Galatians 6

Galatians 6:1

6:1 Here is a lovely statement on how a sinning believer is to be treated by other Christians. It is in sharp contrast to the law, of course, which called down judgment on offenders. To be overtaken in any trespass describes a man who has committed an act of sin rather than one who is habitually sinful. Such a person is to be dealt with by spiritual Christians. A carnal Christian might, by a hard, cold attitude, do more harm than good. Then, too, the offender will not be likely to receive the admonition of one who is himself out of touch with the Lord. This verse raises an interesting question. If a man is truly spiritual, would he admit it? Are not spiritual people most conscious of their shortcomings? Who then would do the work of restoration, if doing so marked him as a spiritual man? Would it not betray a lack of modesty? The answer is this: A truly spiritual man will never boast of his condition, but he will have the tender heart of a shepherd, making him want to restore the transgressor. He will not act in a spirit of pride or superiority, but in a spirit of gentleness, remembering that he also might be tempted.6:2 Burdens refers to failures, temptations, testings, and trials. Instead of standing off at a distance and criticizing, we should fly to the side of a brother in trouble or distress and help him in every possible way. The law of Christ includes all the commandments of the Lord Jesus for His people found in the NT. It may be summarized by the commandment, that you love one another (Joh_13:34; Joh_15:12). We fulfill this when we bear one another’s burdens. The law of Christ is far different from that of Moses. Moses’ Law promised life for obedience, but gave no power to obey, and could only encourage obedience by the fear of punishment. The law of Christ, on the other hand, is loving instruction for those who already have life. Believers are enabled to keep its precepts by the power of the Holy Spirit, and their motivation is love to Christ. 6:3 We are all made out of the same dust. When we see a brother sin, we should remember that it might have been ourselves. For a Christian to have a superiority complex is a form of self-deception. Certainly we should never think that bearing others’ burdens is beneath our dignity. 6:4 This seems to be a warning against the habit of comparing ourselves with others, and finding cause for satisfaction. The apostle points out that we will be examined individually and not in comparison with others at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Therefore, we should take heed to ourselves, so that we might be able to rejoice in our work rather than in others’ failures. 6:5 In verse 2, Paul teaches that we should share one another’s sorrows, sufferings, and problems in this present life. In verse 5, the thought is that every one of us will have to bear his own load of responsibility at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 6:6 Believers are responsible to support their Christian teachers. To share in all good things means to share with them the material things of life, and also to sustain them with prayer and godly interest. 6:7 Although others may not notice our neglect of God’s servants, He sees it, and gives a harvest accordingly. We reap what we sow, and we reap in greater quantities than we sow. When the farmer sows wheat, he reaps wheat, sometimes thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold. Scofield remarks that the Spirit is not speaking here to sinners about their sins, but to saints about their meanness.Of course, it is true in a wider sense that those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same (Job_4:8) and that those who sow the wind … reap the whirlwind (Hos_8:7). J. A.

Froude, the historian, said, One lesson, and only one, history may be said to repeat with distinctness, that the world is built somehow on moral foundations, that in the long run, it is well with the good, and in the long run it is ill with the wicked.6:8 Although it is true in a general sense that we reap whatever we sow, it should be noticed that this reminder follows an exhortation on Christian giving. Viewed in that light, we see that sowing to the flesh means spending one’s money on oneself, one’s own pleasures and comforts. Sowing to the Spirit is using one’s money for the furtherance of God’s interests. Those who do the former reap a harvest of disappointment and loss right here on earth because they learn as they grow older that the flesh they lived to please is decaying and dying. Then in the age to come they lose eternal rewards. Those who sow to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. There are two ways in which eternal life (same word translated everlasting) is used in the Bible: (1) It is the present possession of every believer (Joh_3:36). (2) It is that which the believer receives at the end of his life here on earth (Rom_6:22). Those who sow to the Spirit enjoy eternal life here and now in a way which other Christians do not. Then, too, they will reap the rewards which accompany faithfulness when they reach their heavenly home. 6:9 Lest any should become discouraged, Paul reminds his readers that the rewards are certain, even if not immediate. You do not harvest a field of wheat the day after you sow the seed. So in the spiritual realm, the rewards surely follow faithful sowing in due season. 6:10 The household of faith includes all who are saved, without regard to denominations or divisions. Our kindness is not to be limited to believers, but is to be shown to them in a special way. It is not negativehow little harm, but positivehow much good we can do that is to be our objective. John Wesley said it so succinctly: Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

Galatians 6:11

D. Conclusion (6:11-18) 6:11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! Instead of dictating it to an assistant, as he usually did, Paul had written the letter himself. The large letters with which he wrote might have indicated his deep feeling in seeking to combat the legalists and how serious he considered the Judaizing error to be, or that Paul’s eyesight was poor, as many have suggested from this and other passages. We feel that the latter view is correct. 6:12 The Judaizers wanted to make a good showing in the flesh by building up a large group of followers. They could do this by insisting on circumcision. People are often quite willing to observe rites and ceremonies as long as they are not required to change their habits. It is common today to build up a large church membership by lowering the standards. Paul sees through the insincerity of these false teachers and accuses them of seeking to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. The cross signifies the condemnation of the flesh and its efforts to please God. The cross spells death for the fleshly nature and its noblest efforts. The cross means separation from evil. Therefore, men hate the glorious message of the cross, and persecute those who preach it. 6:13 The legalists were not really interested in keeping the law. What they wanted was an easy way to obtain converts, so that they could boast of a long list of followers. Boice says: It was an attempt to win others to that which was itself bankrupt; for not even those who were circumcised were able to keep the law.6:14 Paul’s ground for boasting is not in the flesh of men, but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. On that cross the world died to Paul and Paul to the world. When a man is saved, the world says goodbye to him, and he says goodbye to the world. He is spoiled as far as the world is concerned because he is no longer interested in its fleeting pleasures; the world has lost its attraction for him, because he has found One who completely satisfies.

Findlay says: He can never believe in it, never take pride in it, nor do homage to it any more. It is stripped of its glory and robbed of its power to charm or govern him. Thus the cross is a great barrier or dividing line between the world and the child of God. 6:15 Although at first sight it might not seem so, this verse is one of the most important statements of Christian truth in the entire Epistle. Circumcision was an external observance, a ritual. The Jewish teachers made everything depend on the observance of this ceremony. Circumcision was the foundation of Judaism. Paul sweeps it aside with a flourishcircumcision is nothing. Neither ritual nor Judaism nor legalism counts. Then Paul addsnor uncircumcision. There are those who pride themselves on their absence of ritual. Their whole church service is a revolt against ceremony. This is of no value either. What really counts with God is a new creation. He wants to see the transformed life. Findlay writes: The true Christianity is that which turns bad men into good, which transforms the slaves of sin into sons of God. All men are in one of two creations. As born into the world, they are sinful, helpless, and condemned. All their efforts to save themselves, or to assist God in their salvation by good character or good works, are futile, and leave them unchanged.

The new creation is headed by the risen Christ, and includes all who have been redeemed from sin and given new life in Him. Because the new creation is all of Christ from start to finish, it excludes any thought of gaining God’s favor through character or works. A life of holiness is produced, not by the observance of ritual, but by yielding to Christ and permitting Him to live His life in the believer. The new creation is not an improvement of or addition to the old, but something entirely different. 6:16 Of what rule is Paul speaking here? It is the rule of the new creation. He pronounces the double blessing of peace and mercy on all those who judge teaching by the questionIs it of the new creation?and who reject all that is not. And upon the Israel of God. Many have taken this to mean the church. However, the Israel of God refers to those Jews by natural birth who accept the Lord Jesus as Messiah. There was neither peace nor mercy for those who walked under the law, but both are the portion of those in the new creation. 6:17 Paul, once the slave of the law, had been delivered from that bondage by the Lord Jesus. Now he belonged to the Lord as a willing slave. Just as slaves were branded with the mark of their master, so Paul had the ownership marks of the Lord Jesus on his body. What were they? They were the scars which he received at the hands of his persecutors. Now he says: Don’t let anyone try to reclaim me.

Don’t talk to me about the brand-mark of circumcision, indicating bondage to the law. I wear the brand of my new Master, Jesus Christ.6:18 The apostle is now about to lay down his pen. But he must close with an added word. What will it be? GRACEthe word which so characterizes his gospel. Grace, not law.

It was the theme on which he began (Gal_1:3); it is the theme with which he closes. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. EXCURSUS ON LEGALISM On completing a study of Galatians, one might conclude that Paul defeated the teachers of legalism so effectively that the issue would never trouble the church again. History and experience prove otherwise! Legalism has become so important a part of Christendom that most people believe that it actually belongs. Yes, the legalists are still with us. What else shall we call those professed ministers of Christ who teach, for instance, that confirmation, baptism, or church membership are necessary for salvation; that the law is the believer’s rule of life; that we are saved by faith but kept by works? What is it but Judaism brought over into Christianity when we are asked to accept a humanly ordained priesthood with its distinctive clothing, buildings patterned after the temple with their carved altars and elaborate rituals, and a church calendar with its Lenten season, its feasts, and its fasts? And what is it but the Galatian heresy when believers are warned that they must keep the Sabbath if they are to be saved at last? Modern preachers of legalism are making tremendous inroads among those who profess faith in Christ, and for this reason every believer should be warned of their teaching and instructed how to answer them. The prophets of the Sabbath usually begin by preaching the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ. They use beloved evangelical hymns to lure the unwary, and appear to place much emphasis on the Scriptures. But before long, they put their followers under the Law of Moses, especially the commandment concerning the Sabbath. (The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, or Saturday.) How do they dare to do this in the light of Paul’s clear teaching that the Christian is dead to the law? How do they get around the plain statements of Galatians? The answer is that they make a sharp distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law. The moral law is the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law covers the other regulations given by God, such as rules concerning unclean foods, leprosy, offerings to God, and so forth. The moral law, they say, has never been revoked. It is an expression of God’s eternal truth. To commit idolatry, murder, or adultery will always be contrary to God’s law. The ceremonial law, however, has been done away in Christ. Therefore, they conclude, when Paul teaches that the Christian is dead to the law, he is speaking about the ceremonial law and not the Ten Commandments. Since the moral law is still in effect, Christians are bound to keep it, they insist. This means that they must keep the Sabbath, that they must do no work on that day. They assert that one of the popes of the Roman Catholic Church ordered the change from Sabbath-observance to observance of Sunday, in utter violation of Scriptures. This reasoning sounds very logical and appealing. However, its great condemning feature is that it is entirely contrary to God’s word! Note the following points:

1. In 2Co_3:7-11, the Ten Commandments are definitely stated to be done away for the believer in Christ. In verse 7, the law is described as the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones. This could only mean the moral law, not the ceremonial law. Only the Ten Commandments were engraved in stones by the finger of God (Exo_31:18). In verse 11, we read that the ministry of death, though glorious, is done away. Nothing could be more decisive than this. The Sabbath has no claim on the Christian.
2. No Gentile was ever commanded to keep the Sabbath. The law was given to the Jewish nation only (Exo_31:13). Although God Himself rested on the seventh day, He did not command anyone else to do so until He gave the law to the children of Israel.
3. Christians did not switch from the Sabbath to the first day of the week because of the decree of any pope. We set aside the Lord’s Day in a special way for worship and for service because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead on that day, a proof that the work of redemption was completed (Joh_20:1). Also, on that day the early disciples met to break bread, showing forth the Lord’s death (Act_20:7), and it was the day appointed by God for the Christians to set apart their offerings as the Lord had prospered them (1Co_16:1-2). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit was sent down from heaven on the first day of the week. Christians do not observe the Lord’s Day as a means of achieving holiness, or from fear of punishment; they set it apart because of loving devotion to the One who gave Himself for them.
4. Paul does not distinguish between the moral law and the ceremonial law. Rather, he insists that the law is a complete unit, and that a curse rests on those who seek to attain righteousness by it, yet fail to keep it all.
5. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the NT as moral instruction for the children of God. They deal with things that are inherently right or wrong. The one commandment which is omitted is the law of the Sabbath. The keeping of a day is not inherently right or wrong. There is no instruction to Christians to keep the Sabbath. Rather the Scripture distinctly states that the Christian cannot be condemned for failing to keep it! (Col_2:16).
6. The penalty for breaking the Sabbath in the OT was death (Exo_35:2). But those who insist on believers keeping the Sabbath today do not carry out the penalty on offenders. They thus dishonor the law and destroy its authority by failing to insist that its demands be met. They are saying, in effect, This is God’s law and you must keep it, but nothing will happen if you break it.7. Christ, and not the law, is the believer’s rule of life. We should walk as He walked. This is an even higher standard than was set by the law (Mat_5:17-48). We are empowered to live holy lives by the Holy Spirit. We want to live holy lives because of our love for Christ. The righteousness demanded by the law is fulfilled by those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom_8:4). Thus, the teaching that believers must keep the Sabbath is directly contrary to Scripture (Col_2:16), and is simply a different gospel upon which God’s word pronounces a curse (Gal_1:7, Gal_1:9). May each one be given wisdom from God to discern the evil doctrine of legalism in whatever form it may appear! May we never seek justification or sanctification through ceremonies or human effort, but depend completely and only on the Lord Jesus Christ for every need. May we always remember that legalism is an insult to God because it substitutes the shadow for the Realityceremonialism for Christ.