Galatians | 6:1-10

Jul 14

About this series:

Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia is a heartfelt defence of the gospel of God's grace; a fervent appeal to keep the gospel front-and-centre and to not allow anything to detract from it.

In this letter Paul sounds exasperated at some points - for example, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all” (1:6) and, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (3:1), which The Message renders as, “You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives.”

Paul’s frustration and anger stem from a passionate concern that the churches he planted return to a full confidence that it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that a person is justified by God and is included in God’s family. Nothing else is required. The message he preached to the Galatians, and which they had believed, is not so much a departure from their Jewish heritage, as the fulfilment of it. Thus, in this letter we have a window into life in early Christianity and especially some of the challenges the churches faced from false teachers as the church grew from its Jewish roots.

So in this series we’re going to get a big view of what the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has achieved for mankind. And some very practical help on how we can stay true to Jesus, trusting him alone to put us in a right relationship with God, to keep us in that right relationship and to qualify us for membership among God’s people. ‘The central message of Galatians is that the freeness of God’s grace and love is not only the gateway but also the pathway of the Christian life’ (Dane Ortlund).

About this talk:

In the first section of chapter 6 Paul touches on a host of practical matters, much of which relates to the community life of the churches and may be specifically addressing things he was aware of from his time among them. What he writes is certainly not simply a random collection, but some practical out-workings of being free in Christ following the end of chapter 6: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Some of what that looks like now follows.

Firstly, “if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (ESV). Our freedom is for the purpose of loving God and loving other people and that means loving people enough to help restore them when they “transgress” (“sin,” NIV): fall away, lapse, slip, trespass. Such is our collective unity in Christ that there is a sense in which our conduct has a bearing on each other and therefore is everyone’s concern. We are interconnected, interdependent parts of a body, not disconnected, independent islands in a sea. The goal is to “restore,” the Greek word meaning to put in order, mend, bring back to its original condition (the same word is used for mending fishing nets, Matthew 4:21). However, those doing the restoring should ensure they are in a healthy place, being led by the Spirit, and that they do so gently, being careful too not to succumb to the same temptation.

Secondly, they should “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ,” which is to “Love your neighbour as yourself” (5:14). It is assumed that each will have burdens and that part of God’s provision for his people is to put us in a church community where other people help us carry them. Such burdens are those weights in life that are too great to bear on one’s own.

V 3 is actually connected to v 2 (as opposed to the NIV translation) - “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (ESV). The meaning may perhaps be that those who are conceited and ‘above’ helping others carry their burdens are deceived about their own standing, given that carrying each other’s burdens is, in part, how we show we have grasped what it means to follow Christ.

Thirdly, “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else” (v 4). There are various interpretations of this, but to boast here is used in a positive sense of having tested oneself and being at peace before God - not deceived and not comparing to others. Again, v 5 is connected to v 4 (as the NIV shows this time). Though we are to “carry each other’s burdens”

(v 2), there is a “load” that each person must carry on their own. This is not a contradiction. Based on an understanding that “burden” means ‘a weight or heavy load’ and that “load” is ‘a common term for a man’s pack,’ Stott writes, ‘We are to bear one another’s ‘burdens’ which are too heavy for a man to bear alone, but there is one burden which we cannot share - indeed do not need to because it is a pack light enough for every man to carry himself - and that is our responsibility to God on the day of judgement. On that day you cannot carry my pack and I cannot carry yours. Each man will have to bear his own load.’’ Others see no intended difference in the type of burden / pack being imagined, yet agree that what is in view here is the account each of us will give to God.

Fourthly, v 6, Paul comments on the relationship between the teacher and learner in a church context: “the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.” “All good things” most likely means the things necessary for enjoying life and thus refers to material things - cf. Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 9:4-14.

Fifthly, God has built into creation a principle which cannot be mocked, abused or ridiculed: a person reaps what they sow. It is not an absolute law in every sense, but a principle that should be given due attention as the usual way things work in all areas of life. It is, however, always true in an ultimate, eternal sense. “Mocked” means to ‘to turn up the nose or sneer at...as a sign of contempt’ (biblehub.com). Don’t be fooled - you cannot fool God or show contempt for the principles he has built into creation and get away with it. Paul may have in mind here both matters of present living and of the day of judgement already referred to in v 5.

That principle is now, v 8, made specific in terms of the battle described in 5:16-26. Sowing to please the flesh is ‘to pander to it, to cosset, cuddle and stroke it, instead of crucifying it’ (Stott). Such behaviour reaps “corruption” (ESV). In chapter 5 Paul wrote of walking by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, living by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit; here it is “sowing to the Spirit” (ESV), due to the sowing and reaping image - all are similar ways of saying the same thing. Such a lifestyle reaps a participation in the life of God. However, it may be that Paul is speaking of eternal destiny here rather than present lifestyle, especially as NIV has “destruction” as the harvest from sowing to the flesh and “eternal life” as the harvest from sowing to the Spirit.

The encouragement, then, vs 9-10, is to keep sowing to the Spirit, which in practice is a matter of loving others, especially those who are in God’s family.