Galatians 6:1-10, Practicing Life in the Spirit

Paul has defended his gospel and challenged his readers to not defect from it, but to embrace it and the freedom it affords, freedom from the burden of keeping the law perfectly. He has warned against taking liberty the wrong way, but has rather urged his readers to use their freedom from slavery to the Law to be “enslaved” to one another in love by the Spirit. Now he makes some specific applications to this church in a group of three towns of Galatia.

6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in some sin, you who are spiritual restore this one by the Spirit of gentleness, being careful that you yourself are not tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each person examine his own actions, and then he will have something to boast about himself only, and not in comparison to another. 5 For each one must bear his own load.

This first set of exhortations relate to the common problem of all Christians, a believer getting caught up in sin. The word picture is of someone being surprised by sin, or as Meyer says, “the sin has reached him more rapidly than he could flee from it.” This is not to absolve the believer of the responsibility of abstaining from sin, but speaks to the reality of how we succumb to it. In Matthew 18:15-20 Jesus addresses the issue of how we approach someone who has sinned against us, but here Paul is dealing with someone we have detected sin in and how we approach that. The way is for someone who is spiritual to restore this one by the gentleness which is a fruit of the Spirit. Paul doesn’t explain the requirements of being “spiritual,” but leaves it to the conscience of the individual. What is defined here is that the spiritual person acts in love, not condemnation, to restore, not castigate, the sinning believer. And the spiritual person is susceptible to sin, also, and so much watch him or herself in the likelihood of being tempted.

The spiritual person is willing to bear fellow believers’ burdens, in this case, the burden of being caught up in sin, because they don’t think more highly of themselves than they ought (Romans 12:3). They are fulfilling the law of Christ. We do not keep the Law, particularly the Law of Moses, in order to be saved, and, in fact, we are no longer under this Law (Romans 6:15; 1 Corinthians 9:21) but we are under Christ’s law, which the NIV Life Application Bible explains as:

nothing other than (1) submission to the teachings of Jesus that fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17-20) and (2) life in the Spirit, which is essentially love and which itself fulfills the law of Moses (Gal. 5:6, 14, 18, 22). The Christian’s law is following Jesus, that is, living in submission to the Spirit.

The spiritual person also does not base his spirituality on comparison to others, but on examination of his own actions and satisfaction with having obeyed Christ in the power of the spirit. Like the pharisee in Luke 18:11 who compared himself favorably to the tax-collector, or like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 who unfavorably compared herself to her husband’s other wife, spirituality (following the Spirit) cannot be determined by comparison to others. We must, as Paul says, bear our own load. We must stand only before God, not humans. The spiritual person helps bear the burdens of others that are too heavy to bear alone, and bears his own load (not too heavy) of responsibility before God.

6 The one who is instructed in the Word should share in all good things with his instructor. 7 Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this also he will reap. 8 Because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction, and the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 We should not be discouraged from doing good, for in due time, if we don’t grow weary, we will reap a harvest. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:1-10)

As one who follows the Spirit in love, not giving occasion to the flesh for selfishness, the spiritual person shares in all good things with the ones who instruct him or her. It is likely that the false teachers were drawing all the financial support and those who taught in the tradition of Paul were being neglected. This, in reality, is sowing to the flesh, supporting those who tickle our ears (1 Timothy 4:3). But it is the universal truth that God will repay evil and reward good. Sowing seed to the flesh, investing in that which meets my selfish desires, will reap a harvest of destruction from God. Sowing to the Spirit, investing in what the Holy Spirit desires, will reap eternal life. This is not saying that you earn eternal life by keeping the law of Christ. Rather,

while works do not save us, no one is saved without works. Why? Very simply, because works are the sure indicators of a person’s heart, orientation, and status before God. Every judgment in the Bible is a judgment according to works (cf. Matt. 7:13-27; 16:27; 22:1-14; 25:1-46; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15). A person’s final standing before God will be determined by that person’s relationship to Jesus Christ as revealed in his or her works. (NIV Life Application Commentary)

Paul encourages his readers, and perhaps himself (note the change to first person “we” in verse 9,10), that the weariness that comes with serving others and helping meet their needs, will reap reward “in due time,” that is, at the coming of Christ. We must hold on holding out a helping hand, especially, but not exclusively, to the household of faith, to our fellow believers. We are obligated to one another as family. But we are also obligated to those who are not family as being in the broader family of humanity. Opportunities abound.