To boast is defined as
- 1. Talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities.
- 2.of a person, place, or thing) possess (a feature that is a source of pride)
Are we as Christians allowed to boast about something? Most of the time, we would say no. We are not allowed to brag because boasting is a prideful thing, and pride goes before the fall. But did you know the Bible says it is essential to boast about something?
In 1. Cor 1:31, and 2.Cor 10:17 Paul says we should boast in the Lord. Usually, this has been taken to mean boast in Jesus Christ, considering what Paul says in Gal 6:14. But if we keep in mind that Paul never stopped being a Jew both 1.Cor 1:31, 2.Cor 10:17 and Gal 6:14 takes on an entirely different meaning.
When Paul lived among us, he did not have a new testament, so everything he taught and preached was based on the Old Testament. This is so important to keep in mind when reading 1.Cor 1:31, 2. Cor 10:17 and Gal 6:14.
What Paul is referring to in 1. Cor 1:31 and 2.Cor 10:17 is Jeremiah 9:24. If we want to understand what it means to boast in the Lord, we have to read Jeremiah 9:24 where it says ” let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Yehovah, who exercises loving devotion, justice, and righteousness on the earth – for I delight in these things. Declares Yehovah”.
So what Paul is saying in 1. Cor 1:31, and 2. Cor 10:17 is this; our pride should be that we know Yehovah and what He is like. Our boast should be that we have a relationship with our Father in heaven, His name is Yehovah. (John 14:15-16)
Can you honestly say you know who Yehovah is and what He is like, considering right now there are 40 000 + different Christian denominations all claiming to know Him?
But what about Gal 6:14? Does not Paul in Gal 6:14 tell us to boast in Jesus and the cross? Is that not a contradiction to 1. Cor 1:31, and 2. Cor 10:17?
If we want to understand Gal 6:14, we first have to know why Paul is writing the letter to the Galatians. All throughout Paul’s life, he had to deal with someone called “the circumcision party/circumcision group.” These people believed the evidence of salvation was physical circumcision and not Torah obedience. As long as someone was circumcised, they could live any way they wanted to. To this, Paul says, no, the proof of salvation is faith the cross AND Torah obedience, and if you are genuinely saved, you can only live one way in obedience to the Torah.
Then Paul goes on to say in Gal 6:14 instead of boasting in circumcition; he would rather boast in the cross because faith in the cross manifested in obedience to the Torah, is the only way to salvation.
It is essential to know one crucial thing in Gal 6:14. Paul is not telling us to boast in Jesus; He is telling us to boast in the one who gave us Yeshua (John 3:16), and His name is Yehovah.
Now we see that there is no contradiction between Gal 6:14 and 1. Cor 1:31, and 2. Cor 10:17. All three verses point back to Jeremiah 9:24, which says the one who knows Yehovah should boast that they know Yehovah and what He is like. They should boast that they know He is the Torah and that He is love and mercy shown in the cross.
Let me now ask you this, do you know Yehovah and what He is like? Can you boast in Yehovah?
The Bible says in Jer 9:24, Yehovah delights in righteousness. In 1. John 3 righteousness defines as the Torah what we would call the written law of Moses. How can a Christian, who believes the Torah was done away with at the cross, claim to know Yehovah when they hate and think the Torah was done away with?
Are we as Christians allowed to boast in something? Yes, we are permitted to boast over the fact that we have a relationship with Yehovah, our Father. But you can only have a relationship with someone if you accept them. Most Christians do not accept Yehovah even though they believe He has given them Yeshua. When they reject the Torah as a burden and something done away with at the cross, they reject who Yehovah is. To deny Yehovah is to reject Yeshua, if you reject Yeshua, you are in great danger.
