Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Galatians 6:11-18 (NIV)
Not Circumcision but the New Creation
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 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. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God. 17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
In these final verses in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he attempts to make his point one more time. The most important part of these verses is Paul’s reminder that we are a new creation. It is not the marks we bear on the outside of our bodies that matter, what matters is what Christ has done within us! The funniest part of this passage, however, is the first verse: “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand”. (Gal 6:11) Paul’s passion for Christ, his love for the Galatians, and his desire to get across the message have seeped into his penmanship. May we not miss the point. May we see that God’s gift of grace to us makes us a new creation. Today, I pray that we will all see clearly the gift of God’s grace in our lives. Let us all pray and thank God that he has made us new.