Galatians 6:14
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.
I was struck by the words "..the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world."
That is a "double whammy;" twice dead to the world.
The world was crucified, dead, to him.
He viewed all that was in the world,
The lust of the flesh,
The lust of the eyes and
The pride of lifeAs dead.
Those achievements a man might attain to in this world were crucified to him. They mean nothing. He saw them for what they truly are; vainglory and empty. A man may reach the pinnacle of success in the eyes of men, but still, be empty inside. Further, if he is not saved, those successes in this world will be of no value in securing a place in eternal heaven.
He was crucified, dead, to the world.In Paul's case, we know this to be true. His turn to Christ had cost him his position as a Pharisee and relationship with the chief priests and leaders of Jerusalem. All that he had once had, he had counted as dung that he might win Christ. But once he had made that stand, those who he once had consorted with attacked him with the same vigor in which he had attacked the saints himself.
Paul could find no Jew to take up his defense when he stood before Festus and Agrippa in Acts 26.
But could this same be said of any of us? Have we so taken on Christ that the world means nothing to us? Is our stand for the Lord so obvious that we have become nothing to the world?
Would we honestly be willing to lose all this world's goods for Christ as Paul did?
Would we be willing to see all our unsaved friends and family turn against us as Paul did?
Maybe then we should be very careful about applying those words "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." then.
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.
I was struck by the words "..the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world."
That is a "double whammy;" twice dead to the world.
The world was crucified, dead, to him.
He viewed all that was in the world,
The lust of the flesh,
The lust of the eyes and
The pride of lifeAs dead.
Those achievements a man might attain to in this world were crucified to him. They mean nothing. He saw them for what they truly are; vainglory and empty. A man may reach the pinnacle of success in the eyes of men, but still, be empty inside. Further, if he is not saved, those successes in this world will be of no value in securing a place in eternal heaven.
He was crucified, dead, to the world.In Paul's case, we know this to be true. His turn to Christ had cost him his position as a Pharisee and relationship with the chief priests and leaders of Jerusalem. All that he had once had, he had counted as dung that he might win Christ. But once he had made that stand, those who he once had consorted with attacked him with the same vigor in which he had attacked the saints himself.
Paul could find no Jew to take up his defense when he stood before Festus and Agrippa in Acts 26.
But could this same be said of any of us? Have we so taken on Christ that the world means nothing to us? Is our stand for the Lord so obvious that we have become nothing to the world?
Would we honestly be willing to lose all this world's goods for Christ as Paul did?
Would we be willing to see all our unsaved friends and family turn against us as Paul did?
Maybe then we should be very careful about applying those words "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." then.
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