March 8, 2026 | No Resumé, Just a Cross

No Resumé, Just a Cross | Galatians Part 20

Galatians 6:11–18

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (ESV)

In “No Resumé, Just a Cross,” Jed Gillis closes Galatians by showing that true Christianity is not about building a spiritual resumé through human effort, approval, safety, or achievement. Paul exposes the false teachers as people who wanted to look impressive and avoid suffering, but their confidence was in outward performance rather than in Christ. In contrast, Paul’s only boast is the cross of Jesus Christ, because salvation, peace, and identity come by grace, not by works. The sermon presses this truth into everyday life by asking what we truly rely on for worth and rest. The gospel does not simply forgive past sin and promise future hope. It reshapes the heart now, freeing believers from slavery to the opinions of others, from the need to control life for safety, and from the pressure to prove themselves through achievement. What counts is not religious performance, but new creation in Christ.

Transcript of No Resumé, Just a Cross | Galatians Part 20

There is No Christianity wit hout Jesus and the Cross

Jed Gillis: There is no Christianity without Jesus and the cross. There's no way for you to pursue Christianity without running to Jesus as the refuge for grief and shame and emptiness. Recently there was a, a video that made some internet rounds, uh, with a public figure was talking about what he thought it meant to be a Christian, among other things. He said something like this, Jesus tells us exactly how we're going to be saved and how we're going to be judged: by feeding the hungry, by caring for the sick, and by welcoming the stranger.

Now, I certainly haven't heard everything this guy said. I can evaluate everything about his beliefs, but I can say this, that version, that presentation of Christianity isn't Christianity. That version of Christianity says, I can be saved without Jesus and I can be saved without the cross. Maybe I need Jesus as an example. But that's not enough for the way Paul talks about Christianity.

And in fact, this is more common than we'd like to admit. Uh, there's a sociologist named Christian Smith who argues that this is really the, the dominant faith. In our modern world, especially in America, the dominant faith is something he titles this nice long academic name that says moralistic therapeutic deism, which basically just means it's about what you do and how you feel, and God's not really that involved. He would say, here's the the basic beliefs that most many people in our world believe.

There's some kind of creator God who watches over life. So God is like a watchmaker who built something and then he steps back and just lets it run.

There's an emphasis on being good and fair to others, which people like, who would believe this claim fits with all major religions. So this is basically, God's not just a watchmaker, he's a referee. Here's what's right, here's what's wrong. Do the right thing.

The central goal, and in this way of thinking, which many people adapt, the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself. So God's a butler. He brings you the things you want. When you want a meal, he brings you the food.

Fourth belief is that God is mostly uninvolved with our lives except when needed to solve a problem. So God's a genie. When I really need it, I'll, I'll rub the lamp and maybe he'll come out and solve the problem.

Or the last belief. Good people, by some definition, go to heaven when they die, so God is really just karma.

Now, there are people who use Christian language to describe a type of religion where that's essentially what God is. He's a watch maker, a referee, a butler. He is a genie, and he's karma. But you'll notice he doesn't have to be a savior to be any of those things. You can have that version of religion and you might dress it up with Christian terms, but you can have that version of religion without, in fact, having Jesus.

Every other religion in some way points you to say, build a resume for God. Good people go to heaven. It's karma. So build your resume. Make sure the good side is better than the weaknesses. Every other religion says, build a resume for God, but the gospel of Jesus points to the cross and says, take refuge in God's grace for you at the cross. That's the way Paul concludes Galatians with a system, a way of thinking about Christianity that says God is not just useful to get through life. He's a savior.

Reading Galatians 6

Jed Gillis: So I wanna read the way he, Paul ends in Galatians six, starting in verse 11. See with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh, who would force you to be circumcised and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me. An eye to the world for neither circumcision, counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit brothers. Amen.

Paul's Emphasis at the End of Galatians

Jed Gillis: This is the way Paul concludes the Book of Galatians. He takes really a last shot at the false teachers he's been talking about.

He speaks to the Galatians and says, these people, these agitators, these troublemakers I've been warning you about, he says, I'm gonna come back. I'm gonna emphasize it. In fact, he says, here, see with what? Large letters. Part of the way they would write these letters often is because you had people who were scribes who were skilled at writing, and they would write in succinct, small ways so you could read it and all those kinds of things.

So they would hire a professional to transcribe what was being said. And then at the end of a letter like this, Paul comes and he says, look at the large letters like I'm writing to you what's in my own hand. This is the part I want to make sure you know, I wrote it, says, I'm going to emphasize this truth, which he's already said throughout the book, but he wants to make sure the Galatians don't miss it.

The Motive of the False Teachers

Jed Gillis: He says, these false teachers, these agitators, these troublemakers, as he's described them, they want to be seen in in a certain way. They want to be seen as valuable teachers. Paul says part of their motive is they come to this church in Galatia and they want the people in the Church of Galatia to look at them and think, wow, they're great teachers.

In other words, Paul says, these teachers are really living for approval. They're worshiping, they're really seeking. I'm going to, my life is worth something. I'm gonna pursue self salvation because people follow me. Paul says, that's exactly what they're doing, and it's not only about approval, it's also about safety.

If you notice the end of verse 12. They want this to happen in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. These false teachers, according to Paul, are thinking, if the Galatian Christians will come and follow the Jewish law, then we'll be safer. And you say, well, why? How does that even work?

Well, part of it is because the Jews wanted to persecute Christians who said, we don't follow the Jewish law. We follow Christ. That's part of it. But also the Roman Empire recognized the Jewish religion as this was a good alternative. You could be a Jew and not face persecution. Now, that wasn't true of being a Christian.

So these teachers come and they say, well, if we can just have a version of Christianity that's close enough to this Jewish Pharisee religion that we practiced before, then we won't be attacked by the Romans and we won't be persecuted by the Jews. And they say, you know, it's a win-win.

So these false teachers in desiring reputation or approval, I want them to follow me. And in desiring safety, I'm gonna make sure that I'm safe. They're here teaching something that is not in fact the gospel, but is just about building a resume of human performance.

And there's another motive paul hints at. These teachers also want to feel good about themselves. Now that we can easily relate to, right? We all wanna feel good about ourselves. Say, where does Paul say that In verse 12, he clearly says that he want, they want them to the Galatians to follow them because they want to make sure they can be safe and they want to have a good reputation. And then you see in verse 13, he says, look, these people don't even keep the law themselves.

It's not about are they doing all the right things? Do they measure up? He says, look, they tell you it's all about human performance, but they don't even live up to it themselves. Why they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

Built into this word boast, these teachers are saying, I wanna feel good about myself. I wanna feel like I've achieved something. I wanna feel like I have something to boast in.

Are We Pursuing Approval, Safety, and Achievement?

Jed Gillis: In other words, Paul's parting shot, which really has five chapters, five and a half chapters behind it, is to say, these troublemakers, they want to act in such a way that they look impressive. They protect themselves and they feel successful. That's Paul's condemnation towards these teachers.

I think it's important for us to pause and say, how many times am I driven by the same motives? How many times is, is my life really built around boasting in approval, or I'm gonna control my safety, or I'm going to achieve something?

Paul says, that's not the way Christians are supposed to walk, not driven by approval and safety and achievement and fulfillment and meaning. Instead, Paul goes back to what he said throughout this whole book, and his message for all of us in Galatians is, if you try, you put all your hopes on things like approval and safety and control and achievement, you'll find it's never enough.

If you rely on human performance to accomplish any of those things, you'll find it's never enough. Paul says it's like a curse. It feels like bondage and a burden. It doesn't feel like freedom and joy.

What Do You Boast In?

Jed Gillis: So instead, Paul goes to verse 14, far be it from me to boast in anything else but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we could ask a valid question, especially as a, um, in a modern world, we could say, alright, Paul says, these teachers are just trying to get something from you. They're just looking out from themselves. Build their resume, build their reputation, control their safety. They're just looking to get something for themselves. And we could ask Paul, Paul, how are you Any different? You claim we should follow you. They claim we should follow them. What's the difference, Paul?

And Paul goes to the point that is really the fundamental distinction, the heart of your religious and spiritual life. You want to tell me what your real religion is? I'm not all that interested in the way you describe your day-to-day ethics. Here's what I want to know. What do you boast in?

I can say that a lot of different ways. What do you rely on? What do you trust in? What gives your life worth and meaning? What do you take refuge in? What lets you lie down at night with peace? What does your soul rest in? You want to talk about what is religion for you? What is your religious life with God? At the core, at the root of it, it's where is my trust? Where is my boast?

Paul says, far be it for me to boast in anything else. Now, it's interesting if you read Galatians, he says a lot of other things.

If you read Paul's writings throughout the New Testament, there are many times he does. He's not just saying the cross of Jesus only. He's talking about everything that comes from the cross. He talks about all the things that lead us to the cross. But Paul can summarize it all in saying, I'm not gonna preach anything but Jesus and him crucified. He could summarize his whole message in saying, I boast only in Jesus.

So think about the contrast. The false teachers boast in people. These people followed us. Paul boast in the cross. The false teachers boast in their performance. We are doing all of this so that we keep the law so that we're safe. Paul boasts in grace.

Remember what he says other places? He says things like, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the worst one, but God's grace is sufficient for me. Paul doesn't build a resume.

And think about the resume he could have. In fact, if, if we went to Philippians three, we see he kind of describes what it would look like. Like I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisee. I've been trained in the best schools. I've kept the law. I'm blameless, is the way he describes it, and he says, I take all that stuff. Everything I would put on my resume is resume is like a loss. It's nothing compared to knowing the grace of Jesus, my Lord. That's what it means to boast in Jesus. To boast in Jesus alone means all that stuff. I would stack up on my resume and go, I'm pretty good. It's really a loss compared to what I have in Christ.

That's what Paul is doing. The false teachers boast in results. They followed us. They did all these things. Paul says, now I post in Jesus, or we could say it this way. The false teachers boast in their converts. Paul boasts in his savior.

You can find plenty of examples of things like this around somebody who says they're going to minister for the gospel. Listen to what they say. Do they boast in all the people who follow or in the Savior they follow? Paul says, I'm gonna boast only in Jesus Christ.

One pastor described boasting this way. He said, boasting is how we verbalize our confidence. It's how we make hope. Audible boasting is hope that you can hear this, by the way, is one reason why when Paul writes in Philippians two, he says, do everything without murmuring and complaining. And if you do that, what happens? You shine as lights. That's what he describes, because when we murmur and complain, and that's what people hear all the time, is not hope, that becomes audible, but despair that becomes audible. We don't shine as lights. But when you say, my hope is in Jesus, sure, life's hard, suffering's difficult. Here's the things that are weighing me down, but my hope is in Jesus, when you boast like that, it shines like a light because there are people around you who don't have a real hope.

Just like these false teachers, we can be tempted to boast in our approval, our safety, our reputation, our achievement. Paul says, no, there's something fundamentally different about a Christian. They boast in the cross.

Boasting in Jesus is Humbling

Jed Gillis: So there's two things I want you to notice about that kind of boast. One is it's a humbling boast, but that sounds a little weird to us. If I boast in my strength, that doesn't humble me. That makes me look proud. But when we boast in the cross, Ken brought it up this morning. The cross was a grotesque instrument of execution. That's what it was. It was a brutal, shameful death. The cross yells out across history that it took something horrible to face the judgment that sin deserves.

But I, I think boasting in the cross isn't just about the execution, and maybe not even primarily about the execution. Because the crucifixion of Jesus also, it underlines the fact that God's love towards those who trust in him is not earned by a resume, it's given freely. It's given by grace. It's totally undeserved.

It's humbling. It's humbling to say. The best thing I can say about me is Jesus loves me. And you say, that's not really about you. I know. That's humbling. It's humbling to say the only thing that's the way Paul words it far be it for me to boast in anything else. The only thing I can boast in isn't about me at all. It's about the favor of God that he poured out on me at the cross.

It's humbling to say the best thing I can rely on is that there is nothing good enough in me to bring rest and satisfaction to my soul. But that Jesus is good enough. That is a humbling boast.

This is why, by the way, what we've said throughout Galatians, we said, grace doesn't mean that God looks on you and tolerates you. Grace means that God has favor on you. In fact, the idea that he would only tolerate his children is laughable. Why? Because of the cross.

Because Jesus walked the road all the way to the cross. He came, he lived on this earth. He lived a perfect life. He walked all the way. Knowing the suffering was coming, he carried his own cross and he willingly laid down his life for you and for me. That's not what you do for somebody you tolerate. And it was before any of us even lived on this earth that he poured out that favor. We boast in the grace of God at the cross.

To paraphrase Tim Keller, the cross means that our sin is worse than we ever imagined, but it also means that you are mo more loved than you ever dared to dream. That's why we boast in it. That's why we sing.

Boasting in Jesus is Exclusive

Jed Gillis: All my boast is in Jesus. We boast in the cross and it doesn't make us proud. It's not that kind of boasting. It's a humbling boast, but it's also an exclusive boast. You don't boast in the cross and something else. See, the gospel offends a certain kind of person. I don't mean politically liberal theologically, religiously liberal. The gospel offends a certain kind of liberal person because it says there's only one way to be saved, and that's through Jesus Christ. He said, I'm the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the father, but by me.

But the gospel also offends a certain kind of conservative person because it says the good person on the outside is in just as much trouble as the bad person on the outside because it says that your resume can never be good enough to give you rest for your soul.

But it says that Jesus is good enough and his work on the cross is good enough if you understand the work of Christ on the cross. This goes back to what I started with. You can't have Christianity without Jesus and the cross. If you understand the work on the cross, it's either the best thing to you or it is an offense to you. And if it's not one of those things, you don't really understand it The way scripture presents it.

And I know there are moments we may forget, we may lose sight, but I mean, at the core, the cross is either the best thing or the worst thing. CS Lewis spoke like this. He said, Christianity, if false is of no importance, if true, it's of infinite importance. The only thing it can't be is moderately important.

CS Lewis was right. The cross can't be a decent idea out there somewhere. It's either a grotesque offense that anyone would think that you needed the son of God to die for you, or it's the sweetest thing imaginable because your soul can rest in it because it's the grace of God poured out on you. It is one or the other.

You can't have Christianity without Jesus as a savior on the cross, no matter how you dress it up. Lewis also said famously, either Jesus was and is the Son of God, or else he was a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. Jesus did not leave that open to us. He did not intend to. You cannot have Christianity without Christ and the cross and without Christ as Lord and God.

How Does the Gospel Change You?

Jed Gillis: So if that's Paul's boast and that contrasts with the false teacher's boasts. What makes it so different? And that's where Paul goes to the last part of verse 14, he says, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. The crucifixion is not just a story that's held out there that you can take or leave, and it just doesn't really affect your life. That's not how Paul talks about it. And I think sometimes as Christians, we say, yes, yes, I'm crucified to the world through the cross. I don't even know what that really means. So I just hope it works. And we fail to even think about like a real explanation of what exactly does he mean by that? What changes within me?

So maybe we'll get a step towards that this morning. He's describing a kind of death that fundamentally changes the way you interact with the world on the inside. Tim Keller summarizes Paul and says this. The gospel changes what I fundamentally boast in. It changes the whole basis for my identity. Nothing in the whole world has any power over me. I'm free at last to enjoy the world for I do not need the world. I feel neither inferior to anyone, nor superior to anyone, and I'm being made all over into someone and something entirely new.

Paul says, it doesn't. It's not about keeping the law or not keeping the law. It's about a new creation. That's verse 15. He says, what has transformed inside of you? What has changed at the core of a believer that says this is radically different from boasting in self.

So I want you to imagine, I listed a couple things earlier. The false teachers look at approval, achievement, safety. Let's just take those three. We could talk about other motives, but let's talk about those three.

Your Need for Approval

Jed Gillis: Call to your mind an image of someone who's driven by human approval. They're despairingly crushed when they don't have it. They frantically do everything they can to manipulate all the situations around them to get it.

Now, let's say that at the real core of that person, you could help them and God's spirit helps them to say, I don't have to desperately try to get approval. God already approves of me. The creator of the universe, the all powerful, all knowing, loving. Savior and judge looks at this person and says, approved.

Now, if that genuinely at the core of who they are, if they really feel that, will it change them? Yes. There's a desire that comes face to face with the cross, and that desire to control my own approval and find meaning through approval dies.

Why? Because I look and say, God approved of me, and poured out favor on me. Paul's not playing mind games like Paul's not saying, you know, maybe this where he is. Like, if this really changes inside you, which happens by the power of the Spirit showing you the truth of God's word and the gospel, if that really changes inside you, it's not a matter of whether or not you decide to change. There's transformation.

What if that person, instead of saying, I'm going to build a resume to be good enough for God to love me, and we know the kinds of things that creates, what if they instead say no, the cross means I am already loved enough by God that I can walk into the good works he's prepared for me. I can love people. Why? Because I need them. No, 'cause I'm already loved by God.

That's not, it's not something that happens and then you try to change. It's something that radically transforms you.

Your Need for Safety

Jed Gillis: What if we take control and safety? The false teachers wanted that. Call to your mind. Somebody who is driven by control. I've gotta work out every little detail of my life so that what happens five years from now and 10 years from now fits in the good category. Whatever you define as good, I've gotta make sure that as I parent, I'm controlling everything about every influence and every choice my kids have, so that I know they'll turn out.

And when I word it that way, we all know that's not really healthy. I've gotta control the relationship with my spouse so that they think they have, they think of me the way I want them to. We know it's not healthy. We know in fact it's a burden.

So what happens if instead of that person saying, I desperately must control so that I get safety, they say I'm safe because Jesus died for me. Which means like Paul said, look, if I die, that's just gain. That's part of what made Paul so bold, right? He would go and they'd, they'd stone him and they'd say, look, don't preach. And he'd come back and he'd preach, why? Because he'd say, look for me to live his Christ to die, his gain. You throw me in jail, I'm gonna preach to your jailers, and if I die, I die.

Why could he do that? Like why was he so different? Because he looked to the cross. He said, my boast is only in the cross, which means my safety is found only in Jesus. And it wasn't something that might change when that really changed in his heart, and he goes, I boast in the safety of the cross alone. He was different.

Your Need for Achievement

Jed Gillis: What if we take achievement and you say, call to mind somebody, maybe it's you. It's probably all of us sometimes. Someone who says, I have to build this resume of performance so that my life matters. How much would it change that person if they really believe, no, your life matters already because Jesus died for you.

That's what it means to boast in the cross. I don't boast in my resume. Here's why it matters. I say, my savior, he died for me. That's my boast. That's Paul's boast. He says, this is something that if you really boast in the cross of Christ and not self, it is such a radical transformation in what motivates you and what drives you, that it can really be described as like he does here in verse 15, a new creation. As he says in Corinthians, old things have passed away. All things have become new.

There are people in this room, if you could hear their story and you could rewind their lives 10, 20, 30, 40 years, and you see them now and you're like, they're not the same person. And in biblical language, that's pretty good way to say it. They are the same person, but they're a new creation

because the fundamental boast of their soul is different. Paul's message throughout this whole book, you'll never, ever find rest for your soul by depending on yourself, but only by boasting in the cross alone.

A Call to Boast in the Cross

Jed Gillis: Now this morning, maybe you say, I get the good news of grace. Sounds really good. Maybe you've heard a whole lot about the cross in your life. Maybe today, you've never really placed your trust in Christ. Maybe you've hung on to, I'm gonna boast in myself. I'm gonna build my own resume. That's how I'm gonna be safe. That's how I'm gonna have the right reputation. That's how I'm gonna have meaning and achievement, whatever it is. Maybe you've never really come to the cross and said, I wanna boast only in that cross. If that's you, I invite you this morning to place your faith in the Lord who loved you and gave himself for you. To view God as something more than a watchmaker or a referee, or a genie, or a butler, or karma, or to say, no, God is a loving father who's like the prodigal son's father who just is waiting with arms open wide to embrace anyone who comes in faith in Jesus.

If you haven't placed your trust in Christ, I'd invite you to talk to me. Talk to one of the elders. Talk to really anybody who, who's normally here. I promise every believer in this room will gladly rearrange their schedule to talk to you because when you boast in something, you're really glad to talk about it.

Maybe you'd say, my trust is in Jesus. I know the gospel matters for my past. I had sins that needed to be forgiven. I know the gospel matters for my future. The only hope I have is in Christ. But right now, there's all this stuff that swirls around inside me. There's fears, there's anxieties, there's burdens, there's struggles, there's failures, there's successes, and, and I don't always know how to take the gospel and God's grace and put it alongside what I experienced like right now today.

And I wish that I could talk through every single personal experience, but none of us have enough time for that. So instead, I want to give you this invitation. If that's you first, take that truth to God. Don't think I'm gonna go figure this out myself somewhere else. Take that to God. Sit in prayer and say, God, my day-to-day life feels like the gospel isn't that relevant. God wants you to know why the gospel matters for your day-to-day life. Go sit with him. Go pray with him. Ask him to show you. I believe God will show up and answer that prayer.

Labor in prayer. That phrase is used in scripture. Work at it like, God, I'm gonna keep knocking on your door because I need to know how the gospel and grace matters for my day right now. Spend time with God.

Second, talk to another brother or sister in the body, because if you're feeling that way, guess what the people next to you are too. We're meant to be a body that builds each other up as we all function. So talk with one another to say, pray with me about this. How are you wrestling through this? How does the gospel matter for you on a Tuesday, on a Friday? Why does God's grace matter for you? Talk with a brother and sister. We are all as members of the body. We're all responsible for the spiritual health of the body around us, and we need to help one another.

Third related to that one. Come talk to some of the elders here at Berean. Come talk to me, to Jon, Isaias, talk to some of the pastors here. We would be delighted to sit down and listen and have that conversation because we really do believe that the gospel isn't about just the past and the future, but about resting and boasting in Jesus today.

Celebrating Baptism--A Boast in Christ

Jed Gillis: So in just a moment, we're gonna have a baptism for Asher Waller, and we had a couple last week, Charlotte and Chloe, and I wanna ask you this as in light of what we just said, what is about to happen? What is baptism? It's really this, it's a physical and verbal, visible boast in Jesus alone. It's really between last week and this week, these three people saying, my resume is empty. My boast is the cross. My Jesus gave himself for me, and my trust is in Him alone, and my Jesus is strong enough and he's good enough to carry me all the way through this life, all the way to death, and all the way to glory. That's what they're saying. That's what they're saying with their bodies. That's what they're saying with their words.

That's what it means. That's one way that it means to boast in Jesus to say, I don't have a resume. I just have his cross, but his cross is enough. That's boasting in Christ.

Ending Prayer

Jed Gillis: So I invite you to close your eyes. I'll invite you to respond in prayer. To ask God to make the truth of the gospel real in your life, in your present experience.

Just invite you to take a moment and do business with God. And then I will pray and close this section.

Jesus, we come and clinging to your promises. You said, come to me all you who labor and are burdened. You said you will give us rest. We come as Paul says here at the end of this book, we want to walk by the truth of grace of your undeserved favor poured out on us lavishly at the cross. And you said, peace and mercy will be on all who walk that way.

So Lord, we come asking you for the rest that we need for the peace in our souls. And we come not clinging to our performance, but boasting only in Christ. Transform us by the truth of your gospel in Jesus' name. Amen.