the cross of Christ. A man who teaches in this way, might as well profess to explain the solar system, and yet tell his hearers nothing about the sun.

The cross is the strength of Christians. Without the cross of Christ Christians are like a soldier without arms, –like an artist without his pencil, –like a pilot without his compass, –like a laborer without his tools. Let others, if they will, preach the law and morality; let others hold forth the terrors of hell, and the joys of heaven; let others drench their congregations with teachings about the sacraments and the church; give me the cross of Christ! This is the only lever which has ever turned the world upside down hitherto, and made men forsake their sins. And if this will not, nothing will. A man may begin preaching with a perfect knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; but he will do little or no good among his hearers unless he knows something of the cross. Never was there a minister who did much for the conversion of souls who did not dwell much on Christ crucified. Luther, Rutherford, Whitefield, were all most eminently preachers of the cross. This is the preaching that the Holy Ghost delights to bless. He loves to honor those who honor the cross. The cross is the secret of the minister/missionary success. Nothing but this has ever moved the hearts of the heathen. Just according as this has been lifted up missions have prospered. This is the weapon that has won victories over hearts of every kind, in every quarter of the globe: Greenlanders, Africans, South-Sea Islanders, Hindus, Chinese, all have alike felt its power.

The cross is the foundation of a Church's prosperity. No Church will ever be honored in which Christ crucified is not continually lifted up: nothing whatever can make up for the want of the cross. Without it all things may be done decently and in order; without it there may he splendid ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous churches, learned ministers, crowded congregations, huge collections for the poor but without the cross no good will be done; dark hearts will not be enlightened, proud hearts will not be humbled, mourning hearts will not be comforted, fainting hearts will not be cheered. Sermons about the missions and an apostolic ministry, sermons about baptism and the Lord's supper, sermons about Christian life and conduct, sermons about fasts and prayer, sermons about giving and serving, such sermons will never make up for the absence of sermons about the cross of Christ. They may amuse some: they will feed none. A gorgeous banqueting room, and splendid gold plate on the table, will never make up to a hungry man for the want of food. Christ crucified is God's grand ordinance for good to men. Whenever a Church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a cumberer of the ground, a dead carcase, a well without water, a barren fig tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to infidels, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.

III. Conclusion

Apostle Paul gloried in nothing but the cross of Christ. For him the message of the cross is the strength for his Christian life, mission, ministry and also the power of God. He says, "For the message of the cross is ... to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1Cor 1: 18). That was why he said to the Galatians: "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 (Gal 6:14)." We too should be boasting of the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is the only which God satisfied–the only which God reconciled with human being. The cross of Christ is the climax of the Scripture and Christian faith. The cross of Christ is the foundation of the church too. The cross of Christ is the only can gives us forgiveness of sins, reconciled with God, makes us the true children of God, the only way to go to heaven. So, the message of the cross must be preached in the pulpit. Christ crucified should be lifted up in the church services and activities. Without focusing on the cross of Christ, our church programs and ceremonies are like observing the Sabbath Day. The church is only means for non other than lifting up the crucified Christ. The cross of Christ is the only that can turn the world upside down, impact the society, and change human heart.