Galatians 6:14 – God Forbid That I Should Glory Save in the Cross | KJV
“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 KJVThe closing verses of Galatians carry Paul's personal testimony as the conclusion of his entire argument against legalism. After pages of dense theological reasoning against the addition of human works to the grace of God, Paul summarizes everything in one personal declaration: his one and only glory is the cross.
Paul had abundant material for human boasting. By his own testimony in Philippians 3:4-6, he was circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee by training and conviction, zealous to the point of persecuting the church, blameless in outward legal righteousness. In the religious culture of his day, this resume was the gold standard of spiritual achievement. And yet Paul's response to this resume is consistent and emphatic: he counts it all as loss, as refuse, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord (Philippians 3:8).
'God forbid that I should glory' — the expression 'God forbid' in the Greek is mē genoito, literally 'may it never be' — Paul's strongest negative expression, used throughout Romans and Galatians to reject the most objectionable conclusions. That he would glory in his own religious achievement, in his ethnic identity, in his theological knowledge, in his apostolic authority — may it never be. The cross alone. This is not a soft preference; it is a total reorientation of the entire value system.
The cross, in the grace age, is not merely a past historical event to be commemorated; it is the center around which everything else orbits. 'By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world' — through the cross, Paul's relationship with the world system has been permanently severed. The world's approval, the world's wisdom, the world's assessment of success and significance — all crucified. This is the grace-age application of co-crucifixion from Galatians 2:20: because I died with Christ, the world's verdict about me no longer has binding authority.
The phrase 'the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world' describes a mutual death: Paul is dead to the world's attractions and the world is dead to Paul. He no longer needs what the world offers — its status, its approval, its pleasures, its security systems — because he has found in Christ everything the world promises and cannot deliver. This is the freedom of the cross: not ascetic withdrawal from life, but liberation from the tyranny of the world's value system.
What do you tend to glory in? Your spiritual knowledge? Your church attendance record? Your ministry achievements? Your doctrinal correctness? Paul redirects with 'God forbid.' One glory. The cross. Where Christ died for you specifically, loved you personally, and paid for you completely. Let the cross reorient your entire value system today and every day.
The cross is not a decoration or a historical footnote; it is the axis around which the grace-age believer's entire life revolves. Glory in the cross — where infinite love met infinite justice, where your debt was cancelled and Christ's righteousness was credited. In the cross, and in the cross alone, is everything we need. Amen.
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