Gal 6:10-14 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 
	This morning, Lord willing, we will, on a very basic level, consider three key aspects of this passage. These aspects include the fact of what it means to be of the household of faith; the basic difference in our glorying in the flesh and in the cross; and what it means to have the world crucified to us and us to the world. My intent, then, Lord willing, is to conclude our brief summary of this Letter to the Galatians next week. We will then, again Lord willing, begin looking at the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. 
 As a quick aside and earnest request, please unceasingly maintain the prayer that the Lord will keep our hearts set on only that which He desires for this fellowship. It is with that prayer that I have been asking the Lord to prepare us, for what He has in His heart as we will be considering the Letter to the Ephesians. It would serve each one of us well to begin reading that letter over and over again in our own, personal, quiet time. As with this Galatian Letter, there is so very much of Christ that is declared in the greatest and richest depths of God’s heart, in Christ, poured out to the Ephesians by the Apostle Paul. I remember when Dad once made the comment, with every grain of seriousness, that if he started dealing with the Letter to the Ephesians, he would not live to see its completion. Yes, there is that much and so much more held within the superlative truths of Our Lord Jesus Christ expressed in these scriptures. Our prayer needs to be that we, together, will see an accurate part of that which God desires for us as His fellowship, as His family in all the depth of Christ.   
Last week, we saw how scripture details the charge to do good to all men. There is a standard, a very high standard, a perfect standard that is established in our lives. That most excellent standard is the Lord Jesus Christ. While we are not called to the utterly impossible task of matching the perfection of Christ on this earth, we are, none-the-less, directed to live forth from the very nature of Christ Who now indwells us. Our Most Loving and Wonderful God has made that possible through the guidance, power, and comfort of His Word by the ministry of His Holy Spirit.
This brings us back to the consideration of the Galatian passages before us. We do so with the desire for the Lord to be satisfied with what is taking place in us. It is with the desire that we would be more and more brought into the truth of being His Fellowship. That we would understand that in Christ, we are His very family. This needs to be our continual focus as we consider Him this morning and every time we are gathered together in His name. Gal 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. 
	There remains an aspect which we did not have sufficient time to delve into, so we will briefly look at the wonderful truth that, in Christ, we have become the household of faith. The IVP New Testament Commentary does an excellent job of relating the force of this fact as established throughout this letter to the Galatians. Quote Although there are no limits placed on the scope of our service to all people, our priority is certainly to serve the family of believers. Here Paul picks up a central theme of his letter. All believers are children of Abraham by faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham (3:6-29). All believers enjoy the full rights of the children of God (4:4-7). All believers are the true children of the free woman; the heavenly Jerusalem is our mother (4:21-31). These great truths about the family of believers should motivate us to keep on doing good to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We belong to one another in one family, since we belong to Christ.  End of quote (from IVP New Testament Commentary Series © 1992-2004. All rights reserved. For specific copyright information on each volume, see the copyright page.)
	It is no small thing to be part of the family of God. It is a miracle of infinite proportions. It is the manifested plan of God from before time began. It is the culminating act of God in our reconciliation unto Him as declared in Eph 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 
	In Christ, we are made one family. It is by the grace of God in Jesus Christ that all believers are joined together as true brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are joined to one another with bonds far greater and much more binding than blood. One of our heart’s desires, as a fellowship, is that we will become more and more engaged with each other as members of the household of God. That is the reason that we include all of the members of our family in our worship unto God. We do not separate out the young from the old. We are joined together in Him. We learn about Christ together. We praise His glorious name together. We sing songs of worship and adoration together. We read His Word together. We rejoice in the Lord together. Our Music Sundays and Fellowship feasts are aspects of our being a family together in Christ. We eat together as a family. We learn songs together. We share with each another in the joy of the Lord. We pray for one another and we stand together as a family with each other. Through sickness and health, through poverty and prosperity, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death, we grow together as a family, into the unity of Christ. Our bond is far greater than any blood bond could ever be. Our bond is the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must, also, realize that there is a deep responsibility to the family unto which we are joined. The Apostle Paul declared many aspects of how to be a family in his letters to Timothy. This is not just a casual joining together of a social grouping. There is a definite purpose in being joined to each other in Christ. Take the time to read the aspects of responsibility that rest on each of us as outlined in the first letter to Timothy. The Apostle Paul concludes that section with his statement in 1 Tim 3:15 if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. 
	1 Tim 5:8 If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. We are a family, and as such, we have a responsibility to one another in the Lord Jesus Christ to show forth and provide for each other, brothers and sisters, the household of faith. Again, listen to verse 10, So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
	Continuing with our consideration, we see the Apostle Paul’s final arguments against the Judiazers. In these arguments, he gives forth the reasons that we must no longer glory in the flesh, but only in the cross of Christ. Verses 12+13, It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. 
	These Judiazers were ultimately seeking after Galatian converts, not for the benefit of the converts, but for the benefit of themselves, the Judiazers. They were only interested in showing the Jews that they were in fact doing good Jewish work among the Gentiles. They were actually actively working to save themselves from any persecution by the Jews. By setting aside the Cross of Christ, they were making themselves of little or no concern to the Jews, other than spreading forth a version of Judaism. It is Christ who was and is the stumbling block to the Jews. It was and is the Cross of Christ that boiled up the intense and fiery persecution from the Jewish authorities. It was and is the proclamation of the risen Lord Jesus Christ that caused such an explosion of animosity and hatred from the Jews. This is what the Judiazers were anxious to avoid. They were promoting circumcision – the outward change in subjection to the Law and setting aside any inward change by the Holy Spirit, and that satisfied the Jewish leadership. 
	The Apostle Paul, however, having once been one of the most extreme persecutors, sets forth the truth of the cowardice and falseness of these Judiazers. He knew what was involved with the preaching of Jesus Christ and He refused to be swayed against the Gospel by any measure of persecution. He knew of the truth of Christ’s words and relished the opportunity to trust God in everything. John 16:33, I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 
	The Book of Acts recounts many of the trials and tribulations laid upon the Apostle Paul and the brethren as they refused to be suppressed from the preaching of Jesus Christ crucified; Jesus Christ resurrected; and the Lord Jesus Christ glorified.
Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted what was spoken by Paul, and reviled him.
	Acts 13:50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 
	Acts 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 
	Acts 14:19 But Jews came there from Antioch and Ico'nium; and having persuaded the people, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 
	The true nature of the preaching of the Judiazers was that they wanted a religion that would be a comfortable one, an easy one to obey, one that would not require anything more than some external marks of obedience. There would be no need for the sacrifice of themselves unto the righteous work of the Holy Spirit. They could circumcise their bodies, but would not have to circumcise their hearts. Wuest states the fleshly appeal of religions set in man as opposed to the truth of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Quote All false systems of religion are so adjusted that they appeal to the fallen nature of man, satisfying his religious instinct for worship, while at the same time allowing him to go on in his sin. The teachings of the Judaizers catered to the fallen natures of the Galatians in that they made no demand for the necessity of regeneration nor for faith in an atoning sacrifice that paid for sin. In addition to that, their teachings stressed a salvation-by-works religion, which glorifies man, not God, and which allows him to go on in his sin while seeking to buy the favor of God by his so-called good works. This could only lead, Paul says, to corruption in their lives. End of quote
	The Apostle Paul then even takes the argument into the fact that the Judiazers themselves could not and would not obey the whole law. They chose those aspects that were easy to accomplish and left the heart of the law outside their temple doors. They were only making a show of their piety, without being pious in their lives. They had the appearance in their circumcision, but not the substance of true circumcision in their hearts.
Rom 2:17-23 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth - you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 
	Christ forcefully laid this charge against the scribes and Pharisees as recorded throughout the 23rd Chapter of Matthew. He issued the most severe warnings against the faithlessness of the scribes, Pharisees, and priests of Judaism who were merely practicing an outward form of religion, a tradition of doctrine and teaching without the heart of God’s Love. 
Verses 1-7 Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. Verse 5 in the Amplified (They do all their works to be seen of men; for they make wide their phylacteries (small cases enclosing certain Scripture passages, worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead) and make long their fringes [worn by all male Israelites, according to the command].)
Verses 13-15 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 
Verses 23-31 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 
	This is the corruption of living in and glorying in the flesh. It will never amount to anything other than betrayal, cowardice, death, and destruction. There is no salvation possible in the flesh, and none is really desired. The hearts set on the flesh are satisfied with the corruption of this realm and desirous of nothing else other than self-glory and adoration.
Gal 6:14 But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Paul set forth the Cross of Christ as the climatic point of difference between the Judiazers and himself. This was no small thing. The cross of Christ is abhorrent to this world. It was the worst possible form of punishment unto death reserved for the lowest of criminals. To think that a king would be crucified in such an ignoble manner was inconceivable. Yet it is because Christ so endured the worst death, that Paul glories in it. Why the glory? Simply because on that loathed cross, Jesus Christ died our death to this world. With regard to the cross, Augustine wrote the following, The cross, the object of shame to them and all carnal men, is the great object of glorying to me, for by it, the worst of deaths, Christ has destroyed all kinds of death. End of quote. That cross was made by Christ, the paradox of this age. The world considers it the image of weakness and misery. Christ made it the hope of salvation and life, strength and joy. 
1 Cor 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 
The Apostle Paul saw the cross as the source of all hope as a Christian. He was determined to preach the cross no matter what. If he was to be persecuted, he saw no better cause for which one could be persecuted. Even more, he would face that persecution, not with sorrow or regret, but with all joy. When he declared that his glory was in the cross of Christ, he was proclaiming that his full confidence was in the cross. He was expressing his full reliance on the cross. He was forcefully exclaiming that he would speak unceasingly about the cross. He presented the cross in all the glory and all the majesty and all the richness and all the fullness of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He was heralding the fact that it is by the cross that Christ’s death is working His life in us, who believe. 
Rom 6:5+6 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 
According to one commentator, the Apostle Paul is declaring that the cross is so vital to us because, by it, we are now crucified to the world. Quote This crucifying of the world and of self in mutual interdependence means life and redemption for him who has learned to direct his life solely upon the Cross of Christ end of quote
	The world – everything outside of Christ in which man seeks his glory and places his trust is utterly, thoroughly, and absolutely reduced to nothing, dead at the cross. This world is lifeless, meaningless, without charm, without attraction, without any hold on those to who have been crucified to it on that cross of Christ.
In a most practical application, consider how it worked in the Apostle Paul’s life. He had been an Israelite among Israelites. His entire world had been focused in the realm of Judaism. All that had been important to him, as Saul, was gathered up in his Israelitish ancestry, his Pharisaic traditions, and his zeal for the law. This was the world in which he had lived. Now, however, through the cross of Christ, all that was once his life was shown as nothing when compared to the glory of his oneness with Christ, because of that cross. Listen to him as he considered those things that once meant so much to him. Col 2:20-Col 3:3 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
Listen again to Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 
	In conclusion, Our hope, our glory, our strength, our wisdom, our knowledge, our life is established because of the cross of Jesus Christ. He died our death that we now, in Him, have eternal life. Far more than that, in His death and resurrection, He has made us one with Himself, members of the household of faith to the glory of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. Listen to the heart that is now our heart. We have been crucified to the world and the world to us at the cross of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Our Savior.
Phil 3:3-14 For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 

Our benediction this morning is from 1 Peter 1:3-8 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.