"May I never boast", says Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, "except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
The premise being challenged, here in Romans, and there in Galatians, is that through our own efforts, or through physical and outward things, that we can claim in ourselves some kind of righteousness that we can take credit for.
In Romans it is talking of law keeping. In Galatians it speaks of circumcision. Circumcision became a huge issue in New Testament times because a certain section of the Jewish believers were insisting that it was necessary for new gentile Christians to be cut.
And why?
Because it was an observance of the law. So in essence, the same issue. And as Paul has stated previously, if righteousness could be obtained through the law then Christ died for nothing!
In Philippians 3 Paul gives a list of some of his credentials regarding his heritage and legal status in Judaism;
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Paul, possibly above anyone else, understands the inefficiency of such 'righteousness' and the emptiness of any such boast that one would make in it. You see, even though all of the above was true of him, that had not stopped him persecuting Jesus, nor prevented him from turning into a 'murderer'. He knew that all of this was possible with the blackest of hearts. He refers to himself, in relation to his past life, as 'the chief of sinners' and elsewhere sates 'of whom I am the worst'. That is why he refers to true circumcision being one of the heart, one that circumcision itself was a living visual illustration of, a symbolic casting off of the flesh. It must be a matter on inward righteousness, that is why in the verse prior to this list he says,
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.
That is where our only boast is to be. And is not our boast. It is Christ's, because we have contributed nothing to the equation but faith, and faith itself was a gift to us from God.
In this day and age, and in the gentile and secular west, certainly, circumcision is not something that one would boast of, nor take pride in.
But there are other things.
As evangelicals, we often pride ourselves on having an almost Phariseeical understanding of the scriptures. But sometimes I wonder, not that there is anything wrong with having a good understanding and 'belief system', if we may not personally put a little too much stock in believing the right things. I don't in any way diminish the need for doctrinal correctness, but we must never forget what saves us. The irony of becoming a grace Pharisee is almost too much to bear. Grace and faith must always bring with them humility. Even Jesus, who 'being in very nature God' did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself by becoming obedient to death (even death on a cross).
Paul says, I will say it again, "I will not boast in ANYTHING except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
Such grace is amazing, and it is humbling.
In a world where we are told to flaunt what we have got, and exploit every opportunity to our own advantage, in a society where we regularly present our best face to the whole world via the medium of social media platforms, in a world where image matters more than ever before, where body image is a matter of both pride and shame and young lives are crushed and reshaped around issues of perception of image and identity, we find that Jesus who was God, became nothing and showed us the way to true exaltation; The path of humility and grace.
So nothing but nothing is a source of legitimate pride to us. Not looks or wealth. Not popularity nor applause. Not ministry nor gifting's, nor charm nor charisma. Not knowledge nor qualifications, nor anything.
May I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
May God bless his word to you today, as he opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, may you be able to humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you,
This day,
And all days,
Amen
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