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Galatians 6:16-18
As Paul concludes this letter, he not only expresses the grace of God in his spirit toward the Galatian believers but also closes with the final reminder about God’s wonderful grace.
Paul emphasizes three imperatives in the closing of his letter to the Galatians:
I.
The Pre-requisite for Peace
(v.
16)
A. A Walk of Peace
Paul begins verse 16 by saying, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them.”
The word walk in the Greek is stoicheo, meaning, “to proceed in a row, go in order.”
This is the same word used throughout the New Testament referring to walking in relation to others and to an orderly life.
Paul addresses those who are walking in accordance to the order set in the gospel, those who have not followed the Judaizers.
It is not only a walk of peace, but it is also ...
B. A Walk of Order
1.
By a rule
“according to this rule”
The word rule in the Greek is kanon, meaning, “from kane (a straight reed, e.g.
rod); a measuring rod; any rule or standard, a principle for judging, living, acting.”
There is a rule for the Christian life, revealed by God’s Word.
We don’t just make it up as we go along.
We are to measure ourselves according to this rule.
This rule which Paul wants the Galatian Christians to live is twofold:
According to the gospel given them
According to glorying in the cross
English evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) learned that it was more important to please God than to please men.
Knowing that he was doing what was honoring to the Lord kept him from discouragement when he was falsely accused by his enemies.
At one point in his ministry, Whitefield received a vicious letter accusing him of wrongdoing.
His reply was brief and courteous: “I thank you heartily for your letter.
As for what you and my other enemies are saying against me, I know worse things about myself than you will ever say about me.
With love in Christ, George Whitefield.”
So walk in order by God’s rule, but also ...
2. With God’s reward
Paul was willing to pronounce a curse to those who taught false doctrine:
But in the same way Paul was willing to pronounce that peace and mercy could only come by the way of the cross, not through man’s efforts to keep the law or live by good works.
Clyde Gordon, who was completely paralyzed from his neck down, edited a magazine called The Triumph.
In it he said:
Christ is no security against storms,
But He is perfect security in storms.
He does not promise an easy passage,
But He does guarantee a safe landing.
Paul closes verse 16 by wishing a blessing “upon the Israel of God.”
This blessing was especially intended to all the saved Jew teaching salvation by grace apart from circumcision.
This was the same doctrinal conclusion reached by the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.
So He gives them this pre-requisite for peace, then he makes a plea...
II.
The Plea of the Apostle
(v.
17)
A. An Immediate Plea
The word henceforth means, “hereafter, for the future.”
The phrase let no man trouble in the Greek is parecho, meaning “to bring one something either favorable or unfavorable.”
This letter to the Galatians is now the point of reference concerning Paul’s official position for all future questions that might arise.
They do not need to ask him about it again.
B. An Earned Plea
The reason Paul could make this plea is that he bore the literal scars and marks he had received for preaching the gospel of Christ and suffered at the hands of the Jews as well as the Gentiles.
On a wall in Charles Spurgeon’s bedroom, he had a plaque with Isaiah 48:10 on it: “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”
“It is no mean thing to be chosen of God,” he wrote.
“God’s choice makes chosen men choice men…We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace.
In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice.”
Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied.
"They're the only ones who can take it."
So Paul, in closing this epistle, wrote to them about the pre-requesite for peace, and then made a personal plea to them.
And now, He give them...
III.
The Prayer for the People
(v.
18)
The grace from our Lord Jesus is also clearly seen in:
Even in Paul’s closing he reminds the Galatians that salvation is all of grace with no works necessary.
I don’t think there is a better verse that describes God’s working grace in our lives as Christians.
And as Paul learned from God himself when praying for the removal of his thorn in the flesh God said...
Spurgeon told of an evening when he was riding home after a heavy day’s work.
He felt weary and depressed, when as suddenly as a lightning flash he thought of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
He said, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing.
He said that it seemed to make unbelief so absurd.
It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and the river said, “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.”
Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared that it would die of famine, and Joseph might say, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.”
Or, a man away up on a mountain saying to himself, “I fear I shall exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere.”
But the earth might say, “Breathe away, oh man, and fill thy lungs ever; my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.”
Little faith will bring our souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to us.
Paul asks that the same grace that Christ saved them with also be with their spirit.
The spirit is in reference to the human spirit which is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
As the Apostle Paul closes his letter to the Galatians, he reminds them once again of the grace by which they were saved, thereby bringing his letter full circle.
It is as if he wants to remind the Galatians that the grace of God was sufficient for them in times past without the works of the law, and it is also sufficient for them in the present.
For us as believers, we can also be assured that God’s saving grace that changed our lives will forever be sufficient for living grace as well.
It is our responsibility now to share this message with a searching world.
Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the most famous painters of the Victorian era.
His talent developed early, and he had the first showing of his work at the Royal Academy when he was just thirteen years old.
He was commissioned to do a number of official portraits of the royal family, and even gave private drawing lessons to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
But he was best known for his depictions of the natural settings and life in the Scottish highlands.
One day as he was visiting a family in an old mansion in Scotland, one of the servants spilled a pitcher of soda water, leaving a large stain on the wall.
While the family was out for the day, Landseer remained behind.
Using charcoal, he incorporated the stain into a beautiful drawing.
When the family returned they found a picture of a waterfall surrounded by trees and animals.
He used his skill to make something beautiful out of what had been an unsightly mess.
God works in much the same way in our lives.
The things that we think of as weaknesses and handicaps can, through His grace, become our greatest strengths—and the very things He uses the most to bring glory to Himself.
God’s grace provides the strength to meet every challenge and overcome every weakness.
And so we finish this great book of Galatians.
In a nutshell...Grace wins out!
All throughout this letter to these Gentile Christians, saving grace — the gift of God—is paired against the Law of Moses, which cannot save.
The Judeizers urged a return to the Mosaic Law as the source of salvation.
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