In these final verses Galatians, Paul lands the plane. He has just delivered his bottom line ruling on the whole circumcision debate in Galatians 6:16.
Do Jesus' followers need to undergo this delicate and oh-so-Jewish "procedure?" No.
And in the same way, avoiding it doesn't do anything for you either. In Jesus, God is moving in a brand spanking new way. "A new creation."
In other words, the apostle lets us know that when it comes to religious rules, there are none.
Because Jesus perfectly obeyed all of the commands of God for us, we don't have to. He met the holy standard of our holy God when there was no possible way we could have.
God didn't give us His law in order to save us. He gave it to us to make it perfectly clear that we need a Savior. I can't save myself through obedience. My personal self-salvation project is absolutely futile.
Placing our trust in what Jesus has done FOR us is the only rule that has to be followed.
That leads to his statement here. "And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God" (v16). In other words, only when you realize that there are NO rules except faith in Jesus are you walking by THE rule.
What wonderful and glorious irony. It's kinda like the Outback Steakhouse. No rules. Just right.
Paul refers to "all who walk by this rule." The Greek verb here is στοιχεω/stoicheo. It means to walk in a proper way, conduct yourself, live in conformity to a particular standard. It was often used to describe how soldiers marched in unison.
This word literally means to walk in a line. Apparently Johnny Cash wasn’t the first one to drop this idea.
For those rule followers out there (and that would be all of us!), here's the standard: don't worry about saving yourself through rule following. That's EXACTLY how we should walk the line.
When we walk in what Jesus has done for us, only then can we know the "peace and mercy" of a relationship with a holy God. Without Jesus, we're still enemies of God (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21).
Let's face it, that's not a fight we're going to win. When God is my enemy, I'm gonna lose. Guaranteed. I need peace. His peace.
The idea of biblical peace is not simply a lack of conflict. Biblical peace is based on the Hebrew word "shalom." This is the idea of not just safety and well-being. God's peace is so much more broad than the lack of conflict and danger.
It means restoration, wholeness and completeness. In Jesus, God is restoring life back to the perfect rhythm of Eden. That's the kind of peace Paul's talking about when we walk the line.
The apostle also references how those "line walkers" will know God's mercy as well. Mercy is not receiving the rightful punishment we deserve from our holy God for our sin. Jesus absorbed that on our behalf at Calvary. As a result, we who walk the line in Christ receive His mercy.
Jesus bore the full brunt of His Father's righteous wrath so that we could bask in His marvelous mercy. Being an unworthy recipient of God's mercy should transform us from begrudging obedience to grateful worship and thanksgiving.
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Rom 12:1). Those who walk the line know God's mercy and are grateful worshipers.
Paul then throws in a confusing little phrase at the end of the verse. Not only will those who walk the line receive God's peace and mercy, "and upon the Israel of God" (v16).
There's considerable debate about just exactly who or what the apostle's talking about when he uses that little description. Is he referring to believing Jews? Is he writing about Gentile converts? Is he describing the entire Body of Christ?
Scholars and people a lot smarter than me have made great cases for just about every one of those ideas. One thing we can be sure that Paul is talking about is that these are true believers.
In his letter to the Romans, the apostle says that blood lines, race and circumcision have nothing to do with salvation. Not all who are Jewish by birth are part of God's true Israel (Rom 9:6-7). "But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart..." (Rom 2:28-29).
In other words, "the Israel of God" have nothing to do with people who are of Jewish heritage or the political nation in the Middle East. They are born again followers of the radical Rabbi from Nazareth.
Once again, leave it to Eugene Peterson for a great lens through which to view this verse. "All who walk by this standard are the true Israel--His chosen people. Peace and mercy upon them!" (Gal 6:16 The Message). To walk the line means to trust in what Jesus has done for us. Then we are members of the true "Israel of God," His chosen people. Then we receive His "peace and mercy.”
That's what it means to walk the line.
©2012
Jay Jennings
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