But I will never boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But I will never boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Galatians 6:14-18 "But I will never boast except in the cross (en to stauro tou Kyriou) of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Circumcision or uncircumcision is nothing, but a new creation is what matters. Peace and mercy be with all who keep this ordinance (canoni) and with the Israel of God. From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks (stigmata) of Jesus. Brothers, may the grace (t pneumatos) of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits. Amen."

Paul explains the essence of the cross. "En to stauro tou Kyriou" (ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Κυρίου) means "in the cross of Christ." Why is being crucified with Jesus also being crucified with the world? The reason is that the subject being crucified is the fleshly body (greed: the old self).

This old self is the physical body descending from the first man, Adam, and refers to one's own righteousness that desires to become like God. This self-righteousness wants to achieve something in the world. Therefore, being crucified is the death of one's own righteousness (the ego). Only when this happens can one proceed to the next stage: being born again (resurrection: new creation) through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was the Son of Man and the Son of God. The Bible calls Jesus the Son of Man. The word "Son of Man" means human being. By bearing all the sinful physical bodies descended from the first man, Adam, and dying on the cross, all the physical bodies of those in Christ also died with Him.

Without this death of Jesus, no one in the world would be saved. Through Jesus’ atoning death, the work of being born again takes place, receiving resurrection life as a new creation. Religious rituals are meaningless. Only being born again is the core of salvation. Previously, I was the master, but when one becomes a new creation, the Ho Logos becomes the master within the spirit. The Ho Logos refers to Christ, the Word.

Jesus Christ, the Ho Logos, does not appear in a specific space but appears within the spirit of the saint, so He can be encountered through the prayer of proseuche.

In Mark chapter 4, there is the parable of the sower. In verse 4, it says, "Listen" (akute). Verse 9 states that those who have ears to hear should always listen to the voice of the Lord. Those whose ears are open to hear are those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit and those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Ho Logos speaks with a subtle voice. The ears to hear refer not to physical ears, but to the ears of the heart. In other words, it is a voice that resonates within the spirit. When Paul heard the voice of the Lord in Damascus, others could not hear it. A deaf person hears the other person's voice with their eyes. This implies that a spiritual voice is not heard with physical ears.

In the phrase "Ho Logos," the Greek meaning of Logos (Word) is the expression of thought. In other words, it is the expression of God's thoughts. The expression of God's thoughts does not come through the human brain, but enters into the spirit. The spirit is the mind of the spirit. Where is our spirit located? In the Gospel of John, there is a saying that living water comes out of the belly; this implies that it is located in the belly, the center of the body. We must distinguish between the heart that comes from the spirit and the thoughts that appear in the brain. We must not rely on the thoughts of the brain, but focus the mind of the spirit to listen to the voice. Asking the Lord simply as if having a conversation and listening to the Word through resonance leads to a longer conversation through training. Just as a child converses with their mother, the conversation starts short but grows longer as one matures.

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not know by yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you do, you are rejected."

This means that Jesus Christ is already present in the spirits of the saints through the Holy Spirit. However, the reality is that countless believers are still waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus. This implies that if Jesus Christ is not present in the spirits of believers, they are not born again.

It is impossible to know whether they do not believe the words of 2 Corinthians 13:5, or whether they are waiting for the second coming of Jesus as the Judge, separate from Jesus Christ in their hearts. Since the saints have already died with Jesus Christ on the cross, there is no longer any judgment.

It is said that a temple is built within the spirit of the saints through the work of the Holy Spirit, and that they are also seated in the heavenly places. Ephesians 2:5-6 states, "He made us alive together with Christ, even though we were dead in our transgressions (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together with him and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Even the Apostle Paul, while experiencing the third heaven, confesses that he does not know whether it was outside or inside the body. Although spiritual heaven and the Kingdom of God cannot be understood in a spatial sense, just as the human body is connected to every cell by nerves, the heaven of an individual believer is likely connected to the Kingdom of God where God reigns.

While physical space perceived by the flesh is limited, the spiritual world is regarded not as a spatial concept, but as something special and distinct. Through the Bible, we can see that when Jesus resurrected and appeared to His disciples, He appeared by breaking through a wall, suddenly vanished, and His body was transformed.

Kanoni (κανόνι) means standard and refers to the Holy Spirit. In other words, it means that the Holy Spirit, not the Torah (Law), is the standard. Stoikesuin means to walk together. It is walking together with the Holy Spirit, who serves as the standard. God's Israel refers to spiritual Israel, that is, those who are in Christ.

Stigmata (στίγματα) is a plural noun meaning traces. It signifies the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

 

Tou pneumatos (τοῦ πνεύματος) means not the spirit, but with the Holy Spirit.