Gal. vi. 14. 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.
THE Christian, in whatever he does, is charac- terized by singleness of eye and simplicity of mind.
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All others, even when they appear most zealous for God, have sinister and selfish ends in view. This may be seen in the Judaizing teachers, whilst they were insisting on the observance of circumcision and the Jewish ritual. They wished to have it thought that they were actuated only by a conscientious sense of duty to Moses, and to God : but there were other secret motives by which they were impelled : they were themselves preachers of the Gospel ; but know- ing how obnoxious both to Jews and Gentiles the simple preaching of the cross was, whilst the blending of certain observances with it was palatable to every mind, they sought to avoid the persecution which they knew that a simple exhibition of Christ crucified would bring upon them. They had an eye also to their own glory : for they affected to be leaders of a party in the Church, and laboured to exalt them- selves by augmenting the number of their followers. That they were not actuated by a real desire to approve themselves to God, was evident from hence, that they, notwithstanding all their endeavours to enforce the observance of the law on others, did not keep the law themselves. But all such corrupt prac- tices St. Paul abhorred ; and, whilst he disdained to seek his own glory, he was proof against the fear of man, and laboured only to advance the glory of his Divine Master, and the salvation of those to whom he ministered : " They" says he, " who constrain you to be circumcised, desire to make a fair shew in the flesh :" " 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 ! "
In this commendation of the cross of Christ, we behold,
I. His views of its excellency —
By " the cross of Christ," is here meant the doc- trine of salvation through a crucified Redeemer. This he preached, and it was the great subject of all his ministrations. Though it was " to the Jews a