“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” (Galatians 6:14).
What an odd saying. The cross is shameful and vulgar. How can one boast in it? His boast is that the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. What does this mean? Luther provides some insight:
“The world is crucified to me,” means that I condemn the world. “I am crucified to the world,” means that the world in turn condemns me. I detest the doctrine, the self-righteousness, and the works of the world. The world in turn detests my doctrine and condemns me as a revolutionary heretic. Thus the world is crucified unto us and we unto the world… In this verse Paul expresses his hatred of the world. The hatred was mutual. As Paul, so we are to despise the world and the devil. With Christ on our side we can defy him and say: “Satan, the more you hurt me, the more I oppose you.”
Luther, 214
Can this be any clearer than today? Being crucified to the world, we value chastity, that is, we obey the 6th Commandment. Being crucified to us, the world values promiscuity and fornication. Being crucified to the world, we love and cherish life in the womb. Being crucified to us, the world despises it and murders it. Being crucified to the world, we produce the fruit of the Spirit since we “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:22-24). Being crucified to us, the world engages in the works of the flesh (5:19-21).
To boast in the cross of Christ, therefore, is to boast in the way of the cross. The cross is self-giving, so we give of ourselves. For example, the entire time someone is single—that is, unmarried—they live a selfish life, meaning they only have to worry about supporting themselves (and such living is necessary for a time). But the moment they get married, they must live for somebody else; and when they have a baby, that self-giving is doubled, then tripled with a second child, and so on.
The way of the world is not the way of self-giving; it is the way of narcissistic navel-gazing. Obsessed with the ego, the greatest good is to live for yourself. Boasting in the cross, however, the Christian lives for Christ and neighbour—for love of Christ and love of neighbour, thus fulfilling the Law because of Christ’s own self-giving, cruciform love for us (Matthew 22:37-40).
Bibliography
Luther, Martin. Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Translated by Theodore Graebner.
The Lutheran Column 