Well, later this afternoon, there is a bit of a competition.
The Green Bay Packers will square off against the San Francisco 49ers.
And if the Green Bay Packers should win, the state of Wisconsin will be boasting.
Yes, the NFC title is on the line and rights to the Super Bowl.
So if the Packers should win, Packer fans everywhere will have boasting rights to boast in their team,
to boast that Aaron Rodgers is not a wash-up, to boast in their new coach, to boast in the win,
to boast in the program, to boast.
Here's what you need about boasting.
When you boast in something, you're putting your present trust in that.
When you boast in something, you're putting your future hope in that.
When you boast in something, it's what defines you.
When you boast in something, it's that in which you celebrate.
What I'm getting at is your ultimate boast.
Now, we've reached the end of the book of Galatians.
And this is not the last sermon, though it's the last section I'll be expositing.
We've got one more sermon next week, which is going to be a retro view of the book of Galatians.
It's kind of like what we walk away with.
But all throughout the book of Galatians, it's been about the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.
And how the cross of Christ alone frees us from slavery to the flesh to live by the Spirit for the glory of God.
So this morning's passage, which just read, Galatians 6, 11 through 18.
What you need to understand here is that Paul is drawing this letter to a conclusion.
And it culminates in a comparison.
A comparison of boasts.
Boasting in the flesh.
Boasting in the cross.
And this comparison between boasting is intended to call all of us to boast not in the flesh, but in the cross of Jesus Christ alone.
So I can summarize this passage in seven words.
We must boast in the cross alone.
And here's how we're going to move forward in walking through this passage.
I want to answer a general question first.
What is this boasting that the Apostle Paul is talking about?
And then I want to help us understand what is this boasting in the flesh that he's talking about?
And then I want to land us in what is this boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?
And why we must boast in the cross alone.
So what does Paul mean by boasting?
Well, let me frame it for you.
Because the verses 13 and 14 in which he actually talks about boasting, that's framed by what he says in verse 11 and verse 17.
So let me help you show you where this boasting stuff comes in the context stuff.
Notice in verse 11, Paul says, see with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand.
There's some speculation on what these large letters are.
Maybe it's because Paul, his eyesight wasn't the best.
Maybe the ailment of Galatians 4.13.
It could be the equivalent of us writing an email and putting something in bold italicized print to emphasize something.
What the big clue is when he says, I write to you these things with my own hand.
You know, each of us has our own handwriting.
It's like our own fingerprint, right?
It's unique to us.
And so what Paul is saying here is saying, hey, this is me that's writing you.
This letter's from me.
The apostle Paul, the one called by God.
Galatians 1 and 2.
The apostle to the Gentiles, given the authority from the risen Christ.
So it's an authenticator of who's writing this letter.
And then in 6.17, we read this.
From now on, let no one cause me trouble.
He's writing this letter.
It's going to be distributed to the churches in Galatia.
And in these churches, this letter would have been read publicly.
And so all those people who are giving him trouble, and what I mean by that is they're teaching a different gospel.
They're saying that you can believe in Jesus just as long as if you're a guy, you're circumcised,
and make sure you're observing the Jewish kosher dietary laws, making sure you're hitting all the Jewish holidays.
So if you believe in Jesus and do all that stuff, you do those works, you're good with God.
It's adding to the gospel.
And it's not the gospel.
And so Paul knows that, so he's writing this letter, and he's aiming at those people at this point.
He says, from now on, let no one cause me trouble.
It's like a cease and desist letter.
Stop it.
And then he gives the reason.
For I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Literally, the stigmata of Jesus.
Those who boasted in the flesh, they did so to avoid persecution.
Verse 12.
Paul boasted in the cross alone, and he suffered for it.
You know, these marks are actually referenced to scars.
Scars.
If you look at 2 Corinthians 11, you get a sense of what Paul suffered for proclaiming the cross of Jesus Christ alone.
Scars tell stories.
I've got scars on my body.
When someone asks me about them, I'm like, oh yeah, I've got a story behind that one.
The scars on Paul's body are the marks of Jesus.
The cost he endured to proclaim the cross of Christ alone.
It's another way of authenticating his ministry.
Of legitimizing his apostleship.
So in between these authenticating comments of the apostle Paul at the end of the book of Galatians,
he then starts talking about boasting.
A contrast of boasting.
I tend to think about this as this.
Paul's wrapping up the book.
It's kind of like Joshua 24, where Joshua says, okay, Israel, the old Israel, Israel, choose this day whom you're going to serve.
Either the gods of the land or Yahweh.
As for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord.
Paul is saying, choose this day whom you will boast.
You're going to boast in the flesh.
You're going to boast in the cross of Christ.
And Paul says, as for me and God's new people, the Israel of God, we will boast in the cross.
So what does Paul mean by boasting?
Well, on the most basic sense, boasting is a kind of speaking about something, right?
But it's a particular kind of speaking about something.
Boasting is verbally expressing your confidence in someone or something's ability to win.
Or to be the best.
Or to do what nothing or no one else can do.
My team's the best.
It's kind of boasting.
My neighborhood's the best.
My school's the best.
My political party's the best.
My race is the best.
My gender's the best.
My religious practices are the best.
Boasting is a complex thing.
Here's why.
When you boast in something, you're actually putting your present trust in that something.
It's the governing reality of your life.
As far as that thing goes, so goes your happiness.
But your boasting is not simply just your present trusting in something.
Your boasting is always a future trusting.
A future faith.
It's what we call hope.
You're boasting in something with a hope that it's going to deliver down the line.
Have you heard people say, I have no problems with science.
I believe God has used science for great good in humanity.
But when people say things like, hey, science will eventually figure everything out.
People are actually putting their hope in human reason and ingenuity.
It's future faith.
And it's not just boasting as a future faith, a hope.
When you boast in something, it defines you.
Okay, if you are rooting for the Packers tonight, you're like, go Pack, go!
You are a Packers fan!
It defines you!
What you boast in defines you.
It shapes your identity.
It's how you think about yourself.
When you are driving in your car and you're looking at bumper stickers, maybe you should think of them more as boasting stickers.
It's what people are putting their trust in, their hope in, their identity in.
It's what they even celebrate.
So boasting is present trust, future hope, who you are, identity, and it's what you celebrate.
It's what you want to yell about.
It's what you get worked up over.
It's what you sing about.
It's what you've got to tell other people about.
Do you remember Jesus' words in Matthew 12?
Jesus is explaining to his disciples how to discern the difference between an evil person and a good person.
Jesus uses a tree illustration.
A tree is known by its fruit, either good fruit or evil fruit.
And Jesus says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Words are fruit of a heart at its root in what you trust.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth boasts.
What you trust in, what you hope in, what defines you, what you celebrate.
That's what Paul is getting at with this word boasting.
It's big.
It's complex.
It's not just words.
It's worship.
You boast in what you worship.
So, when it comes to boasting, we've got to be asking the right question.
To boast or not to boast is not the right question.
Because everybody is boasting in something.
Everyone is trusting in something.
Everyone is hoping in something.
Everyone is being defined by the words of something.
Everyone wants to celebrate something.
We're all boasters because we're all worshipers.
So, the question is not whether you should boast or not.
The question is, what are you presently boasting in?
And is it worth it?
And what we're going to see in this passage is that Paul says all of humanity basically has two options to boast in.
You're either going to boast in the flesh or you're going to boast in the cross.
What is your ultimate boast?
It's not an either or.
It's not a both and.
It is an either or.
We must boast in the cross alone.
So, what is this boasting in the flesh then?
Well, that's where 12 verses 12 and 13 helps.
And as I unpack this, I want to help you see the motive and the method and the manner of this boasting.
But before we get there, I just want to remind you what Paul means by the flesh.
Because in the book of Galatians, he uses that word flesh in at least two ways.
Remember in Galatians 5, 16 and 17, Matt preached this a few weeks ago.
What the flesh is there is this internal self-oriented power that seeks to express itself in desires like strife.
In envy, jealousy, fits of rage.
We see all the works of the flesh spelled out in verses 19 through 21 of chapter 5.
And basically, if there's a banner that you raise over the flesh, it would be this.
It's not love your neighbor.
It's use your neighbor.
Use your neighbor for selfish gain.
The flesh is in opposition to the Holy Spirit who's seeking to work in us to love our neighbor unto loving God.
So, the first use of flesh is this internal power that is self-oriented that is seeking to use our neighbors.
But then there's the second use.
And the second use of the word flesh shows up in our passage.
Galatians chapter 6, verses 12 and 14.
We read, it is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised.
Verse 14, but far be it for me to boast except in the cross of Jesus Christ.
I just got lost there.
In verse 13, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
In this passage, flesh is tied to circumcision.
It's literally referencing the foreskin of a male's sexual organ.
In Galatians, the false preachers were saying, teaching that in order to be saved, male Gentiles who believed in Jesus needed to have their foreskins removed.
They needed to become Jews before they could become Christians.
And regardless if you were a man or woman, you needed to observe Jewish dietary laws and the Jewish holy day calendar.
And it also sounds like these false teachers were downplaying the cross of Christ and emphasizing obedience to circumcision and eating kosher and observing a calendar so that they wouldn't be persecuted for the cross.
Here's what I want to help you to see.
This emphasis on the external flesh of circumcision is just an outworking of that internal power of the flesh within.
They go hand in hand.
And that's where we see it played out in motive, method, and manner.
This boasting in the flesh, what motivates that?
Well, we see it in verse 12.
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised.
A good showing.
Who do you think they want to make a good showing to?
They want to be man pleasers.
They want to impress those who are observing of Jewish descent.
And they want to impress those people.
It's the very thing that Paul himself was accused of in chapter 1, verse 10, ironically.
Those who are boasting in the flesh were seeking to impress others, not God.
That's the good showing.
The motive of these boasters in the flesh was to impress man.
When people's opinion is more important than God's opinion.
But not just motives of the flesh.
We see method in verse 12.
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would force you to be circumcised.
Force.
If you flip back to Galatians chapter 2.
In verses 2 and 3 we read this.
I went up because of a revelation and set before them, though privately before those who seemed influential,
the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had run in vain.
Verse 3, but even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Look at chapter 2, verse 14.
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel,
I said to Cephas, Peter, before them all,
If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?
One of the classic symptoms of the flesh is human manipulation.
Human forcing things to happen.
It's not loving your neighbor.
It's using your neighbor in order to impress other people.
This motives and method, they go hand in hand, it turns out.
This method is kind of summarized, might makes right.
Verse 13, we see the manner.
We read this.
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.
For even those who are circumcised, speaking of those who are the false teachers,
who have bought into this false teaching,
they do not themselves keep the law.
Do you see what Paul is saying?
They're hypocrites.
They're not in it for God.
They're in it for themselves.
They're forcing things to happen.
And they themselves are not seeking to keep the law.
And what we read earlier is to love your neighbor as yourself.
They're saying, hey, do as I say, not as I do.
Let's just make people look like they belong to us.
So these people who are boasting in the flesh, literally the foreskins,
were operating out of the flesh.
They were seeking to impress man by using methods of force
that were kind of done out of hypocrisy.
Their boasting in the flesh is a trusting in the flesh,
a hoping in the flesh, a being defined by the flesh,
a celebration of the flesh.
And so let me just ask you this question.
What does circumcision accomplish?
In God's economy of things.
What does eating kosher accomplish in God's economy of things?
What does observing the right Jewish holidays accomplish in God's economy?
Do they save?
No, they do not.
No, none of these has any saving merit in God's eyes.
So boasting in the flesh are just these outworkings of the flesh.
And it's not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
And boasting in the flesh continues today.
It's not a first century Jewish religious context kind of a thing.
Motives to seek approval of people,
methods of manipulation and force,
manner of hypocrisy.
We see it played out on the political scene in our country.
We see it played out with social issues.
We say it played out in educational frameworks.
We even say it played out in our parenting.
We're more concerned with what people think about us
than doing things for the praise of God.
It's like requiring foreskins,
or requiring to eat kosher,
or observing Jewish holy days.
None of these things can save anyone.
None of them gets you right with a hold of God.
Do you know what all this boasting in the flesh has in common?
It's man-centered.
It's trusting in human agency.
Trusting in man.
Not God.
Hoping in man.
Not God.
Being defined by what man says.
Not what God says.
It's celebrating man.
Apart from celebrating God.
Boasting in the flesh
reflects a man-centered approach to life.
It's worldliness.
A form of godliness,
but denying its power.
That's why boasting in the flesh
is completely incompatible
with boasting in the cross.
It's not both and.
It is either or.
Who you ultimately trust.
We must not be boasting in the flesh,
brothers and sisters.
We must boast in the cross alone.
And it's to that end
I want to aim us
and start wrapping up this sermon
in verses 14 through 16.
In this passage,
in these verses,
Paul essentially gives us
three reasons why
we must boast
in the cross of Jesus Christ alone.
I want to help you understand
what it means
to boast in the cross.
Why we boast in the cross.
And we boast in the cross
because of what the cross
has accomplished.
Now,
before I get there,
I just want to help you
understand something.
We don't realize
how crazy that sounds.
In verse 14,
Paul says,
but far be it for me
to boast except
in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We're so used
to hearing cross talk.
We forget
how scandalous it is.
And so let me try
to help you
kind of get a sense
of how scandalous
this sounds
in the first century.
In the first century,
a cross was the instrument
of Roman capital punishment.
So in the modern era,
it would have been
the equivalent
of a firing squad
or the hangman's noose
or the electric
chair.
All different forms
of capital punishment.
So,
could you imagine
someone coming up
to you
wearing a silver chain
with an electric chair
pendant around their neck
saying,
man,
I got to tell you
about this guy
that died
in the electric chair
for me.
Have you heard the song
When I Survey?
When I Survey
the Wondrous Cross?
When I Survey
the Electric Chair.
See how crazy
that sounds?
How scandalous
that is?
It's like Paul saying,
but far be it
for me to boast
except in the electric chair
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross,
like the electric chair,
was a shameful
way to die.
Cursed is anyone
who's hanged on a tree.
But we must boast
in the cross
because of the one
who died on the cross.
Did you see
the pile up of titles?
But far be it
for me to boast
except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus
the Christ.
God in the flesh.
He died on the cross
bearing God's curse
for our sinfulness.
All of our living
out of our flesh
opposed to God.
He died for it all.
His death and resurrection
accomplished what no human
or group of humans
could ever do.
And that's why
we boast in it.
And that's why
Paul gives us
three reasons
from this text
of why we should be
boasting in the cross alone.
So let me help you
see that.
In verse 14
we read this.
But far be it
for 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.
The first reason
why we boast
in the cross
is that the world
has been crucified
to us
and us
to the world.
Do you remember
Galatians 2.20?
It's one of my
all-time favorite verses.
Paul says,
I've been crucified
with Christ.
It's no longer
I who live
but Christ
who lives in me
and the life
I now live
in the flesh.
I live by faith
in the Son of God
who loved me
and gave himself
up for me.
He died on the cross
because he loved me
and gave himself
up for me.
Paul fully believed.
He was completely convinced
convinced that he himself
was co-crucified
with Christ
on the cross.
That's what that's
getting at.
He was united
with Christ
in Christ's cross work.
And the same
is true
with us
who believe
in Christ alone
for our salvation.
The very moment
you first believed
in what Christ
had done for you,
God united you
to Christ
in his death
and resurrection.
And one of the results
we've already looked at
in 524
and those who belong
to Christ Jesus
have crucified
the flesh
with its passions
and its desires.
Now why am I telling you this?
Because we're talking
about the world, right?
Here's why.
The world
in this context
is describing
a community
of human beings.
a community
of human beings
who have not
been united
to Christ.
And because
they haven't been
united to Christ
their passions
and desires
of their flesh
has not been
crucified either.
So they are
ruled
by their passions
and desires
of their flesh.
So the passions
and desires
of the flesh
of every person
of the world
controls
their being.
And they boast
in the flesh.
The flesh
the internal
power
of selfishness
that exerts
itself
cannot
put to death
the flesh.
So you need
to think of
the world
as all of humanity
being ruled
by the passions
and desires
of the flesh.
It's like
Galatians 5
19-21
all those
15 works
of the flesh
multiplied
and spread out
across billions
of people
on this planet
transcending race
transcending culture
religion
and gender.
That's the world
and it creates
a current
of ungodliness.
The world
exerts
a fleshly
influence
not towards God
but away
from Him.
the world
way of doing
things
normalizes
a use
your neighbor
approach
to life.
Only being
united to
Christ
in His
crucifixion
will put
to death
the world's
fleshly
hold on you.
I hope you're
starting to understand
that the cross
of Christ
has set us
free
from living
for the world
from
worldliness
a culture
characterized
by
what we read
in Galatians 5
19-21
the cross
has
freed us
from the world's
hold on us
and our
allure
to the world.
Now if you
struggle with
worldliness
and I know
I do
you need
to remember
and believe
in the
finished
work
of Jesus
Christ
and that
you
have been
co-crucified
with Christ
and when
you do that
you start
to realize
the world
no longer
owns you.
Being crucified
to the world
does not mean
removing ourselves
from the world
that's the whole
point of Jesus
praying for His
disciples in John 17
that God would not
take them out of the world
but He would
set them apart
in the world
by sanctifying them
with God's word
the truth
and so think about it
this way
here's what happened
the cross
called us out
of the world
so the cross
has made it possible
for us to be
in the world
but not of the world
to proclaim to the world
that Jesus is the Savior
of the world
that's the first reason
why
we boast
in the cross
why we trust
in it
why it
it defines
our hope
it defines us
we celebrate
the cross
because the cross
has made it possible
for us to be
in the world
but not of the world
to proclaim
Christ
to the world
only the cross
can do that
we must boast
in the cross alone
the second reason
why we must boast
in the cross alone
you see in verse 15
for neither circumcision
counts for anything
nor uncircumcision
but a new creation
it's only through the cross
that we can be
new creatures
of a new creation
Galatians 5 25 says
if we live by the Spirit
let us keep in step
with the Spirit
according to God's word
when you believe
in Jesus
for the first time
you
are united to Christ
in his death
and resurrection
and all of his
resurrection power
and life
given it to you
so you are considered
in God's eyes
a new creation
the old is gone
the new has come
all of your sin
paid for
now you are right
with God forever
2 Corinthians 5 17
says therefore
if anyone is in Christ
united to Christ
belonging to Christ
he's a new creation
the old way
use your neighbor
is gone
the new way
love your neighbor
for the glory of God
has come
in Christ
the old flesh ruled
Mike Salvati
that boasts
in the flesh
has been crucified
and the new creation
Mike Salvati
has come
with a new heart
a new boast
new motives
new method
new manner
the cross
of Christ
of Jesus
it not only
just makes
individuals new
at the cross
a whole new
creation began
what God is doing
now is this
he is making
new creatures
out of old
sinners
on the old
earth
but what
the cross
inaugurated
will one day
come complete
full
culminate
when Jesus
comes back
and he
recreates
everything
behold
Revelation 21
5
I am making
all things
new
it's all
by God's
powerful grace
circumcision
doesn't do that
so if you think
that having your
foreskin removed
or eating right
foods
or observing
the right days
or doing the right
Christian things
don't yell at your
kids
don't swear
read your Bible
pray before meals
give regularly
if you think
any of these
works
can make
you new
in God's
eyes
you are terribly
mistaken
it's only through
the cross
that does that
gives you new
life
only the cross
can make
a dead
sinner
into a new
living
creature
of the new
creation
that's the
second reason
why we boast
in the cross
the cross
alone is the
source of
life
the third
reason
why
we must
boast
in the cross
alone
is an
outworking
of the new
creation
of what
the cross
has inaugurated
we read it
in verse 16
and so
for all who
walk in this
rule
by this
rule
the new
creation
rule
what's most
important is
the new
creation
for all who
walk by
this new
creation
mindset
peace and
mercy upon
them and
upon the
Israel of
God
here's what
Paul's saying
if the world
is the
community of
those ruled
by the flesh
who boast
in the flesh
then the
Israel of
God
616
is the
new
creation
community
of those
co-crucified
in the
cross
walking
by the
spirit
who boast
in the
cross
it's the
church
in verse
16
Paul calls
the Israel
of God
all who
walk
by this
rule
for neither
circumcision
counts for
anything nor
uncircumcision
but a new
creation
that's what
matters most
being a new
creation
it's only an
act of God
neither
circumcision
counts for
anything or
uncircumcision
so those
who are of
the new
creation
are the
Israel of
God
and that's
been Paul's
argument all
throughout the
book of
Galatians
those
who put
their
faith in
the finished
work of
Christ
anyone
who puts
their faith
in the
finished
work of
Christ
are justified
those
Jews and
Gentiles who
trust in
the finished
work of
Christ
they are
the offspring
of Abraham
and recipients
of God's
promised
blessing
Galatians
3
pointing back
to Genesis
12
they're the
Israel of
God
those
who trust
in Christ's
cross work
alone
they are the
righteous who
shall live by
faith
Hebrews 2
quote in
Galatians 3
Habakkuk 2
quote in
Galatians 3
those who
trust in
Christ's
cross work
alone
are the
true children
of promise
the citizens
of the
heavenly
Jerusalem
above
Galatians 4
they're the
Israel of
God
Paul's
been arguing
all throughout
the book
of Galatians
that anyone
who trusts
in Christ's
finished
cross work
they are part
of the new
creation
they're new
creatures of
the new
creation
they are
the new
Israel of
God
the church
it's not about
ethnicity
it's not about
obedience
it's not if
you're male or
female
it's about
whether or
not you
believe solely
by faith
in the
finished work
of Christ
on the
cross
that's why
in Galatians
3
28-29
we read
writing to
both Jews
and Gentiles
there's neither
Jew nor
Greek
there's neither
slave nor
free
there's no
male and
female
for you
are all
one
in
Christ
Jesus
and if
you are
Christ's
then you
are
Abraham's
offspring
heirs
according to
the promise
and here
in Galatians
he wraps
it all up
by saying
you are
the new
Israel of
God
God's
new
treasured
possession
at the
heart of
the gospel
is the
cross
of Jesus
Christ
it's
only
through
the
cross
that
God
calls
a people
out of
the world
making
them new
creatures
of a new
creation
and a
whole
new
cross
crucified
community
the
Israel of
God
the church
of Jesus
Christ
it takes
the cross
to do
that
this new
Israel of
God
the church
we walk
by the
new
creation
rule
it's not
about
circumcision
or
uncircumcision
it's about
being born
again
a new
creation
and we
boast
in the
cross
of our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
what that
means is
we trust
in the
cross
what Christ
has done
for us
period
it never
changes
anymore
we're
his
period
we hope
in the
cross
the cross
has inaugurated
a whole
new creation
that will
one day
culminate
when Jesus
comes back
that's what
we hope
in
we find
our identity
in the cross
I have been
crucified with
Christ
we
celebrate
the cross
it never
gets old
because it's
true
it results
in a new
motive
we're not in it
for man's
approval
but that
man would
praise the
living God
who would do
such a thing
we have new
methods
we're not by
force
but by grace
that's where
Paul closes
this letter
grace to you
and we have
a new
manner
we're not
hypocrites
who don't
seek to
fulfill the
law
no we
walk
by the
spirit of
God
in order
to love
our
neighbors
as
ourselves
Christ
the king
church
choose
this day
in whom
you will
boast
we must
not
boast
in the
flesh
we must
boast
in the
cross
alone
because of
what
God has
accomplished
through it
now you may
be asking
well should I
watch the
Packers game
tonight
yeah
watch it
but just
realize this
if the
Packers win
does that
accomplish
our salvation
the cross
gives
perspective
let's pray
God in heaven
thank you so
much for
the book of
Galatians
God thank you
so much for
the cross
that has
called us
out of the
world by
crucifying us
to the
world
for giving
us a
very a new
identity
because we're
new creatures
of a new
creation
and a new
community
we are part
of the Israel
of God
and it's all
by your
grace
oh God
would you do
a work
in us
and through
us
by your
spirit
that brings
worshipers
boasters
of the cross
it's your name
we pray
Jesus
amen
those
what
how
can
it's your word
.