Galatians 6

Galatians 6:1

Continuing his exposition on the practical application of grace, Paul says, “If you’re spiritual, when someone fails, don’t rejoicerestore.” Noah lay in his tent, naked. Ham couldn’t wait to share this news with his brothers. Shem and Japheth, on the other hand, walked backward into their father’s tent, a blanket stretched between them, to cover his nakedness (Gen_9:21-23). Scripture declares that love covers a multitude of sins (1Pe_4:8). Love doesn’t talk about sin, doesn’t draw attention to sin, and doesn’t call a prayer meeting to discuss sin. Love walks in backward and covers sin. How much of our day is spent analyzing the faults and shortcomings of others? The answer is a good barometer of where we stand spiritually. The carnal man wants to reveal. The spiritual man wants to restore. Why? Because, while the carnal man is puffed up with a false sense of pride and security, the spiritual man knows how close he himself is to succumbing to temptation. Caring for Casualties A Topical Study of Gal_6:1 Indicative of the perilous times in which we live, some stores now carry bullet-proof vestsin the School Supplies section. Not only are these perilous days for our worldbut for believers as well, for Jesus said, “And because in those days iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (see Mat_24:12). Therefore, when you see people who were once on fire, once being used in ministry, once plugged in to fellowship, but no longer aredon’t be surprised. Scripture declares that such would happen in the last days (2 Timothy 3). Rather than being surprised by the large number of casualties, we should prepare for them. How? By realizing that a war is going on, that casualties are inevitable, and that the church is to be a place of refuge. Folks, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are to be a refuge for hurting peopleand not only a refuge, but a school as well. “Study to shew yourselves approved unto God,” wrote Paul (see 2Ti_2:15), “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Not only are we a refuge, and a schoolwe’re also a gym, for we are told to work out our salvation, to exercise it with fear and trembling (Php_2:12). A refuge, a school, a gymwe’re also a restaurant, serving the milk and meat of the Word (Heb_5:12-14), and a temple, wherein we “offer the sacrifice of praise, giving thanks to His name” (see Heb_13:15). One of the most important roles of the church is that of travel agencymaking sure that people understand the price that has been paid for their ticket to heaven. Finally, the church of Jesus Christ is a hospitalwhich is why I believe it is wrong for people to say, “I can’t believe I saw him, or her, or them at church on Sunday. They’re really sick.” If someone’s sicka hospital is exactly where he should be! Imagine a hospital administrator saying, “Check out our hospital. There are no bad odors in our halls, no stains on our linen, not a bedpan on the premises.” “Wow! This place is immaculate,” you’d say. “How do you keep it this way?” “It’s simple,” the administrator would answer. “We don’t admit anyone who’s sick. We want only a sterile environment.” That is a ridiculous scenario, yet exactly the way some would like to see the church. However, if we are to be what the Lord wants us to be, we should rejoice when He sends sick people in our direction. Imagine, on the other hand, a hospital wherein bedpans are overflowing, dirty needles are stacked up, and all of the bandages and blankets are drenched in blood. “What’s going on?” you would say. If the administrator said, “We’re not into cleanliness. We’re just into helping people,” you would most likely say, “If you allow dirty needles to be used, and bedpans to overflow; if you never mop the floor or wash the linens, you will actually be doing more harm than good because infection will spread and problems will compound.” So, too, on one hand we need to be cognizant of our calling to welcome all into our midst. On the other hand, we are to make sure we are not being infected by allowing disease to spread throughout our congregation. I camp on this medical analogy for a reason. Paul uses the same kind of imagery in our text as he writes, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal_6:1). The Greek word translated “restore” is a medical term meaning to mend or set a broken bone, so we are to be those who keep our eyes and our hearts open to people who are struggling, to the one who, because of a “broken bone,” is unable to walk spiritually. Who is this one? In the text before us, he is the blundering believer… The Blundering Believer Paraptoma, the Greek word translated “fault” in our text, means “to blunder.” Prolambano, the Greek word translated “overtaken,” is a word used to describe how an animal corners his prey. Thus, the picture is that of a brother who has been crippled by his own mistake and is being chased down by the Enemy. What are we to do with such a one? According to Gal_6:1, if we’re spiritual, if we’re walking with the Lord, if we want to be used by the Lord, we are to reach out to him and restore him, or literally to “set his broken bone” in a spirit of meekness, realizing we could just as easily have been in his situation. There are those in our churches who have blundered. Perhaps due to their own stupidity or ignorance, they’ve broken a bone, and now the Enemy has overtaken them. I’m not speaking of one who has plunged wildly into sinbut of one who has been ensnared. Our responsibility to such a person is to come alongside him and walk with him through his difficulty. Many years ago, there was a man at Applegate Christian Fellowship who was overtaken in a blunder. Over his head in debt, he was hounded by his creditors. One of his creditors, a member of our church family, said, “I see that you’re overtaken, crippled, paralyzed by your financial situation. Therefore, I’m going to meet with you twice a week, and we’re going to go through the Scriptures and see everything God’s Word has to say about properly managing moneyfrom the procedures given in the law, to the practices Solomon speaks of in Proverbs, to the principles Jesus taught in the gospels. And as we do that, I’m going to help you draw up a budget.” Less than a year later, the fellow was virtually out of debt. That is the kind of thing we need to be about. Our job is not to say, “How could you? Why did you? Why can’t you?” Our job is to say, “It’s my responsibility and my privilege to walk with you, to restore you, to set the bone once again.” That’s what Jesus did. As the disciples sat around the table the night before He would be crucified, arguing about which of them was the greatest, Jesus got up quietly, girded Himself with a towel, and began to wash their feet (John 13). In so doing, Jesus was saying that it’s not enough to point out the dirt on someone else’s feet. The key is to kneel down and wash them. It’s wrong for me to say, “What she did is unbelievable,” or “What he said is out of line,” or “What they did is out to lunch,” unless I’m willing to do what Jesus didunless I’m ready to get down on my knees with the water of the Word and wash feet. While we are to walk with the blundering believerto wash his feet, and bear his burden until there is healing and restorationthere is another person in our midst who needs to be dealt with in an entirely different manner… The Bragging Backslider The man described in 1Co_5:1-6 was not a blundering believer. He was a bragging backslider who boasted about living in immorality. To the church at Corinth, Paul said, “Although you think you’re showing grace to this man by tolerating his behavior and allowing him to continue to fellowship with you, like leaven, his sin will spread through your congregation and bring about terrible repercussions. Therefore, not only for the protection of the body corporately, but for the sinner’s restoration personally, you’re to turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,” Paul wrote emphatically. “Excommunicate him. Send him away in order that, after Satan destroys his flesh, his spirit might be saved. Don’t allow him to experience the joy and peace of the congregation, the richness of studying the Scriptures, the beauty and holiness of praise. Rather, confine him to the world until, having had his fill of his own sin, he’ll see the stupidity of worldly living, and want to come back.” Sadly, there are times when we have to turn a bragging, boasting backslider over to Satan, saying, “We love you. We’ve talked with you. We’ve offered ourselves to you. However, because you continue to arrogantly persist in sin that will destroy you and pollute others, you are no longer welcome here.” Jesus taught the same thing in the story of the prodigal son. When the son wanted to go into the world and recklessly spend his father’s money, his father let him go. Yet even when famine hit the city, the father didn’t wire his son money, or send care packages. Rather, he simply waited for his son to become sick of the world and long for home. So, too, there are times when the best thing we can do for someone is to let him go, praying that, like the prodigal, he’ll eventually “come to himself” (see Luk_15:17), and return home with a different heart. Evidently, that’s exactly what happened in the case of the Corinthian man, for in 2Co_2:6-8, Paul told the church to receive him again. Turning someone over to Satan is not to be done lightly. Please note three prerequisites outlined in 1Co_5:4 for this procedure… It must be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it must be done according to the heart and nature of Jesus Christ. We must ask ourselves, “Is this what Jesus would do in this situation?” It must be done “when ye are gathered together” as a churchnot by a single individual. In Matthew 18, Jesus said if we have a problem with someone we’re to go to him personally and see if we can work it out. If the situation can’t be resolved in that way, we’re to take a brother with us and try again. And if that doesn’t work, it is up to the church to deal with it corporately. It must be done “in my [Paul’s] spirit.” In other words, we need to ask ourselves, “Is turning this individual over to Satan in accordance with what Paul revealed in Scripture? For only a clear and direct violation of Scripture warrants such a drastic procedure. Finally, there’s a third person who comes into our fellowships in need of help and healing. The Beguiled Brother Described in Jas_5:19-20, the beguiled brother is one who has “erred” or literally “wandered from the truth.” Beguiled by some cult or heresy, he is no longer on solid ground biblically. “He who restores such a one,” says James, “saves him from death"either the death of his spiritual life, or physical death that could take him home prematurely. Jesus talked to a beguiled brother in John 3. Nicodemus, being a “master” or spiritual leader of Israel, should have understood that when Jesus spoke to him of new birth, He was alluding to the passage in Ezekiel 37, wherein dry bones were brought to life again through the power of the wind, the ruach, the Spirit. Yet because he had erred in his understanding of spiritual things, Nicodemus missed the allusion, prompting Jesus to say, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (Joh_3:10). But Jesus didn’t give up on Nicodemus. He talked with him further. And Nicodemus eventually became one of Jesus’ most faithful followers (Joh_19:39). What are we to do with the beguiled brother? Just as Jesus did with Nicodemus, we’re to talk with him. We’re to share with him the Scriptures and the principles of the Word. Because the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, it will not return void, but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent (Heb_4:12; Isa_55:11). It might take a year or two, five or tenbut the Word will work in his heart. Saints, casualties of the war that is escalating in these last days will come into our midst and travel with us. We need wisdom to determine whether they are backsliding believers with whom we should walk, bragging backsliders from whom we should turn, or beguiled brothers to whom we should talk. May the Father help us to make the right diagnosis and to use the right prescription in each situation in order that people might be healed and helped, strengthened and set free, for the furtherance of the kingdom, and the glory of the Son.

Galatians 6:2

What is the law of Christ? To love God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mat_22:36-40).

Galatians 6:3

“I’m too important to bear someone else’s burdens,” some say. It has been wisely said that to determine how important you are, stick your finger into a bucket of water, pull it out, and see how long it takes to fill the hole. We all have a tendency to think we’re irreplaceablebut we’re not. Paul doesn’t say we deceive ourselves if we are nothing. He says we deceive ourselves because we are nothing.

Galatians 6:4

In other words, “Don’t try to impress others with your importance. Just do the things God has called you to do regardless of whether anyone notices or appreciates you.”

Galatians 6:5

“Wait a minute,” you say. “Doesn’t this contradict verse Gal_6:2?” No. The Word translated “burden” here in verse Gal_6:5 speaks of a soldier’s pack, while the word “burden” in verse Gal_6:2 refers to taking a hit in the chest. You see, in this battle we’re in, we’re each supposed to bear our own pack. But when someone has been walloped by the Enemy, we’re supposed to carry his load with him. Consequently, we should not be people who are always trying to get someone else to carry our pack. At the same time, there are moments, events, and days that wallop us. During those times we need brothers and sisters to stand with us. May God give us wisdom concerning when to buck up and bear our burden, and when to open up and share our burden.

Galatians 6:6

The Greek word translated “communicate” refers to a physical sharing. In other words, we need to give materially to those who teach us spiritually. How I thank the Lord for this congregation that says, “Because this is the place where our needs are met and where we’re being blessed, we’re going to share in order that the ministry can continue.” I believe a lot of people are missing out on so much in so many ways because they fail to “communicate unto him that teacheth.” The only time in all of Scripture God tells us to test Him is in regard to giving. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in mine house, and test me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (see Mal_3:10).

Galatians 6:7

If you’re sowing stingily, you’ll reap sparingly. If you’re sowing generously, you’ll reap abundantly.

Galatians 6:8

The law of the harvest is irrevocable and incontestable. If I say, “Lord, forgive me. I shouldn’t have gone there, said that, or done the other,” He does (see 1Jn_1:9)but the seed I planted in sin will still come to fruition. “What about grace?” you say. Grace still abounds. Ask Samson. After being where he shouldn’t have been and getting a haircut in the process, as he ground at the wheel, his hair began to grow. When he at last stood in the temple of Dagon and pulled down the supporting pillars, Scripture records that Samson conquered more Philistines in that one moment than he had in his entire lifetime (Jdg_16:30). Samson sowed to his flesh and lost everything as a result, for such is the law of the harvest. Yet his hair grew back and his strength was restored for a final pivotal moment of ministry, for such is the grace of God.

Galatians 6:9

“I’ve been sowing good seed, but I’m not seeing much return,” you might say. Hang in there, saint. You will reap in due season if you don’t give up.

Galatians 6:10

Do good to everyonebut especially to your brothers and sisters in God’s family.

Galatians 6:11

“I’m underlining this,” said Paul.

Galatians 6:12

The Greek word translated “constrain” is a term used in sales. Paul said, “Like salesmen, the legalizers put the hard sell on you to be circumcised.” “The legalizers sell circumcision because they don’t want to suffer persecution,” said Paul. The legalists who are trying to put you under rules and regulations are doing so to protect themselves because in so doing, they can look their fellow legalists in the eye and say, “We got those Galatian believers straightened out.”

Galatians 6:13

“You’ll be notches on their belts,” Paul said. “They’ll get credit for what they got you to do.”

Galatians 6:14

“I’m not interested in notches on my belt,” said Paul. “The only thing I glory in is Jesus Christ, and His work on the Cross.

Galatians 6:15

Paul speaks of a new creature in verse Gal_6:15 and of a new nation in verse Gal_6:16"the Israel of God"a spiritual Israel of which every believer is a citizen.

Galatians 6:17

“Those who boast of marking their bodies by circumcision and of convincing others to do the same have nothing on me,” said Paul. “The marks of circumcision are nothing compared to the marks I bear from stonings, beatings, imprisonment, and shipwreckall for the cause of Christ.”

Galatians 6:18

Following a stern word of final warning to the Judaizers who sought to compromise the work of the Cross, Paul ends his letter as he began itdrawing the attention of the Galatians to the glorious grace of God.