Crusified - Cross - Crucifixion

σταυρόω

stauroó: to fence with stakes, to crucify
Original Word: σταυρόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: stauroó
Phonetic Spelling: (stow-ro'-o)
Short Definition: I crucify
Definition: I fix to the cross, crucify; fig: I destroy, mortify.
HELPS Word-studies
4717 stauróō – to crucify, literally used of the Romans crucifying Christ on a wooden cross. "Crucify" (4717 /stauróō) is also used figuratively of putting the old self to death by submitting all decisions (desires) to the Lord. This utterly and decisively rejects the decision to live independently from Him.


Has been crucified (4717) (stauroo from stauros = cross, in turn from histemi = to stand) means literally to nail or fasten to a cross and so to crucify -- literal death by nailing to and hanging from a cross (a stake).

In Galatians Paul uses stauroo in a metaphorical sense to refer to crucifixion of the flesh (as a result of the literal crucifixion)...

Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Friberg says this metaphorical sense of stauroo in Gal 5:24 speaks of...

of a believer's renouncing his old sinful way of living to be united to his Lord - crucify, put to death, i.e. be done with. (Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker Academic)

BDAG says that in Gal 5:24 stauroo means...

to destroy through connection with the crucifixion of Christ, crucify, a transcendent sense (and in Gal 6:14 refers to) the believer who is inseparably united to the Lord has died on the cross to the kind of life that belongs to this world (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature)

The perfect tense signifies past completed action (the day my co-crucifixion with Christ became my reality by grace through faith) with present ongoing result or effect (that I continue to be as a dead man to the world's allurements). The perfect tense signifies that the believer's eternal state is that of one crucified with Christ, forever in union with Him (covenant oneness), the One Who is now and forever our life (Col 3:4-note).

Zodhiates says that what Paul is saying is that...

his regard for his crucified Savior was so great that the world had no more charm for him than the corpse of a crucified malefactor would have had, nor did he take any more delight in worldly things than a person expiring on the cross would do in the objects around him. (Zodhiates, S. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. AMG or Logos)

Paul made the cross his boast in that it was his place of "death to self". And in being crucified on the cross with Jesus, Paul at the same time changed his relationship to the world. It was crucified to him, and he was crucified to it. 2Timothy 1:8, 9, 10, 11, 12 are the words of a man to whom the world was crucified; don't you agree?

Norman Harrison observes that...

God's one way of defeating the world is to crucify it, and with it the "I" to whom the world makes its appeal. As the flesh was crucified jointly with Christ, so likewise the world that works hand in glove with the flesh for my undoing. God's great antithesis is carrying through to care for every point of practical difficulty. I and the world must be separated; so I and the world are set on opposite and opposing sides. If I am on His Side I am not on the world's side. If I am on the world's side, giving my allegiance to the world, I am no longer on His Side; I have denied the cross and the Christ by which and by whom -- both translations are equally permissible -- the separation was effected. I am back on Our Side; there is no middle ground. ("I" CRUCIFIED VERSUS THE WORLD - GALATIANS 6:14-15)

Allen (Bethany Bible) has a practical exposition of Galatians 6:14 asking...

What did it mean that the world was crucified to him? I believe that it meant he was no longer driven by the world's approval. As far as he was concerned, the world was "crucified" - dead! He didn't care what a dead "thing" said about him. And what's more; not only was the world crucified to him, but he was crucified to the world.

What did it mean that he was crucified to the world? It meant that the world still had something of its pull - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life; but it was no longer the driving force of Paul's life. The world would give out its orders to him and try to press him into its mold; but it would fail. It would no more be the guiding principle in his life than it would over a dead man - because he truly was dead; crucified to it through Christ. Jesus said,

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

In what ways was Paul crucified to the world? I can think of three specific ways.

First, he was crucified to the world's pull upon him through the lust of the flesh. The world keeps many people prisoner through the pull of the flesh. Its philosophy is, "If it feels good, do it." That, in fact, has become the guiding principle in life for many. but Paul asserted,

Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24, cp Ro 6:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14).

Does the world still exercise rule over you through the pull of the flesh? Have you yet been "crucified" to this world by putting to death the deeds of the flesh?

Second, Paul was crucified to this world's pull on him through the lust of the eyes. He was willing to suffer the loss of all things on this earth in order to be fully Christ's (cp Php 3:4-note, Php 3:7, 8-note, Php 3:9-note). An attachment to the things of this earth keeps many people prisoner to this world. It's philosophy in this regard, is "He who dies with the most toys wins".

Jesus spoke of the foolish man who became prosperous, built up his barns to store his grain, then told his own soul,

Take your ease; eat, drink and be merry." But God told him, "'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21).

The things of this world did not hold Paul prisoner. He was able to have much or little - to be in poverty or to abound (cp Php 4:11,12-note, Php 4:13-note). It didn't change him. It didn't rule his soul. He could possess the things of this world as God provided them; but they couldn't possess him. He was crucified to the things of this world; and now, his life consisted in Christ and not in them. He wrote,

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Col 3:1-note, Col 3:2-note, Col 3:3, 4-note).

Do the things of this world rule over you? Are the things of this world your "life"? Have you been "crucified" to this world by crucifying "the lust of the eyes"?

Third, Paul was crucified to this world's pull through the pride of life. Many are deeply concerned with how others think of them. They are either ruled by the 'fear of man' (Pr 29:25) or they are driven to become feared by men. They longed to be looked up to and respected in the eyes of this world. The "pride of life" expresses itself in the world's motto: "I did it my way".

But this didn't have a grip on Paul. He was no longer concerned about what this world thought of him. He embraced and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ wholeheartedly (Ro 1:16-note) - even though the world mocked it, and rejected it, and persecuted him for it.

There was a time, during one of his missionary journeys, when he was dragged out of the city (Lystra) he was preaching in, stoned viciously, and left for dead. But then, he immediately got up, and marched back into the very city that had just stoned him (Acts 14:19, 20). On another occasion, he was on his way to preach the gospel in Jerusalem. There were prophets who warned him that imprisonment and trouble awaited him there; and many in the churches were pleading with him not to go. But Paul answered,

What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord (Acts 21:13).

He was not ashamed of the gospel, because he was already "crucified" to the world - and why should a crucified man care what the world says about him?

Paul no longer craved respect and honor from this world. He put it this way:

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1Cor 1:18, 19, 20).

God has made the wisdom of the world all foolish through the cross; and Paul was crucified upon it, with Christ, to the wisdom of this world. Paul lived a crucified life (Gal 2:20-note). He serves as our example. But then, we shouldn't be surprised by this; because Jesus taught this to us long ago when He said,

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny (aorist imperative = Do this now!) himself, and take up (aorist imperative = Do this now!) his cross, and follow (present imperative = keep on following) Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:34, 35, 36, 37, 38).

{{{Editorial Comment: "The first two imperatives are aorist, giving a summary command to be obeyed at once. The “coming after” and the “taking up” are to be obeyed at once and are to be a once-for-all act. That is, these acts are to be looked upon as a permanent attitude and practice of life. The whole life is to be characterized by an habitual coming after and taking up of the cross. After having once for all given over the life to the Lord, the believer must hence-forward count it ever so given over. He is not his own anymore. He belongs to the Lord. He is the Lord’s property. The word “follow” however, is in the present imperative, which commands the doing of an action and its habitual, moment by moment continuance. The first two imperatives give direction to the life. The last speaks of the actual living of that which has been given direction by two once-for-all acts." (Wuest's Word Studies}}}

Why does Jesus call us to take up our cross? It's so that we may be crucified upon it to the world (Ed: Wuest "The cross was the instrument of death. Here it speaks of death to self."). And why does He then call us to follow Him with it? It's so that we may then go on to live a crucified life in the midst of this world for His sake.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; would you commit yourself with me, this year, to seek before God to live a crucified life in this world? (Living A Crucified Life, Galatians 6:14)

Stauroo - 46x in 42v - Mt 20:19; 23:34; 26:2; 27:22, 23, 26, 31, 35, 38; 28:5; Mark 15:13, 14, 15, 20, 24, 25, 27; 16:6; Luke 23:21, 23, 33; 24:7, 20; John 19:6, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 41; Acts 2:36; 4:10; 1 Cor 1:13, 23; 2:2, 8; 2 Cor 13:4; Gal 3:1; 5:24; 6:14; Rev 11:8

Jesus predicted His own crucifixion...

Matthew 20:19 (Lk 24:6, 7) and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.

The cry that will echo throughout eternity is that of the Jews and their leaders to Pilate...

Matthew 27:22, 23 (Mark 15:13, 14, Lk 23:21, 23, John 19:6, 15) Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

Peter reminded his Jewish audience at Pentecost of the stumbling block of the Cross...

Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Paul's primary message was the Cross of Christ...

1Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,

1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

2Corinthians 13:4 For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

LOVE THE WORLD
or
LOVE THE CROSS

World has been crucified to me and I to the world - Dead to me and I to it! Paul in a sense saw the world as if it were nailed to a cross and consequently he considered the world as good as dead and he as good as dead to the world which describes intercrucifixion to use John Eadie's term. You can take all the world but let me have the Cross of Christ...Just give me Jesus...

In the morning when I rise,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world.
Give me Jesus.
(Play this song - one of my all time favorites)

Richison writes...

Paul looks at the world as if he were on the cross and that is the way the world looks at him. Paul looks at the world as though he were dead to his aspirations. The greater the glory of the cross looked to him, the less the world attracted him. When our soul feeds on the cross, it closes down our heart for the world. The more our heart feeds on the world, the less our hearts care about the cross. (Galatians 6:14 - Bible Exposition Commentary)

John Piper writing that in the life of the great Puritan John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress)...

Death to the world was the costly corollary of life to God. The visible world died to Bunyan. He lived on “God that is invisible.” Increasingly this was Bunyan’s passion from the time of his conversion as a young married man to the day of his death when he was sixty years old. (The Hidden Smile of God - Online Book)

John Piper writes that Charles Simeon...

loved to contemplate the cross of Christ not only because it signified “salvation through a crucified Redeemer,” but also because by this cross he had died to the pleasures, riches, and honors of this world. Man’s admiration could not lure him; man’s condemnation could not lame him. He was dead to all that now, because “by [the cross] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). The cross was the place of his greatest humiliation and the place of his greatest adoration. It was death-dealing and life-giving. Therefore Simeon said that he, like Paul, “would ‘know nothing else’ (1Co 2:2) and ‘glory in nothing else’ (Gal 6:14).” Christ was crucified for him. He was crucified with Christ. This was the key to life and endurance.

So unfathomable are the counsels of divine wisdom contained in it, that all the angels of heaven are searching into it with a thirst that is insatiable. Such is its efficacy, that nothing can withstand its influence. By this then, my brethren, you may judge whether you are Christians in deed and in truth, or whether you are only such in name.… For a nominal Christian is content with proving the way of salvation by a crucified Redeemer. But the true Christian loves it, delights in it, glories in it, and shudders at the very thought of glorying in anything else. (Simeon - emphasis added by Dr Piper)

Here is the root of Simeon’s endurance: the cross of Christ giving rise to a “shuddering delight”—shuddering at his own remaining corruption that may betray his soul by fear of man and the love of the world; delight that rises higher than all that man can take or give, and therefore triumphs over all threats and allurements. Christ is all. “Let all your joys flow from the contemplation of his cross.” (The Roots of Endurance - Online Book)

When we walk with the Lord,
we'll be out of step with the world.

J Vernon McGee...

Between Paul and the world there was a cross. That should be the position of every believer today. That will have more to do with shaping your conduct than anything else. You will not boast about the fact that you are keeping the Sermon on the Mount, or that you belong to a certain church, or that you are a church officer, or a preacher, or a Sunday school teacher. You will not be able to boast of anything. You will just glory in the Cross and the One who died there. (Galatians 6:13-14 - Mp3)

BKC...

The world system with all its allurements, fleshly displays, and religions of human effort was cast aside by Paul. He looked at the world as if it were on a cross—and the world looked at Paul as though he were on a cross. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor or Logos)

THE CROSS BRINGS
SEPARATION
FROM THE WORLD

Norman Harrison emphasizes how the cross makes possible the believer's separation from the world, but first gives a synopsis of Biblical separation...

The Principle of Separation - Running all the way through Holy Writ is an urgent, underlying principle -- that of separation. So long as GOD allows evil in the world He must adhere to this principle of separation from it.

Considered historically - Among the antediluvians the line of Seth was God's people. When they disregarded this principle of separation and intermarried with the descendants of Cain, evil multiplied and gave occasion for the judgment of the flood. God began anew with Abraham, saying, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee" (Ge 12:1). He obeyed, with one exception -- Lot. Genesis 13 is an exposition of the principle of separation: "Separate thyself"; "and they separated themselves the one from the other" (Ge 13:9,11). Then God was free to pronounce abundant blessing upon Abraham, "after that Lot was separated from him" (see Ge 13:14, 15, 16, 17). And now comes the experience of restored fellowship (Ge 13:18), and by contrast the dismal failure of worldly Lot (Ge 14, 18, 19). And, remember, we are the spiritual children of Abraham (Gal 3:7, 29).

The history of Abraham's descendants, the children of Israel, is the same. In Egypt, type of the world, they were in bondage. When delivered from Egypt and led into the promised land, they were called to separate themselves from the inhabitants of Canaan, as "a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people ... an holy nation" (Ex 19:5, 6). So Solomon prayed, "For Thou didst
separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be Thine inheritance" (1Ki 8:53). (Read Dt 32:8,9; then the sadness of the "but," Dt 32:15, when this separation is forsaken). The ups and downs of Israel through Joshua, the Judges, and the Kings, is wholly a matter of separation observed or separation forsaken. The latter prevailed; GOD had but one course, the major operation of separating them from their land and all it meant to them, into the bondage of Babylon. Read please -- do read it -- this sad harvest from the sin of non-separation, 2Chr 36:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

Considered prophetically - Spiritually the present state of the world is a mixed field of wheat and tares: "Let both grow together until the harvest," but the harvest is the appointed time of separation into different lots and destinies (Mt 13:30). While all are to be raised from the dead, there will be two kinds of resurrection (Jn 5:28, 29). Yes, and two times of resurrection; so that "they that are Christ's," as distinct from those who are not, are to be raised at His coming from among the dead (see 1Co 15:23). The wicked dead are left for their appointed lot and judgment.

Considered presently - Present living should conform to future prospect. Separation will obtain then, why not now? It should, and must, if we would keep "on side." Read with bowed heart our Lord's prayer for His own (John 17). Some eighteen times in thirteen verses Jesus uses the word "world" (Jn 17:5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 24,2 5); seven times He refers to His own as "given" to Him by the Father (how precious is a gift!). By such expressions as these He forever separates us, His gifts, from the world: "The men which Thou gavest Me out of the world" (Jn 17:6); "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou has given Me, for they are Thine" (Jn 17:9); "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (Jn 17:14).

The Power of Separation - What is to bring about a life of separation? If I am expected to live this way, must it be by self will and determination? Then I would be in constant danger of giving way to the world's appeals. No; it's the cross! The cross "by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Gal 6:14) There it stands, the cross, between me and the world that formerly claimed me. Something has happened to me; and something has happened to the world. The bond of responsiveness has been broken. The world had me by the eyes, ears and nose: I used to see, hear and smell all of its allurements; it had me at its beck and call. Now that "I" has died -- died with CHRIST, a new "I" -- risen with Him -- has been endowed with a new sense of seeing, hearing, and smelling (2Co 5:17, cp Ro 6:4), so that I recognize and appreciate spiritual values not found in the world's offerings. I find my life on a higher plane; I move in a different sphere. Crucifixion broke my bondage to the world; the resurrection that followed gave me a life of liberty.

But more. It is "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Its power to separate is not impersonal; rather, it's the power of a person. That Person lives today to make His cross operative; He lives in me. I was crucified to the world and raised to live a new life; CHRIST was crucified and
raised to live His new life in me. The result: I am separated from the world, and separated to CHRIST. My life has a new center, a new set of desires, an entirely new outlook.

Considered typically, Separation has this twofold aspect as taught through the Tabernacle: the
linen curtain of the court separates from the world outside, while the house line separates the
believer to Father, Son and Spirit living within. Every Christian should have a testimony ringing with the reality of this experience. I am glad to give my testimony in the words of a man referred to by Dr. Ironside. He had been in deep sin. After his conversion one of his friends in sin said to him,

"Bill, I pity you -- a man that has been such a high-flyer as you. And now you have settled down, you go to church, or stay at home and read the Bible and pray; you never have good times any more."

"But Bob," said the saved man, "you don't understand. I get drunk every time I want to. I go to the theatre every time I want to. I go to the dance when I want to. I play cards and gamble whenever I want to."

"I say," said Bob, "I don't understand it that way. I thought you had to give up these things to be
a Christian."

"No, Bob," said his friend, "the Lord took the 'want to' out when He saved my soul, and He made me a new creature in CHRIST JESUS. I simply don't 'want to' do those things anymore."

In a real sense the Christian isn't giving up any thing. He is giving himself up to CHRIST. Then
CHRIST takes care of the rest.

The Peril of Non-Separation The above facts make perfectly evident to us all the true nature of the Christian life, as over against any other life, and the true purpose of Christ in establishing the New Covenant and in bringing us into it. That life is not just a good life; that purpose is not to make good people, with varying degrees of goodness as they may elect to live the life; rather, it is to have a peculiar people, peculiar to Himself, peculiarly His own, now and eternally. (Our English word, 'peculiar,' when rightly understood, is full of meaning, and none more appropriate could be chosen. As Webster's Dictionary tells us, 'peculiar is from the Roman "peculium" which was a thing emphatically and distinctively one's own, and hence was dear'. A single word sometimes contains a sermon. And what a sermon we have here! To be a peculiar people is not to be an odd people. Still less to be a people noted for ungraciousness or rudeness. It is to be 'emphatically and distinctively' the Lord's own people, and therefore to be very specially dear to Him" [Tom Olson in Now]. Could there be any finer description of our bridal relationship?)

That peculiar, intimate relationship of endearment -- we giving ourselves to Him; He giving Himself to us -- is nothing short of a marriage union. It was to this end that He took us with Him through crucifixion, through death to every bond that previously obligated us -- to the law, yes, and to the world -- that we might be free, as a new creature, to be "married to Another," even to the risen, glorious CHRIST (Romans 7:4).

Thus GOD sees every child of His joined to His Son in a sacred, indissoluble union. He has brought us to His Side as a bride. We are joined in a life-union to the most beautiful, wonderful person in the universe. The HOLY SPIRIT is busily engaged in making us over into His likeness -- the fruit of the Spirit. To leave His Side, to go back to Our Side, to the reviving of the flesh and its cravings for the world -- what is it but gross infidelity! It is consorting with His enemy! It is adultery!

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4)

This is exceptionally strong language; it couldn't be stronger. And GOD means it! GOD sent His Son to deliver us from the world. He sent His Spirit to bring us into a vital marital union with
His Son. He holds us precious to Himself in these bonds. Then we deliberately turn our back on the entire set-up, playing fast and loose with the world? He counts it infidelity -- adultery in the spirit.

Where are we? We are hopelessly back on Our Side. Allowing our flesh to draw us into friendship with the world, we have not merely broken fellowship with Him; we have made ourselves His enemy. Worldly Christian, God means it; you had best believe it. An adulteress! What an ugly word. But the sin is far more ugly. If adultery of the flesh is offensive, how much more adultery of the spirit! While the one is grieving to the Spirit in His lust against it, the other is a grief to the Father, the Son and the Spirit. It is an abomination in His sight.

Dear reader, thinking yourself free to be a so-called worldly Christian, consider what you are doing. The world is God's enemy. It put CHRIST on the cross. It would do it again. You are friendly with it and its ways. What can GOD do but count you on the other side? He says you have made yourself His enemy. There is no middle ground. You are sadly "off side." Won't you turn again to CHRIST, to live in Him, to let His love constrain you to a life of utter devotedness to Him? ("I" CRUCIFIED VERSUS THE WORLD - GALATIANS 6:14-15)

Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Oh, the peace of love divine!
Oh, the bliss of consecration!
I am His, and He is mine.
-- Rebecca S. Pollard

Listen to the Kathryn Scott's incredibly beautiful rendition of Isaac Watt's classic hymn as you meditate on the power of the cross to separate you once and for all time from enslavement to this present evil world which is passing away...

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
by Isaac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of CHRIST, my GOD;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Tozer put it this way...

We must do something about the cross and one of two things only we can do—flee it or die upon it.

Wiersbe notes that...

Christians can become worldly, and they do so (like Lot -see Ge 13:10, 11, 12, 13 and Ge 19:1ff) by degrees. First there is friendship with the world (Jas 4:4); then love for the world (1Jn 2:15, 16, 17); and finally conformity to the world (Ro 12:2). The result is that the compromising believer is judged with the world (1Co 11:32). Anything in our lives that keeps us from enjoying God’s love and doing God’s will is worldly and should be put away. To live for the world is to deny the cross of Christ (Gal 6:14). The world hates Christ; how can the Christian love the world? Believers who are friends of the world are at enmity with God. They grieve the Spirit, who jealously yearns for their love. (Wiersbe, W. W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books) (Bolding Added)

Thomas Watson...

One sign of genuine love to God, is crucifixion to the world. He who is a lover of God—is dead to the world. "The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14). That is, "I am dead to the honors and pleasures of the world."

He who is in love with God is not much in love with anything else. The love of God, and ardent love of the world—are incompatible. "If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1John 2:15). Love to God swallows up all other love—as Moses' rod swallowed up the Egyptian rods.

If a man could live as high as the sun—what a small point would all the earth be. Just so, when a man's heart is raised above the world in the admiring and loving of God—how poor and diminutive are these things below! They seem as nothing in his eye. Test your love to God by this.

What shall we think of those who never have enough of the world? They have the cancer of covetousness, thirsting insatiably after riches: "Who pant after the dust of the earth!" (Amos 2:7). "Never talk of your love to Christ," says Ignatius, "when you prefer the world before the Pearl of great price!" Are there not many such, who prize their gold above God? If they have a good farm—they care not for the water of life. They will sell Christ and a good conscience for money. Will God ever bestow heaven upon those who so basely undervalue Him, preferring glittering dust before the glorious Deity?

What is there in the earth, that we should so set our hearts upon it? The devil makes us look upon it through a magnifying glass! The world has no real intrinsic worth; it is but paint and deception!

Thomas Watson applies this truth to suffering for Christ first exhorting us to...

Avoid those things which will hinder suffering. The love of the world. God allows us the use of the world (1Ti 6:7, 8). But take heed of the love of it. He who is in love with the world will be out of love with the Cross. 'Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world' (2Ti 4:10-note). He not only forsook Paul's company but his doctrine. The love of the world chokes our zeal. A man wedded to the world will for thirty pieces of silver betray Christ and his cause. Let the world be as a loose garment that you may throw off at pleasure. Before a man can die for Christ—he must be dead to the world. Paul was crucified to the world (Galatians 6:14). It will be an easy thing to die, when we are already dead in our affections. (Beatitudes)

I Have Decided
To Follow Jesus
The Cross before me
The world behind me
No turning back
No turning back

Though none go with me
Still I will follow
Though none go with me
Still I will follow
Though none go with me
Still I will follow
No turning back
No turning back!
(Song by Michael Card)
Amy Grant's version of I Have Decided

Findlay commenting on the Paul's rejection of the attractions of the world says...

He can never believe in it, never take pride in it, nor do homage to it any more. It is stripped of its glory and robbed of its power to charm or govern him.

Puritan Stephen Charnock...

The world we live in would have fallen upon our heads, had it not been upheld by the pillar of the Cross; had not Christ stepped in and promised a satisfaction for the sin of man. By this all things consist—not a blessing we enjoy but may put us in mind of it; they were all forfeited by sin—but merited by His blood. If we study it (the Cross) well, we shall be sensible how God hated sin and loved a world.

Horatius Bonar...

To the believing man the world is a crucified thing. There is now enmity, not friendship—hatred, not love—between the woman's seed and the serpent's seed. The cross has produced the enmity. It has slain the world, and made it altogether unlovable. One sight of the cross strips the world of its false beauty and attractiveness!

The cross furnishes a theme for glorying. (Gal 6:14) Paul gloried in it, counting it the only thing worth boasting of, worth admiring, worth caring for. The cross is the scorn of the world—it is the glory of the saint. It is the theme of the church's song, the theme of her praise. She glories in the cross. (Ed: Do the songs in your worship time in church exalt the Cross of Christ and the eternally efficacious blood of the Lamb? If not, why not?) (Read the enumeration of the 21 things accomplished by The Cross Of The Lord Jesus) Let the Church of Christ sing and lift high the Cross of Christ as in George Kitchin's great hymn...

Lift High the Cross

Refrain
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,
Till all the world adore His sacred Name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
The hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.
Refrain

Each newborn servant of the Crucified
Bears on the brow the seal of Him Who died.
Refrain

O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
As Thou hast promised, draw the world to Thee.
Refrain

So shall our song of triumph ever be:
Praise to the Crucified for victory.
Refrain

Thomas Watson...

QUESTION. What advantage will accrue to us, by often thinking of our short stay here?

ANSWER 1. Meditation on the shortness of time would cool the heat of our affections for the WORLD. These visible objects please the fancy—but they do not so much delight us—as delude us. They are suddenly gone from us. Worldly things are like a fair picture drawn on the ice—which the sun quickly melts.

The time is short, so why should we overly love that which we cannot keep over long? 1Corinthians 7:31: "The fashion (or pageant) of the world passes away." (cp 1Jn 2:17-note) Time passes away as a ship in full sail. This, thought on seriously, would mortify covetousness. Paul looked upon himself as ready to loosen anchor and be gone. His love to the world had already died, Galatians 6:14: "The world is crucified to me—and I unto the world." Who would covet that which has neither contentment nor continuance? (Time's Shortness)

This old hymn (1776) well expresses Paul's sentiments in Galatians 6:14 regarding what a believer's boastful attitude should be toward the Old Rugged Cross...

Rock of Ages
Augustus Toplady

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy laws demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace.
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die

><>><>><>

Paul Apple...

What is there in the world system -- with its wealth and material possessions and variety of entertainment -- that still holds enough of an attraction for us to distract us from living for Christ? Have we experienced this same crucifixion to the world that the Apostle Paul talks about? (Galatians)

Robert Murray McCheyne writes that Romans 1:16 phrase "I am not ashamed of the Gospel"...

This passage is the same in meaning with that in Galatians 6:14, 'But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...'. The meaning of both passages is just this, that the way of righteousness through Christ was what Paul gloried in. There are two things implied in it. First, he was not ashamed of the gospel before God. Paul rested his eternal salvation on the righteousness of Christ. Like David, he said, 'This is all my salvation and all my desire' (2Sa 23:5). He had no other way of access to God but that; if that failed, all failed. He had no other way of going to God in secret but that, therefore he says, 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.' But again, there is implied in it that he was not ashamed of the gospel before men. Many men are ashamed of the gospel, but Paul was not ashamed of it. (Believers Not Ashamed)

Steve Canfield (Revival Preacher for Life Action Ministries) in his article entitled The Ways of God writes...

After studying revival accounts for a good portion of my life, I have come to the conclusion that revival comes when people gain a right perspective of the Lord. Yet tragically, our generation has lost an understanding of the greatness, grandeur, power, and majesty of the eternal God of the universe. We often say we want to know God's will, but we haven't taken the time to know Him.

I meet many people who are pushing against the will of God, even in the midst of their trying to 'discover' it. I believe this is because they have never understood the ways of God. Set up against the ways of men - comfort, convenience, attempts to control, influence, manipulate, and succeed - God's ways stand in stark contrast. The ways of God are often ways of obscurity, criticism, servant hood, and deprivation. They involve self-denial, repentance, poorness of spirit, and humility. The ways of God are rarely in line with the ways of this world....

God does His work in suffering ways. I wish this wasn't one of the ways of God. But the fact is, the ways of God are the ways of the Cross. One of the greatest struggles in my life is to die to what I want to be and accept what God wants me to be. Galatians 6:14 says, 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world was crucified unto me, and I unto the world.' We must die to our desire for praise, our desire for ease, our desire for control, and be willing to embrace that cross. John 12:24 says, 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' A seed will not produce life until it is buried, covered, and out of sight, never to be seen again. It has to be put into the ground. Are you willing to go into the ground? To be buried, covered, and never seen again? Are you willing to die to yourself, to your reputation, to your praise? This is the only way to gain the true life. This is the only way that God's will can be accomplished through you. Once we grasp the ways of God, we can begin to understand the will of God. The will of God is rarely convenient. (The Ways of God, Steve Canfield)

David Curtis...

When we talk of the cross of Christ here in our text, we are not talking simply about the wooden instrument of death, which our Lord Jesus was nailed to. The "cross" is used in metonymy for the atoning work of Christ, it refers to all Christ accomplished as He died in our place on the Cross.

A metonymy is a figure of speech in which something named is used to represent another thing that is part of or associated with. When we say, "I was reading Calvin last night," we mean that we were reading a book written by him. The name of the author is used to represent the work he has written. Metonymy is a figure of speech where an initial or prominent feature is taken to represent the whole thing. So when Paul says that he boasts in the cross, he is referring to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Justification is a declarative act whereby God declares righteous him who believes in Christ. Justification is not being made righteous experimentally, but being declared righteous. It is not the removal of our liabilities, it is the imputation of Christ's righteousness. It's not something done in us, it is something done for us. Righteousness is imputed, not imparted. That means that though I may not act righteous, my account says that I am....

...Paul is saying: My glory, my boast, is all in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's because my salvation is altogether in Christ. He is the One who died on the cross to pay for my sin, and He is the One who has given me the faith to believe on Him. I have been crucified unto the world. I am dead to the world. The things and pleasures that it offers don't appeal to me anymore. I have lost my interest in those worldly things; I just want to live for Christ.

These statements (Gal 6:14, Php 3:4, 5, 6, 7, 8) that Paul makes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit trouble us, don't they? It hits me very hard. It makes me realize that when we put life in its proper perspective, the things of the world are so unimportant.

What does it matter how many cars we have or how big a house we live in? What does it matter how much money we have in the bank? Our life on earth is short; sooner or later we will die. What really matters is that I'll be with the Lord throughout eternity. That's the only thing that counts.

Paul says, "There's nothing I have to boast about, except the cross of Jesus Christ." Grace takes all the boasting out, because I realize I didn't do anything; I failed; I didn't measure up; I blew it. And all I have is what I received on the basis of grace. He said, "I had to die to the world"-- which means that living life independent from God is believing: "I can do it without God, I don't need help." Paul died to that mindset. (Galatians 6:11-15 Boasting in the Cross)

John Piper...

My mother wrote in my Bible when I was fifteen years old—I still have the Bible—“This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” The point I am trying to make right now is that my mother’s motto and Owen’s motto, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you,” are virtually the same. The Word of God is the instrument for killing sin. The truth will set you free. For Owen the cross of Christ was the central message and sin-killing power of the Word of God. It was the central, liberating truth. To focus here, he said, is the main way to kill the sin that kills our joy.

As to the object of your affections, in an especial manner, let it be the cross of Christ, which has exceeding efficacy towards the disappointment of the whole work of indwelling sin: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14). The cross of Christ he [Paul] gloried and rejoiced in; this his heart was set upon; and these were the effects of it—it crucified the world unto him, made it a dead and undesirable thing. The baits and pleasures of sin are taken all of them out of the world… If the heart be filled with the cross of Christ, it casts death and undesirableness upon them all; it leaves no seeming beauty, no appearing pleasure or comeliness, in them. Again, says he,

“It crucifies me to the world; makes my heart, my affections, my desires, dead unto any of these things.”

It roots up corrupt lusts and affections, leaves no principle to go forth and make provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Labor, therefore, to fill your hearts with the cross of Christ … that there may be no room for sin. (John Owen: On Indwelling Sin in Believers) (Bolding and color added)

This is the heart of the battle in the fight for joy. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free—free to see the surpassing glory of Christ, free from the blinding, joy-killing desires that make war on the soul. In the fight for joy, there is no replacement for the liberating power of truth—the truth of God’s promises and the word of the cross, where all the promises were blood-bought by the death of Christ. (When I Don't Desire God - Online)

A W Pink on overcoming the world...

"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." 1 Jn 5:4

One of the fruits of the new birth, is a faith which not only enables its possessor to overcome the sensual and sinful customs, and the carnal maxims and policies by which the profane world is regulated--but also the lying delusions and errors by which the professing world is fatally deceived.

The only thing which will or can "overcome the world" is a God-given--but self-exercised faith.

Faith overcomes the world firstly, by receiving into the heart God's infallible testimony of the world. He declares that "the world" is a corrupt, evanescent, hostile thing, which shall soon be destroyed by Him. His Holy Word teaches that the world is "evil" (Gal 1:4); that "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father--but is of the world" (1Jn 2:16-note); that "the whole world lies in wickedness" (1Jn 5:19) and shall yet be "burned up" (2Pe 3:10-note). As faith accepts God's verdict of the world, the mind is spiritually enlightened; and its possessor views it as a worthless, dangerous, and detestable thing!

Faith overcomes the world secondly, by obeying the Divine commands concerning it. God has bidden us, "Do not be conformed to this world" (Ro 12:2-note); "Do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1Jn 2:15-note); and warns us that "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world, becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4-note). By heeding the Divine precepts, its magic spell over the heart is broken.

Faith overcomes the world thirdly, by occupying the soul with more glorious, soul-delighting and satisfying objects. The more the substance of the heavenly world engages the heart--the less hold will the shadows of this earthly world have upon it. "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (He 11:10-note).

Faith overcomes the world fourthly, by drawing out the heart unto Christ. As it was by fleeing to Him for refuge, that the soul was first delivered from the power and thraldom of this world--so it is throughout the Christian life. The more we cultivate real communion with Christ--the less attraction will the baubles of this world have for us! The strength of temptation lies entirely in the bent of our affections, "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt 6:21-note). While Christ is beheld as "the chief among ten thousand" (Song 5:10) and as "altogether lovely" (Song 5:16) --the things which charm the poor worldling, will repel us.

The world gains the victory over the unregenerate by captivating their affections and capturing their wills. But the Christian overcomes the world, because his affections are set upon Christ and his will yielded to Him.

Here--then, we have a sure criterion by which we may determine our Christian progress or spiritual growth.

If the things of this world have a decreasing power over me
-- then my faith is becoming stronger.

If I am holding more lightly the things most prized by the ungodly--then I must be increasing in an experimental and soul-satisfying knowledge of Christ. If I am less cast down when some of the riches and comforts of this world are taken from me--then that is evidence they have less hold upon me. (Faith as an Overcomer)

Brian Hedges...

Christ's death on the cross is both the ground of our boasting and the pattern for our living. Pride is demolished; servant hood is embodied in the cross. (A Passion for the Cross - Life Action Revival Ministries)

George Findlay

Paul knows but one ground of exultation, one object of pride and confidence- his Savior's Cross. Before he had received His gospel and seen the Cross in the light of revelation, like other Jews he regarded it with horror. Its existence covered the cause of Jesus with ignominy. It marked Him out as the object of Divine abhorrence. To the "Judaistic Christian" (Ed: Seems to be a bit of an oxymoron!) the Cross was still an embarrassment. He was secretly ashamed of a crucified Messiah, anxious by some means to excuse the scandal and make amends for it in the face of Jewish public opinion. But now this disgraceful Cross in the Apostle's eyes is the most glorious thing in the universe. Its message is the good news of God to all mankind. It is the center of faith and religion, of all that man knows of God or can receive from Him. Let it be removed, and the entire structure of revelation falls to pieces, like an arch without its keystone. The shame of the Cross was turned into honour and majesty. Its foolishness and weakness proved to be the wisdom and the power of God. Out of the gloom in which Calvary was shrouded there now shone forth the clearest light of holiness and love. (The Epistle to the Galatians Online)

Phillip Doddridge writes that Paul desires not to boast in...

my descent or circumcision, in my abilities or interest in making converts, or indeed in any thing else...I view the world, as little impressed by all its charms as a spectator would be by any thing which had been graceful in the countenance of a crucified person when he beholds it blackened in the agonies of death, and am no more affected by the objects round me than one that is expiring would be struck with any of those prospects which his dying eyes might view from the Cross on which he was suspended. (The Family Expositor)

John Piper...in defining Biblical Counseling lists 10 essentials, one of which is...

Cross-cherishing - (Galatians 6:14): It is not enough to say that our counseling honors Christ. Some non-Christian systems, even Muslims, say this. Biblical Counseling must go to the heart of our problems and the heart of God's solution, which always means going to the cross where the depths of sin and the heights of grace are revealed. There is no true exalting of Christ or honoring of God that does not cherish the cross. The decisive severing of pride and despair is the cross of Christ. It is the ground of humility and hope. There is no true mental health without understanding the desperate condition we were in without the cross, and without feeling the joy of deliverance from that condition through the death of Christ on our behalf. (Read the article to see all 10 essentials - Toward a Definition of the Essence of Biblical Counseling)

S Lewis Johnson...

Paul no longer is enslaved by the pursuits of the world, the maxims of the world, the smiles of the world, the treasures of the world. There's one thing about the Apostle Paul, he took that cross right down into everyday life. And so the third cross is the cross on which Paul died to the world. "And I, to the world." Now, I think that what he meant by that was that the world didn't think much of Paul. He didn't think much of the world and the world didn't think much of him. It was mutual antipathy. Now, Paul had been a great man. He had been a great scholar. If he had not been converted he would have had the highest of accolades written after his name. We might have been thinking not about Rachi or Ebenezer, but we might have been citing a man by the name of Saul as one of the great rabbis of all time. He was advanced beyond his contemporaries in Judaism. But when he was converted then the religious world was done with Paul and the world as a whole was done with Paul. (Three Crosses and Treasures of the World Online)

J C Ryle asks...

Are you a believer that longs to be more holy? Are you one that finds his heart too ready to love earthly things? To you also I say, "Behold the cross of Christ." Look at the cross, think of the cross, meditate on the cross, and then go and set your affections on the world if you can. I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary. I believe you cannot look much at the cross without feeling your will sanctified, and your tastes made more spiritual. As the sun gazed upon makes everything else look dark and dim, so does the cross darken the false splendor of this world. As honey tasted makes all other things seem to have no taste at all, so does the cross seen by faith take all the sweetness out of the pleasures of the world. Keep on every day steadily looking at the cross of Christ, and you will soon say of the world, as the poet does—

Its pleasures now no longer please,
No more content afford;
Far from my heart be joys like these,
Now I have seen the Lord.

As by the light of opening day
The stars are all concealed,
So earthly pleasures fade away
When Jesus is revealed.
(THE CROSS OF CHRIST)

Steve Zeisler commenting on Paul's declaration of crucifixion to the world...

“I no longer relate to the world the same way,” Paul continues. “I don’t expect it to pay off. The world has been crucified to me and I to the world. It doesn’t persuade me or own me anymore. And it doesn’t respect me or have much use for me anymore. But I will boast of this: Because I have Christ, I have everything. The cross is at the center. This is my passion!” In Hebrews 2:15 it says that those who fear death are subject to slavery all of their lives. We know our frailty, our inadequacy. We know that the experiment is going to fail, and our best efforts aren’t going to work. “Senior moments” seem less funny to me all the time. The machine is breaking down. The possibilities are fewer. There is something looming out there that is the end of things, and I am more aware of it. Fearing death even from childhood makes a person a slave to their desires or to what they abhor. We run from death, or we pretend it’s not there. The alternative is to have someone who will die for us, in Whom we can die and be given life. This language is a complete affront on one level. It certainly was an affront in upper-crust Roman society. The Roman practice of crucifying criminals was spoken of in euphemisms, the way we say “restroom” instead of “toilet.” It doesn’t sound as crude and hard and impolite. But the cross was in fact a bloody instrument of torture and execution. That is what Paul says he boasts of. He not only doesn’t avoid mentioning it, he proclaims it! “What Christ has done for me is the heart of the matter! I speak of nothing else.” The cross stands for the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead. The logical conclusion is not the end of all things but resurrection and life itself. Remember in Gal 2:20 (note) Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The contrast is intended to be very clear: those who make a good showing outwardly, versus the one who boasts only of what the Savior has done for him.

Those who advocate circumcision versus the one who does not choose either circumcision or uncircumcision, but insists on a new creation (2Co 5:17), who insists that this life is unfixable (cp Mk 8:34, 35, 36, 37) but that the love of God is greater than that (cp Ep 2:4-note), who finds hope in union with Christ. (The Cross At the Center)

C H Mackintosh devotional - The Cross Separates Us

The same cross which connects me with God, has separated me from the world. A dead man is, evidently, done with the world; and hence, the believer, having died in Christ, is done with the world; and, having risen with Christ, is connected with God, in the power of a new life--a new nature. Being thus inseparably linked with Christ, he, of necessity, participates in His acceptance with God, and in His rejection by the world. The two things go together. The former makes him a worshiper and a citizen in heaven, the latter makes him a witness and a stranger on earth. That brings him inside the veil: this puts him outside the camp. The one is as perfect as the other. If the cross has come between me and my sins, it has just as really come between me and the world. In the former case, it puts me into the place of peace with God; in the latter, it puts me into the place of hostility with the world, ie., in a moral point of view; though, in another sense, it makes me the patient, humble witness of that precious, unfathomable, eternal grace which is set forth in the cross.

GLORY IN
THE CROSS
OF CHRIST

To glory in the cross is to ponder with wonder and awe what Jesus accomplished personally for each one of us individually, the very act of worship to which we are invited in communion (1Co 11:23, 24, 25, 26). As Thomas Watson exhorts...

Let us remember Christ's death with JOY. "God forbid that I should glory—except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," Galatians 6:14. When we see Christ in the Lord's Supper crucified before our eyes—we may behold Him in that posture as He was in upon the cross, stretching out His blessed arms to receive us. O what matter of triumph and acclamation is this! Though we remember our sins with grief—yet we should remember Christ's sufferings with joy! Let us weep for those sins which shed His blood—yet rejoice in that blood which washes away our sins! (The Lords Supper)

And as Helen Lemmel so beautifully explained when we ponder the glory of Jesus, any luster and attractiveness of this passing world fades into the background of His splendor, majesty and glory...

Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
Refrain

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Refrain

Thomas Watson...

Christ is compared to a pearl: "when he had found one pearl of great price" (Matt. 13:46). Christ, this pearl, was little with regard to his humility—but of infinite value. Jesus Christ is a pearl that God wears in his bosom (John 1:18); a pearl whose luster drowns the world's glory (Gal. 6:14); a pearl that enriches the soul, the angelic part of man (1 Cor. 1:5); a pearl that enlightens heaven (Rev. 21:23); a pearl so precious that it makes us precious to God (Eph. 1:6); a pearl that is consoling and restorative (Luke 2:25). This pearl of more value than heaven (Col. 1:16,17). (The Godly Mans Picture)

Puritan Thomas Brooks has these devotional thoughts on Galatians 6:14...

There is enough in a suffering Christ, to fill us and satisfy us to the full. He has the greatest worth and wealth in Him. Look, as the worth and value of many pieces of silver is to be found in one piece of gold; just so, all the petty excellencies which are scattered abroad in the creatures—are to be found in a bleeding, dying Christ! Yes, all the whole volume of perfections which is spread through heaven and earth—is epitomized in Him who suffered on the cross! A man cannot exaggerate, in speaking of the glories of Christ. Certainly it is as easy to contain the sea in a sea-shell—as to fully relate the transcendent excellencies of a suffering Christ!

O sirs! there is in a crucified Jesus—something proportionate to all the straits, needs, necessities, and desires of His poor people. He is...

bread to nourish them,
a garment to cover and adorn them,
a physician to heal them,
a counselor to advise them,
a captain to defend them,
a prince to rule them,
a prophet to teach them,
a priest to make atonement for them;
a husband to protect them,
a father to provide for them,
a brother to relieve them,
a foundation to support them,
a head to guide them,
a treasure to enrich them,
a sun to enlighten them, and
a fountain to cleanse them!

What more can any Christian desire—to satisfy him and save him; and to make him holy and happy—in time and eternity? (Excerpt from The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures)

THE CROSS:
THE WAY OF SALVATION
THE WAY OF SANCTIFICATION

J C Philpot devotional thoughts on Galatians 6:14...

An An experimental knowledge of crucifixion with his crucified Lord made Paul preach the cross, not only in its power to save, but in its power to sanctify. But as then, so now, this preaching of the cross, not only as the meritorious cause of all salvation, but as the instrumental cause of all sanctification, is "to those who perish foolishness." (1Co 1:18) As men have found out some other way of salvation than by the blood of the cross, so have they discovered some other way of holiness than by the power of the cross; or rather have altogether set aside obedience, fruitfulness, self-denial, mortification of the deeds of the body, crucifixion of the flesh and of the world.

Extremes are said to meet; and certainly men of most opposite sentiments may unite in despising the cross and counting it foolishness. The Arminian despises it for justification, and the Antinomian for sanctification. "Believe and be holy," is as strange a sound to the latter as "Believe and be saved" to the former. But, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," (Heb 12:14-note) is as much written on the portal of life as, "By grace are you saved through faith." (Ep 2:8-note) Through the cross, that is, through union and communion with him who suffered upon it, not only is there a fountain opened for all sin, but for all uncleanness. Blood and water gushed from the side of Jesus when pierced by the Roman spear.

This fountain so dear, he'll freely impart;
Unlocked by the spear, it gushed from the heart,
With blood and with water; the first to atone,
To cleanse us the latter; the fountain's but one.

"All my springs are in you," (Ps 87:7-note) said the man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22); and well may we re-echo his words. All our springs, not only of pardon and peace, acceptance and justification--but of happiness and holiness, of wisdom and strength, of victory over the world, of mortification of a body of sin and death, of every fresh revival and renewal of hope and confidence; of all prayer and praise; of every new budding forth of the soul, as of Aaron's rod, in blossom and fruit; of every gracious feeling, spiritual desire, warm supplication, honest confession, melting contrition, and godly sorrow for sin--all these springs of that life which is hidden with Christ in God are in a crucified Lord. Thus Christ crucified is, "to those who are saved, the power of God." (1Co 1:18) And as he "is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," (1Co 1:30) at the cross alone can we be made wise unto salvation (2Ti 3:15KJV-note), become righteous by a free justification, receive of His Spirit to make us holy, and be redeemed and delivered by blood and power from sin, Satan, death, and hell. (July 3)

Octavius Winslow in Morning Thoughts (November 11)...

CONFORMITY to the death of Christ can only be obtained by close, individual, realizing views of the cross. It is in the cross sin is seen in its exceeding sinfulness. It is in the cross the holiness of God shines with such ineffable luster. This is the sun that throws its light upon these two great objects—the holiness of God, the sinfulness of the sinner. Veil this sun, remove the cross, blot out the Atonement, and all our knowledge of holiness and sin vanishes into distant and shadowy views. Faith, dealing much and closely with the cross of Christ, will invariable produce in the soul conformity to His death. This was the great desire of the apostle: “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” This was the noble prayer of this holy man. He desired crucifixion with Christ; a crucifixion to sin, to indwelling sin, to sin in its every shape—to sin in principle, sin in temper, sin in worldly conformity, sin in conversation, sin in thought, yes, sin in the very glance of the eye. He desired not only a crucifixion of sin, of one particular sin, but of all sin; not only the sin that most easily beset him, the sin that he daily saw and felt, and mourned over, but the sin that no eye saw but God’s—the sin of the indwelling principle; the root of all sin—the sin of his nature. This is to have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. Jesus suffered as much for the subduing of the indwelling principle of sin, as for the pardon of the outbreakings of that sin in the daily practice. Have we fellowship with Him in these sufferings? There must be a crucifixion of the indwelling power of sin. To illustrate the idea: if the root be allowed to strengthen and expand, and take a deeper and firmer grasp, what more can we expect than that the tree will shoot upward and branch out on either hand? To cut off the outward branches is not the proper method to stay the growth of the tree: the root must be uncovered, and the axe laid to it. Outward sins may be cut off, and even honestly confessed and mourned over, while the concealed principle, the root of the sin, is overlooked, neglected, and suffered to gather strength and expansion.

That the inherent evil of a believer will ever, in his present existence, be entirely eradicated, we do not assert. To expect this would be to expect what God’s Word has not declared; but that it may be greatly subdued and conquered, its power weakened and mortified, this the Word of God leads us to hope for and aim after. How is this to be attained? Faith dealing frequently and closely with Christ—the atoning blood upon the conscience—the “fountain opened” daily resorted to—the believer sitting constantly at the foot of the cross, gazing upon it with an eye of steady, unwavering faith—“looking unto Jesus.” In this posture sin, all sin—the sin of the heart, the sin of the practice—is mourned over, wept over, confessed, mortified, crucified. Let the reader again be reminded that all true crucifixion of sin springs from the cross of Christ. (MORNING THOUGHTS)

As we meditate on the Cross, we cannot help but recall the fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Take a moment and worship at the foot of the Old Rugged Cross...

There Is a Fountain
Filled with Blood
by William Cowper

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.

Oswald Chambers says Galatians 6:14 is the secret of spiritual consistency (like the apostle Paul) for it gets us back to the basic, essential foundation of all we are now in Christ. Thus he exhorts believers to...

Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." (1Co 1:21, 23). (See full Devotional)

The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption. (See full Devotional)

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?" (See full Devotional)

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Some years ago, a 14-foot bronze crucifix was stolen from Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had stood at the entrance to that cemetery for more than 50 years. The cross was put there in 1930 by a Catholic bishop and had been valued at the time at $10,000. The thieves apparently cut it off at its base and hauled it off in a pick-up. Police speculate that they cut it into small pieces and sold it for scrap. The thieves figured that the 900-pound cross probably brought about $450. They obviously didn't realize the value of that cross. That is the problem, of course—understanding the value of the cross. As the gospel writers relate the story of Jesus' crucifixion, the theme that runs through all the details is rejection. Not only did people not see the value of Jesus, they also didn't understand the value of his death. May we not be so blind! (Lee Eclov, in the sermon "The Agony of Victory," PreachingToday.com)

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Just A Glimpse - Travelers who drive across the flat landscape of Groom, Texas, are surprised by an unexpected sight. Looming up against the sky is a cross 190 feet high. That giant symbol of the Christian faith was erected by Steve Thomas in the prayerful hope that the thoughts of anyone who sees it might be turned to Jesus. When his handiwork was finished and dedicated, he said, "We want some converts out of this."

All Christians are grateful when a nonbeliever's attention is drawn to Jesus Christ and the cross. The awareness may be fleeting, but who can predict what even a split-second reaction may mean to an immortal soul? Suddenly a sinful person may begin to wonder why Jesus died on the cross. This may prompt him to seek answers from the Bible or from Christians he may know.

What about us as Christians? As we hurry along through life's often dreary landscape, are we grateful for any reminder of our Father's love that sent His Son to die? Through the cross, Jesus has reconciled us to God and given us His peace (Ephesians 2:14,16). Take some time today to reflect on the meaning of the cross, and let it flood your heart with praise to the Savior. — Vernon C. Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Once from the realms of infinite glory,
Down to the depths of our ruin and loss,
Jesus came, seeking—O Love's sweet story—
Came to the manger, the shame, and the cross. —Strickland

To know the meaning of the cross,
you must know the One who died there.

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The Cross - Centuries before Jesus was born, the cross had been used as an instrument of torture and death. In 519 bc, for example, King Darius I of Persia crucified 3,000 political enemies in Babylon. This method of execution was later adopted by the Romans for noncitizens and slaves.

When Jesus Christ bore our sins at Calvary (1Peter 2:24), the cross took on a new significance. There the Savior, "through the blood of His cross," made it possible for us to escape judgment and be reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20, 21).

The apostle Paul understood the significance of the cross. He had done many things in which he might have found personal satisfaction and pride (2Corinthians 11:16-12:13). But in his letter to the Galatians he wrote, "God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (6:14). As we understand what Jesus did for us on the cross, we too will be humbled. Our feeble efforts are nothing; His work is everything!

The resurrected Savior invites all men and women to come humbly in faith to Him. By believing that He died in our place on the cross, we receive full forgiveness.

No wonder the hymnwriter Horatius Bonar exclaimed, "Hallelujah for the Cross! (Play Hymn)!" — Henry G. Bosch (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The cross, it standeth fast—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Defying every blast—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
The winds of hell have blown,
The world its hate hath shown,
Yet it is not overthrown—
Hallelujah for the cross!

Refrain
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah for the cross;
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
It shall never suffer loss!

It is the old cross still—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Its triumph let us tell—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
The grace of God here shone
Thru Christ, the blessèd Son,
Who did for sin atone—
Hallelujah for the cross!
Refrain

’Twas here the debt was paid—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Our sins on Jesus laid—
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
So round the cross we sing
Of Christ, our offering,
Of Christ, our living King—
Hallelujah for the cross!
Refrain

The cross of Christ
is the bridge between God and man.