“Paul closes Galatians by putting the pen in his own hand and drawing a hard line. The cross stands at the center. The legalists who want a “good showing in the flesh” push circumcision to dodge the heat that comes with the cross. The cross will not flatter pride. The cross says salvation is God’s work, not human polish. So Paul refuses to boast in anything but “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” where the world is crucified to him and he to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes a thing. Only a new creation counts.”