The world crucified!

Charles Spurgeon, "Three Crosses"

(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Galatians 6:14, "But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

The apostle Paul speaks with Spirit-given clarity: the world has been crucified to him. He looked upon the world--its pride, its rebellion, its mockery of God--as crucified and dead. The same world that crucified the Lord of glory (Acts 2:36) cannot be trusted, admired, or feared.

The world's character is condemned. Paul saw a world that rejected Jesus, the eternal truth; and hated and murdered Jesus, the only Savior of sinners, in His perfect innocence. The world's values, judgments, and opinions were worthless to Paul.

Just so, must the believer think biblically about the "spirit of the age." Public opinion, cultural trends, and fashionable ideas--deserve no authority over a Christian conscience held captive to the Word of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). The Christian will never deny or soften Scripture truth, to satisfy a world that despises his Savior and Lord.

The world's pleasures are rotten. Today's entertainments spring from the same soil of depravity (Ephesians 5:11). The world's pleasures are not neutral; they reveal a heart in rebellion towards God (James 4:4). Paul looked upon all the world's pleasures as so much rottenness--a carcass nailed to a cross.

The world's honors are empty. Most who possess power, wealth, and applause--are enslaved to lust and pride. Worldly status is but a chain of vanity (1 John 2:16–17). The Christian must never seek those painted vanities which the world desires.

The world's riches are futile. Content with food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:8), Paul viewed mammon as temporary and ultimately useless. The world shouts, "Make money at all costs!" Scripture whispers a better wisdom: "Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death (Proverbs 11:4). Grasping, hoarding, and coveting are idolatry!

When Paul said that the world was crucified to him, he meant just this: "I am not enslaved by any of its pursuits. I care nothing for its maxims. I am not governed by its spirit. I do not court its smiles. I do not fear its threatenings. It is not my master, nor am I its slave." So says every true believer.

To be a follower of Jesus is to nail the world to the cross, and to find in Him a new Master, new desires, and a new destiny.

Christian! Can you say that the world, in its riches and honors, as well as in its despicable vices, and its manifold vanities--is a crucified thing to you?

You may want to read the whole of this outstanding sermon, "Three Crosses".