This week on the Fox network show Red Eye, comedian Greg Gutfield mocked reports from Canadian military generals, that the Canadian army has been so overstretched, that after the Afghanistan deployment, they would require an operational pause to repair and refit the military. What made the comedy so offensive to many Canadians was that it came at the exact time a so called ramp ceremony was being conducted to repatriate the bodies of soldiers just killed. For anyone who has seen it, the process involves several soldiers carrying the casket of the fallen comrade aboard the transportation aircraft back to Canada. Instead of using a truck to carry the dead soldier, each of the members in the honor guard personally bears the weight of their dead comrade. This ceremony is significant. It is the coming together of a military unity in support of a fallen comrade.
In Galatians 6:1-5, God instructs us in how to bear with a fallen comrade who is overtaken in sin. To avoid the destruction of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:15-21) Paul has shown us how the Holy Spirit produces a fruit of righteousness (Gal. 5:22-23). This then is the outworking among believers of that fruit.
One of the most destructive elements in a congregation is when people a) kick someone when they are down, b) heave further burdens on them, c) ignore their own sin and d) fail to take responsibility for their own actions. If we truly wish to be a congregation that is fruitful in God’s eyes, enjoying His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, then seeing the role that each of us has in bearing with one another will produce a harvest of fruit. Therefore in Galatians 6 we see our calling to
1) Restore the Broken: Galatians 6:1
Galatians 6:1 [6:1]Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (ESV)
Paul presents a hypothetical case of a believer who is suddenly tripped up and falls into sin. The word caught/overtaken carries the idea of being surprised, so it is not a case of deliberate disobedience.
• The thought is that of someone running from sin but sin, being faster, overtakes and catches him (Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:609)
• It is in a passive tense, as if someone did not take enough care, and through their lack, sin took hold of them. (William Hendriksen: Galatians. Baker New Testament Commentary. Baker Publishing House. 2002. Footnote. P. 231)
Why does Paul use this illustration? Because nothing reveals the wickedness of legalism better than the way the legalists treat those who have sinned. Call to mind the Pharisees who dragged a woman taken in adultery before Jesus (John 8).
Or that Jewish mob that almost killed Paul because they thought he had defiled the temple by bringing in Gentiles (Acts 21:27ff). (Legalists do not need facts and proof; they need only suspicions and rumors. Their self-righteous imaginations will do the rest.) So, in this paragraph, Paul is really contrasting the way the legalist would deal with the erring brother, and the way the spiritual man would deal with him (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1).
The first responsibility of one who is spiritual/believer who seeks to restore anyone caught in any transgression is to help pick them up. When a person stumbles into sin, and needs to recover from it, they often need assistance in doing it. An integral part of church discipline, therefore, is helping a fallen brother get back on their feet spiritually and morally.
Even if anyone is caught in any transgression/trespass, they deserve help and encouragement as well as rebuke. Caught may imply that the person was actually seen committing the transgression/trespass, indicating there was no doubt about their guilt. But the Greek verb (prolambanô) also allows for the idea of someone being caught by the transgression/trespass itself, as it were. That is the sense of the King James rendering, “overtaken in a fault,” and seems appropriate in this context.
That interpretation is also supported by Paul’s use of paraptôma (transgression/trespass), which has the basic idea of stumbling or falling. Someone does not commit the sin with premeditation but rather fails to be on their guard or perhaps flirts with a temptation they think they can withstand. Or perhaps they simply try to live their life in their own power and fail, producing works of the flesh (Gal. 5:16-21) rather than the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).
Responsibility for the discipline of those who stumble, as well as for those who commit more serious sins, rests on the shoulders of church members who are spiritual.
• This refers back to ver. 25=Those who have the Holy Spirit, show your possession of him, your living by the Spirit, by such action (Lange, John Peter ; Schaff, Philip ; Schmoller, Otto ; Starbuck, C. C. ; Riddle, M. B.: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures : Galatians. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2008, S. 148).
• Spiritual believers are those walking in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, who, by virtue of their spiritual strength, are responsible for those who are fleshly.
Paul probably has in mind here our Lord’s instructions on reconciliation (Matt. 18:15–35). Jesus goes on to point out that the church must practice prayer (Matt. 18:19–20) and forgiveness (Matt. 18:21–35), or discipline will not be effective (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1).
The spiritually and morally strong have a responsibility for the spiritually and morally weak. Paul says:
Romans 15:1 [15:1]We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (ESV)
1 Thessalonians 5:14 [14]And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (ESV)
Please turn to Matthew 7
It is not that spiritual believers are to be suspicious and inquisitive. Those are hardly qualities of spirituality. But they will be sensitive to sin whenever and wherever it may appear within the Body and should be prepared to deal with it in the way God’s Word prescribes.
(Matt. 7:1) is often used by Christians to oppose discipline in the church and is sometimes quoted by outsiders in opposing the church’s taking strong stands against certain evils.
Matthew 7:1-5 [7:1]"Judge not, that you be not judged. [2]For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. [3]Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? [4]Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? [5]You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (ESV)
• As the context makes clear, however (see vv. 3–5), Jesus was talking about a self-righteous, condemning person who acts as judge, passing sentence on others, since he sees only the best in himself and the worst in everyone else.
• If such a person confesses and is cleansed of their own sin (spiritual), the Lord went on to say, that person is qualified to confront another believer with the purpose not to condemn but “to take the speck out of [his] brother’s eye” (v. 5).
• The spiritual person has the right and even obligation to help another believer overcome a (transgression/trespass)
When believers are commanded to restore him in a spirit of gentleness, what exactly does this entail?
Katartizô (to restore) literally means to mend or repair and was sometimes used metaphorically of restoring harmony among quarreling factions in a dispute. It was also used of setting a broken bone or putting a dislocated limb back in place (cf. Heb. 12:12-13).
• The present imperative signifies to keep on having the habit of restoring the offender to their former condition. (KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 2400)
• In this we see a contrast in aim. The spiritual person seeks to restore the brother in love, while the legalist would exploit the brother.
Spiritual believers restore a fallen believer first of all by helping them recognize their (transgression/trespass) as a (transgression/trespass). Until a person admits their sin, they cannot be helped out of it.
Once they have done that, they must be encouraged to confess their sin before God and turn away from it in repentance, sincerely seeking God’s forgiveness.
The key to the process is how it is to be done. Restoration of fallen brothers and sisters is always to be done in a spirit of gentleness, which is characteristic of those who walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). A Christian who is critical and judgmental as he attempts to help a fallen brother does not show the grace of Christ or help his brother, but instead stumbles himself.
The second half of Galatians 6:1 gives a caution in the process of restoration that:
Galatians 6:1b [6:1](Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness). Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (ESV)
Even spiritual believers can stumble. They are made of the same stuff as those who have fallen. Because the exhortation to keep watch on yourself is so vital, Paul uses a strong word (skopeô, to observe or consider) in the present tense, which emphasized a continual, diligent attentiveness to their own purity. They, too, could be tempted and even fall into the same sin for which they disciplined a brother.
Instead of trying to restore the erring brother, the legalist will condemn him and then use the brother to make himself look good. This is what the Pharisee did in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14). “[Love] shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The legalist rejoices when a brother falls, and often gives the matter wide publicity, because then he can boast about his own goodness and how much better his group is than the group to which the fallen brother belongs (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1).
Here we see a contrast in attitude. The Spirit-led believer approaches the matter in a spirit of meekness and love, while the legalist has an attitude of pride and condemnation. The legalist does not need to keep watch on/consider himself because the legalist pretends that they could never commit such a sin. But the believer living by grace realizes that no one is immune from falling.
1 Corinthians 10:12 [12]Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (ESV)
• A Spiritual person has an attitude of humility because they realize their own weaknesses (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1)..
Quote: C. S. Lewis said that “the devil laughs when he sees us overcome by pride: “He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride… For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense” (Lewis 1943:45 as quoted in Hansen, G. Walter: Galatians. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 1994 (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series), S. Ga 5:22).
Illustration: Several years ago, an angry man rushed through a museum in Amsterdam and repeatedly slashed one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings.
A short time later, another man slipped into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and began to smash a Michelangelo masterpiece. These two cherished works of art were badly damaged. What do you think the officials did? Did they throw them away? No way. Using the most qualified people they could find, working with care and precision, they made every effort to restore the treasures.
If such effort is made to restore inanimate objects, what work should we do to restore to spiritual health, one is a fellow believer?
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We have seen our calling to 1) Restore the Broken: Galatians 6:1 and now:
2) Relieve the Burdened: Galatians 6:2
Galatians 6:2-5 [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]But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. [5]For each will have to bear his own load. (ESV)
The second responsibility of a spiritual believer who seeks to restore a fallen brother is to help relieve their burden. It is not enough simply to help them turn from their sin and then leave them alone. It is immediately after a spiritual victory that Satan often makes his severest attacks on God’s children.
• This is the application of verse 1: Those who seek to 1) Restore the Broken will seek to 2) Relieve the Burdened
Christians are continually (present tense) to bear one another’s burdens. Bear has the thought of carrying with endurance, and burdens is from baros, which refers to heavy loads that are difficult to lift and carry. Used metaphorically, as here, it represents any difficulty or problem a person has trouble coping with.
• The term burdens may refer to all kinds of physical, emotional, mental, moral or spiritual burdens
• In this context the reference suggests burdens that tempt a sinning believer to fall back into the trespass from which he has just been delivered. A persistent, oppressing temptation is one of the heaviest burdens a Christian can have.
To be freed from a sin is not always to be freed from its temptation. The spiritual believer who truly loves their brother and sincerely wants to restore them to a walk by the Spirit will continue to spend time with them and make themselves available for counsel and encouragement. Prayer is the most powerful weapon believers have in conquering sin and opposing Satan, and nothing helps a brother carry his burdens as much as prayer for them and with them.
“One another” is one of the key phrases in the Christian’s vocabulary. “Love one another” is found at least a dozen times in the New Testament, along with “pray one for another” (James 5:16), “edify one another” (1 Thes. 5:11), prefer one another (Rom. 12:10), “use hospitality one to another” (1 Peter 4:9), and many other like admonitions (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 5:22).
The brother who has been delivered from a (transgression/trespass) has an obligation to let his spiritual friends help him carry his burdens, It is not spirituality but pride that makes a person want to “go it alone.”
James tells believers to:
James 5:16 [16]Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (ESV)
God Himself is the believer’s ultimate source of strength, and on Him we are called to cast our burdens (Ps. 5:22) and our cares (1 Pet. 5:7). But He often uses fellow believers as His agents to help carry the burdens of His children.
The legalist is not interested in bearing burdens. Instead, he adds to the burdens of others (Acts 15:10). This was one of the sins of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day: “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matt. 23:4). The legalist is always harder on other people than he is on himself, but the Spirit-led Christian demands more of himself than he does of others that he might be able to help others (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1).
When believers bear one another’s burdens, they fulfill the law of Christ. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you” (John 13:34). The law of Christ is the law of love, which fulfills all the rest of God’s law (Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:8, 10).
Paul has already discussed the “law of love” (Gal. 5:13–15), and now he is applying it. How much we appreciate it when the doctor uses tenderness as he sets a broken bone. And how much more should we use “tender loving care” when we seek to restore a broken life (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 6:1).
What is it to bear with one another? Consider the physical illustration of mountain climbing:
Illustration: Mountain Climbers Help Each Other
In May, 1953, two men became the first in history to climb to the top of Mt. Everest; Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper and explorer, and his Sherpa guide from Nepal, Tenzing Norgay. They reached the summit together and attained instant international fame.
On the way down from the 29,000-foot peak, Hillary slipped and started to fall. He would almost certainly have fallen to his death, but Tenzing Norgay immediately dug in his ice-axe and braced the rope linking them together, saving Hillary’s life.
At the bottom the international press made a huge fuss over the Sherpa guide’s heroic action. Through it all Tenzing Norgay remained very calm, very professional, very uncarried away by it all. To all the shouted questions he had one simple answer: “Mountain climbers always help each other.” (Galaxie Software: 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press, 2002; 2002)
We have seen our calling to 1) Restore the Broken: Galatians 6:1 2) Relieve the Burdened: Galatians 6:2 and now:
3) Repent of Bragging: Galatians 6:3-4
Galatians 6:3 [3]For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
If we are gong to 1) Restore one who has fallen into sin, and 2) Relieve their burden we must not be consumed with our own sin which would render us unable to help. God knows that you and I will not restore the broken or relieve the burdened if we’re too full of ourselves. Verses 3-4 challenge us to repent of bragging
One of the chief reasons many Christians do not bother to help fellow Christians is that they feel superior to sinners and wrongly consider themselves to be spiritually something when the truth is they are really nothing.
• Like the Pharisees, their concern is not for the true righteousness that God gives and that comes only through humility (see Matt. 5:3–8) but for their own self-righteousness, which has no part in God’s kingdom or its work (v. 20).
• Their desire is not to help a stumbling brother but to judge and condemn him. At best, they leave him to “stew in his own juice,” thinking, if not saying, “He got himself into this mess; let him get himself out.”
• In the context of Galatians, the Judaizers’ legalistic teaching, with its emphasis upon the works of man was fertile soil for self-righteousness. (Edgar H. Andrews: Free in Christ: The Message of Galatians. Evangelical Press. 1996. p. 310)
Please turn to Proverbs 6
The Christian who thinks he is something when he is nothing needs help in facing his own sin before he can be qualified to help anyone else out of a sin. He needs first to “take the log out of [his] own eye” (Matt. 7:5). If he refuses to see his own spiritual need, he deceives himself and is useless in serving God or in helping fellow believers. The Greek verb behind deceives means “to lead one’s mind astray” and relates to subjective fantasies that are self-deceptive.
Proverbs 6:16-17 [16]There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: [17]haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Therefore every Christian should:
Galatians 6:4 [4]But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
A believer’s first responsibility is to test/examine (from dokimazô, to approve after testing) themselves, to be sure their own attitudes and life are right in the eyes of the Lord before they attempt to give spiritual help to others. Then, and only then, will he have reason for boasting in a proper way.
If anything remains for boasting after honest self-examination, it will be that which induces boasting in the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12–18) meaning on who God is and what God is doing.
If there is reason for a believe to boast, or rejoicing, in himself, that is, in regard to what God has done in and through him, it is on the basis of his faithfulness and obedience, not on the basis of what he may have accomplished in regard to, or compared to, his neighbor. If someone is truly more faithful and useful than some of their fellow believers, that is God’s doing, not their own.
Romans 12:3 [3]For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (ESV)
Illustration: Muhammad Ali
There is a story told, whether factual or not I do not know, of the one-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Muhammad Ali, flying to one of his engagements. Ali’s name has never been synonymous with humility, and thus whether this story is fact or fiction, the notoriously yet affectionately branded “Louisville Lip” at least made possible such an anecdote. During the flight the aircraft ran into foul weather, and mild to moderate turbulence began to toss it about. All nervous fliers well know that when a pilot signals “moderate turbulence,” he is implying, “if you have any religious beliefs, it is time to start expressing them.” The passengers were accordingly instructed to fasten their seatbelts immediately. Everyone complied but Ali. Noticing this, the flight attendant approached him and requested that he observe the captain’s order, only to hear Ali audaciously respond, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” The flight attendant did not miss a beat and replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either.”(Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publ., Dallas: 1994), p. 7)
We have seen our calling to 1) Restore the Broken: Galatians 6:1 2) Relieve the Burdened: Galatians 6:2 3) Repent of Bragging: Galatians 6:3-4 and finally:
4) Respect your Boundary: Galatians 6:5
Galatians 6:5 [5]For each will have to bear his own load. (ESV)
Please turn to 1 Corinthians 3
This seems to contradict what Paul has just said about bearing one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). But he uses a different term here. Phortion (load) refers to anything that is carried, and has no connotation of difficulty. It was often used of the general obligations of life that a person is responsible to bear on his own.
In other words, while verse 2 refers to an overwhelming burden that we cannot carry by ourselves, the word “load” in verse 5 describes a soldier’s backpack. It’s something small and light enough for everyone to carry. It’s the difference between a backpack and a boulder. We’re to bear that which is too heavy for another human to handle alone but we cannot carry someone else’s responsibility.
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1 Corinthians 3:12-15 [12]Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- [13]each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14]If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15]If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (ESV)
2 Corinthians 5:10 [10]For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (ESV) (cf. Jer. 17:10; 32:19; Ezek. 18:20; Mt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 2:23; 20:13)
His load can also refer to fulfilling his personal calling and ministry for the Lord. Jesus assures His followers that the “load” [phortion] of service He gives them “is light” (Matt. 11:30). In either case, every believer is accountable to bear his own load, even the light one Christ gives him, and to answer for his faithfulness in so doing when he faces Him.
Illustration: This section of Galatians has been frequently paraphrased in historic documents. On November 4, 1790, an English Baptist church meeting in the Horse Fair, Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, set forth as a part of its congregational covenant the following statement, agreeing:
To walk in love toward those with whom we stand connected in the bonds of Christian fellowship. As the effect of this, we will pray much for one another. As we have opportunity, we will associate together for religious purposes. Those of us who are in more comfortable situations in life than some of our brethren, with regard to the good things of Providence, will administer as we have ability and see occasion, to their necessities. We will bear one another’s burdens, sympathize with the afflicted in body and mind, so far as we know their case, under their trials; and as we see occasion, advise, caution, and encourage one another. We will watch over one another for good. We will studiously avoid giving or taking offenses. Thus we will make it our study to fulfill the law of Christ.… These things, and whatever else may appear enjoined by the Word of God, we promise in the strength of divine grace to observe and practice. But knowing our insufficiency for anything that is spiritually good, in and of ourselves, we look up to him who giveth power to the faint, rejoicing that in the Lord we have not only righteousness but strength. Hold thou us up, O Lord, and we shall be safe! Amen!
(“The Church Covenant of the Particular Baptist Church, meeting in the Horse Fair, Stony Stratford, Bucks,” The Baptist Quarterly 3 (1926): 41–44; reprinted in C. W. DeWeese, Baptist Church Covenants (Nashville: Broadman, 1990), 129–30).
(Format Note: Outline from Brian Bill @ www.sermoncentral.com. Some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (1996, c1987). Galatians. Includes indexes. (173). Chicago: Moody Press.)
