Galatians
6:1-8: “Restore Those Who Stumble, Bear One Another’s Burdens, Sow To The
Spirit Not The Flesh”
By
1.
In our last
study, we looked at verses 16-26 of chapter 5.
1.1.
We saw that Paul
began to reveal the fact that walking in love involves a struggle and
warfare. The struggle and warfare that
he began to discuss is one that is internal within the believer in Christ.
1.2.
Paul contrasted
two different sets of lifestyles or habits of mind within the believer, those
produced by the flesh (or old sinful nature still resident within the believer)
and those produced by the Holy Spirit (when the believer is Spirit-filled or
controlled).
1.3.
Paul described
for us the fact that there is a battle that is continually being waged in the
believer’s life for control, a battle between the two natures within him. The fleshly part of a believer is that part
that is a remnant from his life before he ever knew Christ. The spiritual part of a believer is the
spirit that is within him energized and led by the Holy Spirit working within
him.
1.4.
Paul listed for
us what are those things that characterize those who are walking in the flesh.
1.5.
Paul then listed
the fruit or habits-of-mind or conduct produced by the Spirit within the
believer, when the believer is being filled with or controlled by the Holy
Spirit.
2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at verses
1-8 of chapter 6.
2.1.
Paul is going to
discuss the importance of gently restoring a brother or sister that is caught
in any sin.
2.2.
Paul will discuss
that we are to bear one another’s burdens and not think too highly of
ourselves.
2.3.
Paul will talk about
the importance of supporting financially those who teach us the word.
2.4.
Paul will discuss
the principle of reaping whatever it is that you sow in this life.
3.
VS 6:1 - “1
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual,
restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to
yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” – Paul tells the Galatians that
if any one of them is caught in any transgressions that the spiritual believers
are to restore that person in a spirit of gentleness, being care for themselves
that they too not become tempted
3.1.
Having listed for
us the characteristics of the life that is lived in the flesh, and contrasted
that with the fruit that the Spirit produces in the believer, Paul now tells
the Galatians that if anyone commits one of those sins produced by walking in
the flesh, and is ‘caught in any trespass’, that the church is to seek
to ‘restore’ them.
3.2.
If you look at
what Jesus did as recorded in the four gospels, you see that He was all about
restoration and it is reflected throughout His life. He was constantly restoring people physically
and spiritually, in fact I cannot think of a single story in the gospels of all
that Jesus did which did not show Him seeking to restore others. He was never concerned about anything
regarding Himself and His needs and desires. He was always helping and
restoring others, even in His rebukes and confrontations. Jesus reached out to the woman at the well,
the tax gatherer Zycheus who hid in the tree waiting for him, Nicodemus the
Pharisee who came to Him secretly by night, the woman caught in adultery, etc.,
etc., etc. Likewise, those who were ill
Jesus went about healing and casting demons out of them. There is just person after person whom Jesus
had compassion on and healed. If we are following in Jesus’
footsteps then we are also always going to be seeking to see others restored to
faith in Christ.
3.3.
Note here that
there is a distinction made amongst people in the church. It is the ‘spiritual’ ones whom Paul
admonishes to restore the one who has stumbled into sin, or those who are
Spirit-filled and mature in their faith.
3.4.
Paul tells the
Galatians here that the manner in which we are to restore the one who has been
caught in any trespass is, ‘in a spirit of gentleness’. People need gentle correction by a caring
shepherd of their souls. They don’t need
to be belittled or harshly dealt with.
They usually know they have been in the wrong, they just need help in
order to get out of their situation.
3.5.
When an auto accident has occurred, the paramedics come
to try to assist those who are injured and help them back to health, but the
police come to find out who was responsible so that they can be punished. The church needs to be more like the
paramedics and seek to help to health those who have been injured by their life
of sin.
3.6.
There is
potential danger though in reaching out to an erroring brother or sister in
Christ. Those who reach out to the
stumbling sinner must beware not to stumble themselves. Thus, Paul tells the Galatians to beware that
they ‘too will not be tempted’. I
could give you a lot of examples of this:
3.6.1. For instance, believe it or not I know a pastor very
well who had a guy call him who was going through a great struggle, and the guy
wanted to talk with him, and he asked this pastor to come to a strip club and
give him some counsel. My pastor friend
was foolish and went. Fortunately, my
pastor friend did not stumble in the process.
3.6.2. A second illustration would be the times that I have
had to stop people in our home fellowship groups from time to time from going
into detail about some of the sins that they have committed. We as Christians do not need to hear all of
the details of someone’s sins in order to help them. Plus, we may not be able to handle those
details without stumbling ourselves.
3.6.3. When we lived in
4.
VS 6:2-3 - “2
Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is
nothing, he deceives himself.” – Paul tells the Galatians to bear one another’s
burdens, and thus they shall fulfill the law of Christ, and, that if anyone
thinks he is something when is nothing he deceives himself
4.1.
This Greek word
that is translated as ‘bear’ here has the following entry in Strong’s
Enhance Greek Lexicon:
941 βαστάζω [bastazo /bas·tad·zo/] v. Perhaps remotely derived from the base of 939 (through
the idea of removal); TDNT 1:596; TDNTA 102; GK 1002; 27 occurrences; AV
translates as “bear” 23 times, “carry” three times, and “take up” once. 1 to take up with the hands. 2 to take up in order to carry or bear, to put upon
one’s self (something) to be carried. 2a to bear what is burdensome. 3 to bear, to carry. 3a to
carry on one’s person. 3b to sustain,
i.e. uphold, support. 4 to bear
away, carry off.
4.2.
We ought to ask
ourselves what it means to ‘bear’ another brother’s or sister’s burdens,
and we ought to consider these aspects of it:
4.2.1. This can mean being a good listener and letting a
brother or a sister tell you their troubles.
4.2.2. In the book of Acts we see that when the church was
hurting and impoverished in
4.2.3. In a general way it means to enter into brother or a
sister’s trial and burden and give them aid.
4.3.
Miller has
written the following about bearing one another’s burdens: “Naturalists say that the stork, having
most tenderly fed its young, will sail under them when they first attempt to
fly, and, if they begin to fall, will bear them up and support them and that,
when one stork is wounded by the sportsman, the able ones gather about it, put
their wings under it, and try to carry it away. These instincts in the bird
teach us the lesson of helpfulness. We should come up close to those who are in
any way overburdened or weak or faint, and putting our own strength underneath
them, help them along; and when another fellow-being is wounded or crushed,
whether by sorrow or by sin, it is our duty to gather about him, and try to
lift him up, and save him. There is scarcely a limit to our possibilities of
helpfulness in these ways.”
4.4.
Bearing one
another’s burdens is walking in love and therefore Paul says that when we do
this that we are fulfilling the Law of Christ, the law of loving one another.
4.5.
It is interesting
here that Paul essentially now states that if we will not bear one another’s
burdens it is because we are thinking more highly of ourselves than we should
think.
4.6.
People in this
world often think of themselves too highly, and Paul expresses this as them ‘thinking
they are something’. H. G. Bosch
once told the following story: “The
newspaper cartoonist H. T. Webster once amused himself by sending telegrams to
20 of his acquaintances whom he selected at random. Each message contained just
one word: “Congratulations!” As far as Webster knew, not one of his friends had
done anything special for which to be complimented. Yet each person was so
flattered that he immediately wrote him a letter of thanks. All had assumed
they had done something worthy of a congratulatory telegram!”
4.7.
In our modern
pop-Psychology world that has produced things like “the religion of Oprah,”
people are led to believe that God loves them because they are loveable. However, the Bible tells us that we as people
are sinners and thus undeserving of any of His love for us, for “all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Paul says that the reality of our lives is
that compared to God and His greatness and holiness, that we ‘are nothing’. Yet, the scripture says that “God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall
not perish but have everlasting life.”
So, God does love us but He does so out of His choice to love us, not
because He needs us or we are worthy of His love in any sense of the word.
4.8.
One time many
years ago a pastor had fallen into adultery with a woman, and that next Sunday
at the church a visiting pastor well known by the congregation taught from the
pulpit. He explained what had happened
to the pastor since there were a few in the church had not heard the sad
news. Then, he said that he knew that
many had already heard about what the pastor had done. But, he said, “The only difference between
your pastor’s sin and your sin is that we are talking about his sin openly and
from the podium this morning. All of us
have sinned grievous sins against the Lord and sinned over and over, whether in
thought or in deed.”
5.
VS 6:4-5 - “4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for
boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load.” – Paul tells the Galatians that each one is to
examine his own work (not his brother’s work) and then he will have a reason to
boast in regard to himself alone, not to another, and each one will bear his
own load
5.1.
God has not called
any of us be fruit inspectors, except of our own work. The Judaisers in
5.1.1. Many times we as Christians have our eyes on everyone
else’s lives instead of on our own. We
are concerned about other’s faults, and how well other’s are running their
spiritual race. We can be very
judgmental. But, we ought instead to
have our eyes on our own race and let others worry about themselves. Paul wrote the following to the Romans about
not judging each other: Romans 14:4, “4
Who
are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls;
and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
5.2.
If each of us
keeps our eyes on our own life and our own righteousness as matched up with the
Lord, then we will have plenty to do.
6.
VS 6:6 - “6
The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who
teaches him.”
– Paul tells the Galatians that the one who is taught the word is to share all
good things with the one who teaches him
6.1.
Here we see that
the teachers of God’s word are to be supported by those whom they teach. This verse sheds light on what the true
function the leaders of church really should be, it is teaching others the word
of God. Christian leaders are not to
just administer sacraments, they are to teach the word of God.
6.2.
It is interesting
how Paul words this, saying that ‘all things’ are to be shared with
those who teach us, and thus using limitless language.
7.
VS 6:7-8 - “7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he
will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to
his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the
Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” – Paul tells the Galatians not
to be deceived for you cannot mock God, whatever a man sows that he will also
reap and the one who sows to his own flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,
and the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
7.1.
There are a
couple of worldly concepts that express what Paul is writing to the Galatians
about in these verses:
7.1.1. Some believe in what they call ‘Karma’, but this is
either a metaphysical concept for them or part of the belief in
reincarnation. The people who believe
this way see this concept as sort of a law that doesn’t really involve God.
7.1.2. The second is a saying that I am sure you have heard
before, “What comes around goes around”.
This worldly concept reveals a principle that some believe that others
will tend to treat you the way that you treat others. Again, people that say this sort of thing
usually don’t believe that God is directly involved in causing this to happen.
7.2.
Paul writes to
the Galatians here that ‘whatever a man sows, this he will also reap’ as a general
principle. But, this works because God
is committed to working in our lives to bring it about. If your sowing as a Christian is doing God’s
will and being a vessel for Him, then you will reap blessings from God. But, if your sowing is walking in the flesh
and sinning, then you are going to reap God’s discipline and the whirlwind of
judgment (
7.3.
Paul warns the
Galatians not to deceive themselves about these things, for God is going to see
that they are going to reap whatever they sow in this life.
7.4.
I love the
promise that Jesus gave to us about what we shall reap when our sowing is
giving to others: Luke 6:38, “38 Give, and it
will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down,
shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it
will be measured to you in return.”
7.5.
Paul reveals here
that there are two different kinds of sowing for a person. A person can sow ‘to his own flesh’ or
he ‘sows to the Spirit’. Paul has
already by his arguments in this letter shown that sowing to the flesh is to
walk according to pattern of life that involves rule and law-keeping. This type of lifestyle is also one of death
and condemnation, and results in carrying out the lusts of the flesh. Likewise, sowing to the Spirit is the life of
faith and walking according to love, which causes you to keep the Law of
God. So, you either sow to the flesh or
you sow to the Spirit.
7.6.
What is written
here infers that sowing to the flesh, that is, walking according to rule and
law-keeping is to “mock” God. The
Lord says salvation is by faith, the covenant of Law is now nullified (God does
not enter into the Mosaic covenant with anyone today), and that the Lord honors
our faith. So, if we spurn His revealed
will and plan for us to be saved, and invent our own means of salvation. Then, we are “mocking” God. But, Paul
7.7.
The lifestyle of
sowing to the Spirit will result in reaping ‘eternal life’. The person whose life is characterized thus
will spend eternity with God, and a body that will never undergo corruption but
is spiritual and powerful.
7.8.
In
contradistinction, the person who sows to his own flesh shall reap ‘corruption’. But, what does it mean to reap ‘corruption’?
7.8.1. Strong’s Enhanced Greek Lexicon has the following
entry for this word:
5356 φθορά [phthora /fthor·ah/] n f. From 5351; TDNT 9:93; TDNTA 1259; GK 5785;
Nine occurrences; AV translates as “corruption” seven times, “to perish + 1519”
once, and “destroy” once. 1
corruption, destruction, perishing. 1a that which is subject to corruption, what is perishable. 1b in the Christian sense, eternal misery in hell. 2 in the NT, in an ethical sense, corruption i.e. moral
decay.
7.8.2. This word brings to our mind a few passages of scripture. The last chapter of the book of Isaiah talks
about the future and the new heavens and earth that the Lord will create, and
God’s people will enjoy. However, the
very last verses refer to the lost who will be there in that day, and the ‘corruption’
of their flesh which is described as the worm not dying: Isaiah 66:22-24, “22 “For just as the new
heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name
will endure. 23 “And it shall be from new
moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down
before Me,” says the Lord. 24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses
of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And
their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”” Jesus quoted this verse in Isaiah when He
discussed causing others to stumble and the hell fire for non-believers in Mark 9:47-48, “47 “If your eye causes
you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48 where their
worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.””
7.9.
So, the ‘corruption’
that you reap as a result of walking according to the flesh is moral
corruption. But, there is likely also a
reference to the body of ‘corruption’ that a person in hell shall
experience with a corruptible body that he will inhabit. I would think that as glorious and powerful
that the body that the spiritual body that believers will have for eternity in
heaven, so in the opposite respect will non-believers experience with a
corruptible body for eternity.
8.
CONCLUSIONS:
8.1.
Remember to
restore those caught in any sin with gentleness, and caution for yourselves,
you spiritual ones.
8.2.
Bear one
another’s burdens in love.
8.3.
Keep your eyes on
your own life and the fruit from your own life.
8.4.
Remember that God
is not mocked because what you sow you will also reap.