Glory in the Cross?
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14 KJV)
The Mosaic law said, “Anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23). In the first century BC, Roman statesman Cicero said, “Let the very word ‘cross,’ be far removed from not only the bodies of Roman citizens, but even from their thoughts, their eyes, and their ears.”[1]
The apostle Paul was both a Jew and a Roman citizen. So why does he glory in this tortuous form of execution, specifically designed to be humiliating and excruciating? And more to the point, why should we glory in the cross?
Paul doesn’t mean that he celebrated Jesus’s suffering on the cross. A more accurate translation of Galatians 6:14 is “glory on account of” it.[2] What about the cross made Paul rejoice?
First, the cross represents the love of God the Father and Jesus Christ, his Son: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Paul described himself as the “worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16). So, Paul was amazed that God the Father asked his Son to die such a horrible death. And even more astounding, Jesus willingly agreed to such an outlandish plan for a bunch of sinners. Yet this was part of God’s redemption plan established “from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Second, the cross represents the power of God: “For 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” (1 Corinthians 1:18). How can humiliation and torture signify power?
The power of the cross is connected to what it achieved: our salvation! Jesus’s death on the cross accomplished for us what we never could accomplish on our own: freedom to live in right relationship with God. Because of the cross, we can “reign in life” through Jesus (Romans 5:17). This humbled Paul, the former rule-obsessed Pharisee.
Like Paul, I am amazed and humbled by what the cross represents. It fills me love for my Savior and a desire to glorify him in all I do and say.
What does the cross represent for you? How is that reflected in your daily life?
Dig Deeper
Paul mentions the cross numerous times in Galatians. Read Galatians 2:20–21, 3:13–14, 5:24. In what ways should Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross influence how we live?
According to 1 Corinthians 1:18–31, what do non-Christians tend to glory in? What does God call us to do instead?
Read Romans 5:12–21. What truths in this passage motivate you to “glory on account of” the cross?
Denise K. Loock
[1] Nick Cady, “The Offense of the Cross: Cicero, the Early Christians, and Us,” Theology for the People, August 4, 2021, https://nickcady.org/2021/08/04/the-offense-of-the-cross-cicero-and-the-early-christians/.
[2] “G2744 – kauchaomai – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (niv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 28 Feb, 2024. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2744/niv/mgnt/0-1/.