The grace of Christ is with the spirit of the believers who walk by the rule of being a new creation. In Galatians 6:16 Paul says, “As many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” The rule Paul mentions in this verse refers to the rule of being a new creation, of living by the Spirit through faith, having the Triune God as our life and living, in contrast to keeping the law by observing ordinances. We need to walk by the rule which is the Triune God processed to be our life and living. To live in this way by the new creation is our rule.
To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the new creation. In 5:25 Paul charges us to walk by the Spirit, and in 6:16 he charges us to walk by “this rule.” This indicates that to walk by this rule is to walk by the Spirit. In other words, the rule is equal to the Spirit. To walk by such a rule is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose. Only this kind of living and walk which is by the Spirit is part of the new creation.
We should walk by the principle of the new creation, the mingling of God with man. The basic principle of the new creation is that we should live by the divine life (2:20; John 6:57). In order to be the new creation, we must enter into an organic union with the Triune God. Everything outside this union is part of the old creation. To live the new creation is to walk by the divine life and divine nature as a governing principle. Walking by the principle of the new creation is mysterious because it is an organic matter altogether related to life (3:8). When we have this walk, we are a new creation not only in position and nature but also in daily practice. If we would live the new creation, we must do everything in oneness with the Triune God, and the element of God must be wrought into us (15:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:17). To live the new creation is to live, walk, have our being, and do all things, great or small, with the element of God. In all that we do, we should act not in ourselves but according to our regenerated spirit filled with the divine element.
Moreover, the rule in Galatians 6:16 is that of sowing unto the Spirit to live the new creation. This rule is to aim at the processed Triune God as the Spirit and to walk by Him (v. 8). We should not aim at self-correction or self-improvement; such things are not the new creation. The meaning of the new creation is that God, the divine Spirit, mingles Himself with us and constitutes us with Himself to make us new. When we aim at the Triune God and walk by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the Spirit imparts the divine element into us and reconstitutes us with it. As a result, we no longer remain the old creation but become a new creation with a divine element wrought into us. The ultimate issue of this will be the New Jerusalem. The new creation is a matter of God’s chosen people taking the all-inclusive Spirit as their goal, aiming at Him, being one spirit with Him, and, as a result, having the divine element transfused into them to reconstitute them and make them new.
The grace of Christ is with the spirit of the believers who walk by the rule of being a new creation, bearing the brands of Jesus in their body. In 6:17 Paul says, “Henceforth let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the brands of Jesus.” In ancient times, when a person became a slave, his owner would brand him with a branding iron. This branding on the slave’s body produced a scar, which was a mark signifying ownership. Paul considered himself a slave of Christ. Just as a slave might bear a brand mark testifying that he belonged to a certain owner, Paul bore in his body the brands of Jesus. It was as if the name of Christ had been branded upon him again and again as a testimony and declaration that Paul belonged to the Lord.
With Paul, a slave of Christ (Rom. 1:1), the brands were physically the scars of his wounds received in his faithful service to his Master (2 Cor. 11:23-27). Spiritually, they signify the characteristics of the life that he lived, a life like the one the Lord Jesus lived on this earth. Such a life is continually crucified (John 12:24), does the will of God (6:38), does not seek its own glory but the glory of God (7:18), and is submissive and obedient to God, even unto the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). The apostle followed the pattern of the Lord Jesus, bearing the brands, the characteristics of His life. In this he was absolutely different from the Judaizers. Whereas the Judaizers, who boasted in circumcision, desired to make a good show, a good appearance, in their flesh, the apostle bore the brands of Jesus in his body.
As previously mentioned, the spiritual significance of the expression the brands of Jesus is that Paul lived a crucified life. As we read the four Gospels, we see the portrait of a man constantly living a crucified life; this kind of life is a brand. Thus, when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He bore such a brand. He was persecuted, ridiculed, despised, and rejected. However, He did not say anything to defend Himself. Instead, living a crucified life, He bore a brand to show that He belonged to the Father. Paul followed the Lord Jesus to live this kind of life. In Philippians 3:10 he refers to “the fellowship of His sufferings.” As one who lived in the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings, Paul bore the brands of Jesus as the sign that he lived a crucified life. Because he was persecuted, despised, ridiculed, rejected, and condemned, he could truly say that he bore the brands of Jesus.
As long as we take the way of the cross, we too will be opposed by others. If we are faithful to live a crucified life, opposition will rise up again and again. In Galatians 4:29 Paul says, “As at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.” This word indicates clearly that those who are according to the flesh will persecute those who are according to the Spirit. Just as the Lord Jesus and Paul were persecuted because they lived a crucified life, the same will happen to us if, by the Lord’s mercy and grace, we follow their footsteps to live such a life. When we are despised, rejected, condemned, ridiculed, and mocked, we bear the brands of Jesus.
Anyone who enjoys the Lord’s grace to walk by the rule of being a new creation and who leaves religion as the Lord Jesus did is destined to bear His brands. This is because Jesus was put outside the camp of Judaism and was crucified outside the gate of the city of Jerusalem; this kind of suffering is a brand of Jesus (Heb. 13:12-13). We should be those who bear such a brand of Jesus, leaving any kind of religion and living a life absolutely in Christ. We should have nothing to do with religion; instead, we should only be in Christ, a living person, and always live the life of Jesus, a life under the killing of the cross.
Galatians places strong emphasis on the cross and the experience of crucifixion, in order to deal with the negative items, such as the law, the flesh, the “I,” the religious world, slavery, and the curse, thereby bringing in the positive items that are revealed in this book: Christ, the Spirit, the sons of God, the heirs of promise, and the new creation. It is significant that at the end of Galatians, Paul speaks of the grace of the Lord being with the believers’ spirit, their walking by the rule of being a new creation, and their bearing the brands of Jesus in their body. Through the cross of Christ the law, the flesh, and religion were terminated so that we might possess the Spirit in our spirit and that through the Spirit, the realization of Christ, we might be the new creation, bearing the brands of Jesus and enjoying the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in our spirit.