Having spoken a little in a moral spirit, he again returns to the former matter that troubled his heart, and shows that he himself, with his own hand, wrote this entire epistle, not only to show his love for them, but also to destroy an evil suspicion. Since they slandered him, saying that he preaches one thing to some and another thing to others, he was therefore compelled to give a written testimony of his preaching. The other epistles were written by others, and he himself would only sign the greeting. The expression "how large" (πηλίκοις) indicates not the length, but the unattractiveness of the writing, as if saying: although I do not know how to write beautifully, I was nevertheless compelled to write this epistle with my own hand.
Gal. 6:12. Those who wish to boast in the flesh compel you to be circumcised
"Those wishing," he says, "to boast according to the flesh," that is, among people, namely among the Jews (for they reproached them as apostates from ancestral customs), "compel you to be circumcised," justifying themselves before the Jews through your flesh. And by the word "compel" he showed that they bear it unwillingly, and at the same time gives them an impulse to return, as to those who have gone astray involuntarily.
Gal. 6:12. "only so as not to be persecuted for the cross of Christ,"
And for another reason too, he says, they do this. For, so that they themselves might not be subjected to persecution and harassment on account of the cross and the faith – because they transgress it and get circumcised – they wish others also to be participants in circumcision.
Gal. 6:13. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they want you to be circumcised, so that they may boast in your flesh.
Not only out of people-pleasing, he says, but also out of ambition do they do this. For not out of zeal for the law and not for the sake of piety, he says, do they accomplish this, but out of ambition: "that they may glory in your flesh," that is, to boast in the circumcision of your flesh, since they are supposedly your teachers and have you as disciples.
Gal. 6:14. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Let them, he says, boast in circumcision, a thing abolished, but for me let there be no other boast "except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (that is, faith in the Crucified), which (cross) abolished the law. He turned away from this as something worthless, even calling upon God's help for this. What then is the boast in the cross? It is that for me, the unworthy one, the Lord was crucified, Who so loved me that He gave up even Himself. Thus, for Paul and for every believer, the cross serves as a subject of boasting, because in it the love of the Lord toward us is manifested. And what servant does not boast in the love of his master?
Gal. 6:14. For whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
The world he calls worldly affairs: glory, wealth, pleasure. So they have died to me and I am dead to them: a double mortification. And they cannot take hold of me, since they are dead, and I myself cannot resort to them, because I am dead.
Gal. 6:15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
Gal. 6:16. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Do not point out to me, he says, circumcision, which has no power and is useless, just as uncircumcision is: for Christ has renewed all things and requires of us a new life. Life according to Christ is a "new creation" because your souls, which had grown old through sin, have now been renewed by baptism, and because in the age to come, having been renewed in body and having become incorruptible, we shall be deemed worthy of incorruption and glory. Therefore, whoever abides by this rule of new life according to the pattern of Christ, avoiding the obsolete and powerless circumcision, will attain peace with God, having been freed from sins which make God an enemy to us, and will be deemed worthy of God's love for mankind, no longer being subjected to hatred as an enemy of God, but being deemed worthy of mercy, since peace has come to him through the cross and grace. And such people constitute Israel in the proper sense, as those who see God, while those who are not such, even if they are Israelites by descent, are falsely so called. And Paul borrowed this from David, who says: peace be upon Israel (Ps. 114:5).
Gal. 6:17. From now on let no one trouble me,
He says this not as one who is weary and despairing. For how could this be possible for one who exhorts: "be instant in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:2); but rather out of a desire that the decrees given by him be unshakeable, and that the Galatians not expect anything different from him, but be convinced that this is how he preaches.
Gal. 6:17. For I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body.
In justification, he says, against those who say to you that I am a hypocrite and in other places preach circumcision — I have wounds and afflictions for the sake of Christ. For they testify more powerfully than any speech that I subjected myself to dangers not for the law, but for the teaching of Christ. And he did not say: I have, but "I bear," as some trophy or royal mark of distinction, and I take pride in them.
Gal. 6:18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
By this wish he shows them that he did not say all this out of anger and hatred. And this contains not only a wish but also an instruction that seals everything that was said. For he reminds them of the grace which they received not through the law but by faith in Christ. And he did not say "with you," but "with your spirit," drawing them away from the carnal and showing that they received the Spirit not from the law but from grace, and that not the law nor circumcision, but grace can preserve the Spirit in them, just as it also imparted Him. And by calling them brethren, he reminded them of the font of baptism, from which we become brethren, children of the One Father God, and not from the law. May the grace of God be with us as well, so that we may live according to the spirit and not lose the divine sanctification of the Comforter through the defilement of sin, but always increase it in ourselves in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who revealed the new and spiritual life, having abolished the old and carnal one. To Him be glory forever. Amen.