Galatians 6:14-15
(my paraphrase) God forbid that I should boast
in any rule I get right for Him.
There is only one thing I boast in:
IN THE CROSS
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Through the cross, the lust
to perform for worldly acceptance
has been put to death in me.
For in Christ Jesus,
doing religious things no longer matter. There is only one thing that matters
and it's all because of
Christ through His cross:
I'm a new creation!
I'm already totally accepted!
I'm free to be real and not religious!
In the above photo are two of my buddies from the Boys Home of the South. One of these boys has asked me to baptize him. The management is excited about having a baptism in the fish pond!
Baptism is a beautiful portrayal of the message of the cross. The boy standing in the water is a picture of the cross as the boy's vertical body connects with the water's horizontal surface. The boy is standing in the promises of (testifying to others of his belief in) Christ's sacrifice on His behalf. The boy believes Jesus died for his sins, and Jesus was crucified as the boy's sinful identity.
Our old man was crucified with Christ.
(Romans 6:6a)
The boy immersed in the water is a picture of boy's sinful identity being buried with Jesus.
We were buried with Christ through baptism unto death.
(Romans 6:4a)
The boy being raised up out of the water is a picture of him being raised up as a new boy united with the resurrected Christ!
We have been been united in His resurrection...
...to walk in newness of life!
(Romans 6:4b, 5b)
All 200+ boys I have witnessed at this boys' home during the past 8 years have sought real hope for a real life. This is their answer. A personal relationship with Christ starts at the cross.
Although there are many differences regarding the mode of baptism, this meaning of baptism is the only message that eliminates denominational lines to bring life out of death for all.
THE WORK OF THE CROSS
Paul's uses the word cross in his epistles as shorthand for the full work of Christ through the cross, resurrection, ascension, and seating on the throne on our behalf.
The work of the cross refers to Jesus' finished work of the cross based on Jesus' proclamation in John 19:30, "It is finished!" Jesus has done all that is needed to make you and me complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). We simply receive what He did for us.
This is the only message our adversary the devil hates. He doesn't just generally prowl around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). His targeted goal has always been to steal God's glory. And where is God's glory most supremely portrayed for all eternity? In the cross and resurrection of Christ!
Our enemy tempts us to believe the cross is weak and foolish. When we fall for this temptation, doubts grow about our completeness in Christ, and we become vulnerable to be devoured...meaning we don't experience the wonderful ways of living out of the reality of Christ in us through His finished work.
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
So, the way of the cross refers to God's call for us to walk in the reality of the finished work of the cross, enduring through the enemy's temptations. God uses this way to conform us to the image of Christ on the outside to match the nature of Christ already completed inside us by presence of the indwelling Christ.
The way of the cross is not a self-centered way of happiness, health, and wealth, as some claim. The way of the cross is, however, the experience of abundant life! It is a way of joy and suffering we experience with Christ...the paradox of Hebrews 12:2, "For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross."
The way of the cross requires the same power of the Holy Spirit as the work of the cross required to raise Christ from the dead!
It's been one year since I stepped out of my 31-year job and into full-time pursuit of the call of my life -- to minister the message of the cross that is the heart of the gospel. As I seek to live by the gospel in providing for my family, the Lord is leading me to a new level of stewardship and to a new depth of surrender. I am experiencing the death of old self-dependent ways and the new life of growing dependence upon Christ...the way of the cross.
May these truths help anchor us in Christ, who pioneered the way of the cross for us and promises us resurrection life in all things!
ps, I first heard the phrases "the work of the cross" and "the way of the cross" in DeVern Fromke's book The Ultimate Intention. | 
