… yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.
Summary: Why we do things is as important as what we do. Paul unveils another motivation for those who promote circumcision in the flesh.
Paul has already told us the reason a Gentile would want to be circumcised. They want to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:12). Now, he tells us why these people want to get other people circumcised.
Paul says that if people from the circumcision group get others to join their group, they get “points.”
Well, technically speaking, the Greek doesn’t translate as “points,” but they do get bragging rights. In a way, it is like getting your card punched every time you buy a coffee at the local coffee shop. Every tenth coffee is free!
Getting to boast about someone else doing what you tell them is not a spiritual experience. When we come to the end of this life and take our last breath, everything changes. The things of this world, the things of the flesh, fall away. What is left is our soul. For those who are in Christ, a new body is waiting for us (2 Corinthians 5:1) after we put this body of flesh aside (2 Peter 1:13-14).
Do we, for one moment, really think God will be impressed by our boasting about things we did here on earth?
No matter how well intended, our “righteous acts are like filthy rags” before God (Isaiah 64:6). Bragging rights here on earth do not impress our Creator. They only impress people of the flesh.
So where does that leave us?
Paul has already instructed us to “walk by the Spirit” and not “gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). One of the questions we asked ourselves was, “How do we know if we are walking by the Spirit?” In today’s passage, Paul has shown us another way to tell. Are we trying to impress God or people of the flesh?
Application: Focus on pleasing God.
Food for Thought: What does the desire to boast say about us?
What does the desire to boast say about us?
It depends on whether we boast about ourselves or boast in the Lord.
Boasting about ourselves comes from arrogance:
James 4:16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
Psalm 94:4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
What is arrogance? It is defined as “the quality of being unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people.”
2 Corinthians 10:12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
Boasting in the Lord comes from serving Him, in understanding of Him and in humility of Him:
1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Thank you, Chris!
Excellent analysis!
(Something to boast about! 🙂 )
What does the desire to boast say about us?
In the Bible, to boast is often an act of pride, especially when a person speaks of their own achievements or status, which is discouraged as it reflects reliance on oneself rather than on God. However, Genuine boasting in relation to one’s relationship with the Lord and His works, is encouraged.
Jeremiah 9:23-24, Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Philippians 2:3, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Ephesians 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
1 Corinthians 1:31, So that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Ron,
You remind me of Proverbs 16:18 —
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Thank you!!
Good comments. I like that CH brought up the distinction between boasting in ourselves compared to boasting in the Lord.
Assuming we are talking about boasting in ourselves, it simply demonstrates the sin nature in all of us. All of us struggle with pride and the need to be seen as significant by others. But as you point out in the devotional, we are on the right path when we desire to please God and not people.
Thank you, Rich!
The “need to be seen as significant,” as you point out, is a need of the flesh, not the spirit.
Well said!