Through His cross, Christ crucified not only the religious world but also the flesh. Through His death on the cross Christ dealt with the flesh. In 6:12-13 Paul speaks of the flesh and the cross of Christ: “As many as desire to make a good show in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised, but only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For neither do they that become circumcised keep the law themselves, but they desire you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” Circumcision, like the cross, is not a good show but an abasement. However, the Judaizers made it a good show as a boast in the flesh. The expression in the flesh in verse 12 means outwardly in the sphere of the flesh, which is condemned and repudiated by God. To be in the flesh is to be in our natural and external being without the inward reality and spiritual value that are in our regenerated spirit. In contrast to the Judaizers who boasted of circumcision in the flesh and compelled others to be circumcised so that they could boast in their flesh, Paul boasted in the cross of Christ through which the religious world and the flesh were crucified (v. 14). Because of the cross of Christ, the law, the flesh, and religion have all been terminated. If we see this vision, we will praise the Lord for the cross. By the cross we are set free from the law, the flesh, and religion.
We should boast in the cross of Christ and live a new creation. The cross of Christ is our boast. We boast in the fact that everything has been terminated on the cross. Since we boast in the cross, we cannot live in the old creation; instead, we must live in the new creation.
Christ created the new creation by His grace being with the believers’ spirit. In 6:18 Paul says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.” The grace of Jesus Christ is the bountiful supply of the Triune God (who is embodied in the Son and realized as the life-giving Spirit) enjoyed by us through the exercise of our human spirit. Grace is God the Father embodied in the Son who is realized as the Spirit. Ultimately, the Spirit is grace (Heb. 10:29). This Spirit, the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, now dwells in our spirit. Thus, our spirit is the only place where we can experience grace. In order to receive and enjoy grace, we need to turn to our spirit and remain there, recognizing the Lord as the Head and the King, respecting His position, and honoring His authority. We need to see that the throne of grace is in our spirit (4:16). Whenever we come to the throne of grace by turning to our spirit and calling on the name of the Lord, we should enthrone the Lord, giving Him the headship, the kingship, and the lordship within us (Col. 1:18; Rev. 4:2). God’s throne is the source of the flowing grace. Whenever we fail to enthrone the Lord, dethroning Him, the flow of grace stops (22:1). If we enthrone the Lord Jesus within us, the Spirit as the river of water of life will flow from the throne of grace to supply us and we will receive grace and enjoy grace (Heb. 4:16; cf. Rev. 22:1-2).
We need to be those who receive and enjoy the grace of the Lord in our spirit. The receiving of Christ as the Spirit of grace is a lifelong, continuous matter. Day by day a marvelous divine transmission should take place: God supplies the Spirit of grace bountifully, and we receive the Spirit of grace continually (Gal. 3:2-5; John 3:34). The way to open ourselves to the heavenly transmission in order to receive the supply of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit of grace is by exercising our spirit to pray and call on the Lord (1 Thes. 5:16-18; Rom. 10:12-13). As we receive and enjoy the Triune God as our grace, we will gradually become one with Him organically; He will become our constituent, and we will become His expression (2 Cor. 1:12; 12:9).
The mark of God’s economy is that Christ today is the grace of God in our spirit. Our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit is the focus of God’s promised blessing. It is in our spirit that we experience and enjoy the Spirit as the central blessing of the New Testament. Hence, we need the grace of the Lord, which is the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit (Phil. 1:19), to be with our spirit. If we do not know our human spirit, which has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we have no way to enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. We need to learn to exercise our spirit and to walk in our spirit in order to enjoy the grace of Christ, which is Christ Himself for our enjoyment.
Christ, the Spirit, the new creation, and our spirit are the four basic items revealed in Galatians as the underlying thought of God’s economy. Christ is the center of God’s economy, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. When Christ is realized through the Spirit in our spirit, we become the new creation. The new creation is Christ living in our spirit. Hence, our spirit is vital for us to live the life of the new creation for the fulfilling of God’s purpose.