Galatians 6:14

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Are you guilty of a boast in your salvation?  It goes something like this. On January 1, 2005 I was saved when I came forward in church to offer my prayer for repentance of sins. Notice the words “I came forward” and “my prayer”, the boast is in yourself that you did something to enact God’s salvation through Jesus Christ.  Another boast might be “I accepted Jesus as my Savior” or “I asked Jesus into my heart”.  Again when you claim to have done something, you are boasting.  I know this ruffles some feathers especially with the sentiment of the church in America where this is done time and time again.

As Paul distinctly states, the boast can only be in the cross of Jesus Christ. We boast in His work done on our behalf. A better way to express salvation is to say “I humbly say that I am saved by no part of myself, by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the Cross”.  Because without this, there is NO salvation.

Some also boast in rituals such as baptism which is only the outward expression and result of the cross of Jesus Christ, not anything you are adding to His completed work.  Some boast in keeping the Sabbath, boast in good works, boast in church attendance, boast in other religious activity, intelligence of Scripture, NONE OF WHICH can ever compare to Jesus Christ’s completed work.  Self-righteous attempts to share the gospel will fall on deaf ears. The focus should always be on the person and work of Jesus Christ, not yourself.

Stop Boasting and Humble Yourself!

Go back to the cross if you feel prideful and want to boast in your salvation. View Jesus Christ on that lonely cross who was there because of YOUR sins.  Yes just one sin put Him there, the perfect lamb of God from all eternity who could of easily stayed on His heavenly throne came to die for your putrid rotten sins.  I ask how could one boast in anything but the cross?  It is rather humbling when you actually contemplate what Jesus did on your behalf.  You didn’t ask Him, you could not make yourself redeemable, but He gave up Himself for you.

It is quite awesome and emotional to realize salvation from Jesus Christ. But never lose sight it had nothing to do with what you did or proposed to do or thought of doing, it had everything to do with what a loving God planned before the earth’s foundation.  (Ephesians 1:4).  A dirty rotten sinner as yourself with a ticket to hell was redeemed by God’s only Son Jesus Christ.

Boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ who was punished, tortured, and crucified on your behalf satisfying God’s eternal wrath on your sins. So if you are saved, rejoice in this, share this Good News always with the cross in mind.  Don’t get caught up in your witness with pronouncing dates and times without the cross, because without the cross it has no effect on the listener and the boast could be seen in self-righteousness not in the cross.

It is rather tempting to pound an unbeliever over the head and boast in your salvation and their demise, but were you any better than they?  So don’t do this!

Ephesians 2:⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.