Galatians 6 - The Difference Between Boulders and Backpacks!

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Doing Good to All

6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

As Paul finishes his letter to the Galatians, he has some more general teaching about how they should do life together. He acknowledges that from time to time we all get caught up and ensnared in sin, especially when we are not living under the power of the Holy Spirit. When this happens the one who is walking in the Spirit should restore a wayward person. The key word is "gently". We have all had people say things to us about our sin which were judgmental and unkind. They only left us feeling more guilt and shame. 

Although sometimes we need to be confronted, most of time we need a word of grace. We usually know our sin, but we usually need someone to come alongside of us to change. Paul calls this "carrying one another's burdens". This is a verse I use constantly as a pastor. The word "burden" means something that is beyond our ability to carry. It is not like an average sized stone but a huge boulder. We can't carry it on our own. We have all had times in our lives where we needed a fellow brother or sister in Christ to do this for us. 

But in the same way we each need to carry our own load. Paul uses a different word here which has been likened to something we could carry in a backpack. It is light enough for us to carry, and we need to take the responsibility to do it on our own. If we are always asking people to carry our backpacks we never grow and create a co-dependent relationship. 

The burden and the backpack are two entirely different situations, and we need to wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to differentiate between the two in every situation we face with a fellow brother or sister in Christ!

Is there someone in your life who you can help them carry their burden!

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

At the end of the day, we cannot fool God. He knows our hearts, and he knows our actions. The best thing to do when we are caught in sin is to confess it someone you trust and respect their walk with Christ. When we think we can get away with things, in a sense we are mocking God. But God cannot be mocked, and he can't "wink at sin". Just like nature cannot be altered short of a miracle, most of the time when we sin, we reap the consequences of that sin. 

What Paul is teaching here is a huge opportunity for us in the body of Christ. When we listen and obey his teaching our churches will be healthy emotionally and spiritually. 

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another! Proverbs 27:17

Though this can be "emotionally taxing" work, let us not give up on others just as they won't give up on us. 

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God. 17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Paul reminds them that he is writing with his own hand and by the authority God has given him as an apostle. The people in the church who are trying to compel the Gentile believers to be circumcised are doing it for show. They are trying to impress by being the "real Jews" who keep the law. They have obviously missed the point of the gospel, and Paul's calling to preach to the Gentiles. 

The only boast Paul has is what Jesus did for him on the cross. Circumcision or uncircumcision in a sense had nothing to do with what it means to be a Christian. When we accept Christ, we are a new Creation. Circumcision was an outward marking, where a Christian is one who has been cut to the heart. They have received a new heart to use to serve Christ! 

How do we in the church look more to the outward man than the inward man? When we start boasting about how spiritual we are or all of the outward marks of a Christian, we are forgetting that we are crucified with Christ, and the life we now, we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave his life for us!