cphil_pof3
THE PROBLEM OF FREEDOM
by Ray Shelton
GALATIANS 5:1–6:10
In this section of his letter to the Galations, Paul begins the practical part of his letter.
In this part, Paul will deal first with Christian freedom.
OUTLINE
IV. Paul’s doctrine of Christian Freedom (5:1–6:10)
A. Christian Freedom threatened by Legalism (5:1-12)
1. Declaration of Christian Freedom (5:1)
2. Danger of Circumcision (5:2-12)
B. Freedom in love (5:13-15)
C. Christian Freedom in Practice (5:16-24)
1. Spirit versus the Flesh (5:16-21)
2. The Fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23)
3. Exhortation to walk by the Spirit (5:24-25)
D. Exhortations and Warnings (5:26–6:10)
1. The walk in the Spirit (5:26–6:5)
2. Sowing and Reaping (6:6-10)
GALATIANS 5:1–6:10
With this section, Paul begins the practical part of his letter to the Galations. In this part of his letter, Paul will deal first with Christian freedom.
GALATIANS 5:1-12
After his magnificent declaration of Christian freedom in verse one, Paul will deal with the dangers to that freedom in verses two through twelve.
GALATIANS 5:1
Paul begins the practical section of his letter to the Galations with a magnificent declaration of Christian freedom. The freedom of the Christian is based on the fact that Christ has set him (or her) free.
GALATIANS 5:1.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
In this verse, Paul exhorts the Galatians to maintain Christian freedom. This exhortation is a declaration of Christian freedom. Now this declaration of Christian freedom has been misinterpreted by some leaders of the American Revolution as a statement of social and political freedom. But as the context of this verse here in Paul’s letter to Galatians makes clear, it is a declaration of the Christian’s freedom from the law, and not of social and political freedom.
The declaration in this verse is linked to the teaching in the first part of the last chapter ( Gal. 4:7), that they are no longer slaves but are sons of God through faith in Christ, and the illustration of this teaching was by the allegory in the previous section (Gal. 4:21-31).
The basis of this exhortation is Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ has set us free from death, from sin, from the law and from the curse of the law. “For freedom Christ has set free.” It was with reference to that freedom that Christ set us free; that is, Christ in setting us free did not set us free to be enslaved again. Paul implies that Christ did not intend that those He set free were to return to the slavery of the law. This reminds us of Jesus’ statement in John 8:36: “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” This is the basis of the following exhortation. Now this exhortation has a positive and a negative part: stand fast in freedom and refuse to be enslaved again.
GALATIANS 5:2-12
GALATIANS 5:2-12.
2. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any strength, but faith working through love. 7. You were running well; who hindered you so that you are not to be persuaded by the truth? 8. This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10. I am persuaded in regard to you in the Lord, that you will think no other way; but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12. I would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
5:2. “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.”
Paul now turns to the dangers to Christian freedom. He dramatically calls their attention to this danger: “Behold, I, Paul, say to you.” Then he states the danger. Circumcision is the danger; not just the act of circumcision, but what it had come to mean as part of Jewish legalistic teaching. Circumcision was the first step to earning salvation by the works of the law. Thus Christ would be of no benefit to them.
5:3. “And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.”
Now Paul gives the other side of the danger of circumcision. They would be obligated to keep the whole law. They could not pick and choose what part they wanted to keep; they would be debtors to do the whole law. What this means is that they have lost all their freedom and now were enslaved to the law; the law would now have complete control of their lives. As James says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). The failure to do one thing brings the curse of law. One transgression of the law and they would loose their supposed salvation by the law. This is what receiving circumcision would mean.
5:4. “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
In this verse, Paul amplifies further his statement in verse two. All who would be justified (saved) by the law, are severed from Christ. The Greek word, katargeo, translated “severed” means “to make idle, inactive, inoperative.” With the preposition apo it means “to be separated, discharged or loosed from.” Salvation by the law means to be separated from Christ. It implies that there is no middle ground between salvation by the law and salvation by grace through faith; it is either one or the other; the two cannot be mixed. Paul states another result of one trying to be justified by law: they “have fallen from grace.” Salvation by Christ is salvation by the grace of God. To be separated from Christ is to fall from grace. The works of the law and grace of God are incompatible; salvation is either earned by the works of the law or is a gift of the grace of God. As Paul will say later in his letter to the Romans, “Now to the one who works, his reward is not reckoned according to grace [as a gift], but as his due [he has earned it]” (Rom. 4:4). “And if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:6). Receiving circumcision as a work then meant that one was attempting to be justified by the law and that meant the loss of Christ and of the grace of God.
5:5. “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”
Paul now turns to the advantages of the freedom in Christ. In this and the next verse he shows what it means to be in Christ. He explains that through the Spirit by faith we eagerly expect the hope of righteousness. In contrast to the works of the law, that is, the righteousness of the law, Paul speaks of the Spirit of God who works through faith in the believer to eagerly expect the hope of righteousness. The righteousness here hoped for is the righteousness of God (the salvation of God) which will be consummated and fully realized when Christ comes for those who by faith eagerly expect Him. This hope is not of something which might happen but of that which will happen. For it is grounded in the will of God and the promise of God.
5:6. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any strength, but faith working through love.”
Paul continues to show the advantages of the freedom in Christ. He explains that in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any strength nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. Paul is saying that circumcision and uncircumcision do not have any strength. The Greek verb, ischuo, which is here translated “to have strength,” means “to be strong” in body, hence “to be powerful, have power, prevail.” In contrast to the physical weakness of the physical ritual, faith has energy, working through love. The Greek verb, energeo, which is translated “working,” means “to work in,” hence “to be in action, to operate.” Our English word, “energy,” comes from this Greek word. Faith in Jesus Christ is not just intellectual belief but it is a trust in God and His love; it receives His love and in turn gives that love to others. As the apostle John says, “We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19).
5:7. “You were running well; who hindered you so that you are not to be persuaded by the truth?”
In the rest of the verses of this section (vv. 7-12), Paul focuses on the person or persons who are troubling the Galatians. These persons as well as their teachings were a danger to Christian freedom. In this verse, Paul uses the figure of a foot race. He has used this metaphor previously in this letter ( Gal. 2:2) and will use it in later letters (I Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 3:13-14; II Tim. 4:7). Paul observes that the Galatians were running well. He asks them who hindered or obstructed them. The Greek word, enkopto, which is translated “hinder” is a military term referring to setting up an obstacle or breaking up a road. Here it refers to a runner “cutting in” on another runner causing him to stumble. The result of this hindrance was that the Galatians were not persuaded of the truth. The leader of the Jewish legalists was impeding their progress in the Christian faith by persuading them not to be persuaded by the truth, that is, the truth of the gospel of the grace of God.
The leader of the Jewish legalists had persuaded the Galatians not to be persuaded by the truth of the gospel that Paul had preached. Paul tells them that that persuasion did not come from Him who called them. The God who called them to faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God was not now persuading them to turn to the works of the law to complete the work that He had begun by His Spirit.
In this verse, Paul introduces a proverb which he use again in his first letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 5:6). By this proverb, Paul warns the Galatians that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He may be referring to the false doctrine of Jewish legalists; observing the law in a few points would lead to observing the whole law. Or he may be referring to the influence of the Jewish legalists; once they are accepted into the Christian fellowship they could affect the whole fellowship. The latter is more probable, since he is speaking in these verses of the leader of the Jewish legalists. Paul is implying by this proverb that the leaven should be eradicated from their midst before it spreads widely.
5:10. “I am persuaded in regard to you in the Lord, that you will think no other way; but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.”
In this verse, Paul indicates his confidence in the Galatians because his confidence is really in the Lord, who is able to make his arguments persuasive to them. Paul expects them to think no other way than he has indicated in this letter: that they will eradicate the Jewish legalism from their midst. Paul is indirectly calling for the Galatians to act without commanding them to do so. And that the person or persons that they remove from their fellowship should accept their decision.
5:11. “But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.”
Paul now contrasts himself with the leader of the Jewish legalists. Apparently Paul was being accused of preaching circumcision and the law. Paul’s toleration of Jewish practices made it appear that Paul was preaching circumcision. He does not here try to answer that accusation with another theological argument but simply confutes it with a question: how is it that he is still enduring persecution of the Jewish legalists if he is still preaching circumcision? If he were preaching circumcision, then the stumbling block of the cross would be removed. On the contrary, Paul was not preaching circumcision but Christ crucified; the offense or stumbling block of the cross thus remained (See I Cor. 1:18,22-23).
5:12. “I would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”
Paul ends this section with a great outburst against those were troubling the Galatian believers. The Greek word, anastatoo, which is translated “trouble,” means “to stir up, excite, unsettle.” It implies riotous and seditious conduct (Acts 17:6; 21:38). It is a strong word and Paul reacts strongly to those are upsetting the Galatian believers. He says that he wishes they mutilate themselves. The Greek verb, apokopto, which is translated here “mutilate,” means “to cut off.” The Greek verb is in the middle voice, “to cut themselves off.” Some commentators see here a reference to circumcision and that Paul is expressing the wish that they complete the process of circumcision and castrate themselves.
GALATIANS 5:13-15
In this section Paul deals with the true expression of Christian freedom, love.
GALATIANS 5:13-15
13. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15. But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be destroyed by one another.
5:13. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Paul reminds his readers, whom he addresses again as “brethren,” that they were called to freedom. He reminds them of their call to freedom in order to exhort them concerning the use of that freedom. He says that the purpose of the freedom was negatively not to provide an opportunity for the flesh, but positively to serve one another through love. Christ has set us free to love.
5:14. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
Paul now explains that the law is fulfilled in one word, love. He quotes the command of the law to love your neighbor as yourself from the Old Testament Scriptures (Lev. 19:18). Legalism depersonalizes the law into obedience to rules and laws, treating the command to love as just another command that must be obeyed and not as the way one should act in personal relationships to other persons.
5:15. “But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be destroyed by one another.”
In this verse, Paul deals with one of the results of legalism: strife and the results of the strife: destroying one another. Legalism puts people in competition with each other; they put down each other in order to enhance their own position.
GALATIANS 5:16-21
In this section of his letter, Paul deals with the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. Paul has referred to these contrasting terms previously ( Gal. 3:3). Paul uses the Greek word, sarx, which is usually translated “flesh,” 18 times in this letter. He uses it six times in this section alone. Its basic meaning is the soft tissue of the body, human or animal (Rom. 2:28; I Cor. 15:39; Col. 2:13). By extension of meaning, it came to mean the body itself (II Cor. 12:7; Gal. 4:13-14; Eph. 2:15; 5:29; Col. 1:24), then man as whole (Rom. 3:20 and Gal. 2:16 quoting Psa. 143:2; I Cor. 1:29; Gal. 1:16 and Eph. 6:2 “flesh and blood”; Rom. 7:18; John 1:14). The term became the abstract term “human” meaning human life on earth ( Gal. 2:20; II Cor. 10:3a; Phil. 1:22, 24; Col. 2:10) and human nature (Rom. 6:19; 8:3; II Cor. 4:11; I Tim. 3:16). Human is sometimes set in contrast with the divine (Rom. 1:3; 9:5; Philem. 16). In this contrast with Spirit, the word means “that which is not God or of God”; this is the sense that the word has in this section. In these verses, the flesh is man attempting to walk by the law; that is, attempting to earn or to merit by the works of the law righteousness or right relation with God. As such he is seeking to please God or seeking rewards from God by the works of the law. The Apostle Paul, like the other New Testament writers, never uses the Greek word (sarx) translated flesh to mean the sinful nature in the sense of that in man which makes him sin; that is, that man sins because of his sinful nature. Man does not sin because of his nature but by choice; that is, he does not sin because he is a sinner, but he is a sinner because he sins by choice, not by nature. The Greek word sarx usually translated “flesh” in our English translations (KJV, RSV, NAS) is incorrectly translated in the New International Version (NIV) as “sinful nature” in Rom. 7:17, 25; 8:3, 5, 8; Gal. 5:13, 16, 17; Eph. 2:3.
The indwelling sin in Romans 7:17, 20 is not the sinful nature. Paul explains in verse 7:18 that indwelling sin to be that “the good does not dwell in [him], that is, in [his] flesh.” The “flesh” here is man himself, not some part of him. In Romans 7, Paul never identifies the flesh with sin or the law of sin; he defines the law of sin in verse Rom. 7:21: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do the good, evil is present with me.” In Romans 8:3, the word “flesh” (=human nature) is qualified by the word “sin” because human nature is not inherently sinful. The flesh (=human nature) may be designated as sinful when a man chooses to sin (Rom. 6:16-18). The Greek word sarx in Romans 8:4-13 designates anything that is an object of trust instead of God and not the sinful nature. This use of sarx in Rom. 8:5 is just Paul’s way of saying that “those according to the flesh,” put their trust in something other than the true God, that is, “set their minds on the things of the flesh”. The word phroneo translated “set the mind on” indicates a “conscious spiritual orientation of life,” an attitude or disposition of the will. See Paul’s use of this word phroneo in Rom. 12:16; Phil. 2:2, 5; 3:15; Col. 3:2; and Matt. 16:23. This orientation toward the flesh, to that which is not God who is spirit, is what we have been calling the basic sin of idolatry. This is not the sinful nature and it is misleading to call it that.
GALATIANS 5:16-25.
16. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not at all complete the desires of the flesh. 17. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you would. 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, some of which are: immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness; 20. idolatry, sorcery; enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissensions, factions, 21. envy; drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, of which I forewarn you as I previously said, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:16. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not at all complete the desires of the flesh.”
In this verse, Paul exhorts his readers to walk by the Spirit. The Greek verb, peripateo, which is translated “walk,” means “to walk about,” hence means “to conduct oneself, to behave.” The Greek word, pneuma, translated “Spirit” is in the dative case and is not accompanied by a preposition. As such it could be an instrumental dative, a locative dative, or dative of reference. The latter is more probable. Walk with reference to the Spirit; that is, with the Spirit as the criterion of the walk. This implies the negative exhortation: do not walk by the flesh. What does it mean to walk by the flesh? To walk by the flesh is to walk by the law. The results of walking by the Spirit is not to complete or fulfill the desires of the flesh. The law cannot control the desires of the flesh. Walking by the Spirit stops the fulfillment or completion of the desires of the flesh. The Greek verb, teleo, which is translated “fulfill,” means “to bring to end, finish,” hence “to execute, perform, fulfill.” If one does not walk by Spirit, but walk by the flesh, the desires of the flesh will be executed, performed, completed. The Greek word, epithumia, which is translated “desire,” means “being excited about,” hence “an intense longing, impulse, or desire.” It is not necessarily evil or bad. Many times it is used in a good sense (Luke 22:15; Phil. 1:23; I Thess. 2:17). Here Paul uses it in an evil sense as that which is opposed to the Spirit of God.
5:17. “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you would.”
In this verse, Paul contrasts the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other. The flesh desires contrary to the Spirit and Spirit contrary to the flesh. The result of this opposition is that one does not do what he wishes. Paul is not talking about the believer’s struggle between the two natures, the old nature and the new nature. The believer does not have two natures; he has only one nature, human nature, by which he may choose to be either bad or good. Neither here nor in Romans 7 is Paul speaking of the struggle between the higher good nature and the lower evil nature. In Romans 7:14-24, Paul is describing the struggle of a Christian who is under the law to live by the law. The good is the law (Rom. 7:16), not the new nature. The man under law does not do the good, the law. He wants to do the good but he does the opposite, evil (Rom. 7:18-20). The evil is what he does that he does not want to do. But since he wants to do the good and he does not do it, he concludes then that it is not he that is doing the evil but sin which dwells in himself. Thus he objectifies the evil. The man under law is doing the evil but he is not accepting it as his own. Here in this verse in Galatians, Paul speaks of a different opposition; the opposition between the flesh and the Spirit. In these verses, the flesh is man attempting to walk by the law; that is, attempting to earn or merit by the works of the law righteousness or right relationship with God. As such he is seeking to please God or seeking rewards from God by the works of the law. Paul sets this man over against the Spirit. These are opposed to each other and the result is that one may not do what he wants to do; that is, he does not do either what the flesh desires or what the Spirit desires.
5:18. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”
Paul in this verse gives the way out of the dilemma in the previous verse. The opposition between the flesh and the Spirit is caused by the law. Under the law, the flesh cannot accomplish its desires and the Spirit cannot accomplish His desires. But if one walks by the Spirit and not by the law, that is, by the flesh, he is led by the Spirit and not under the law.
5:19. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, some of which are: immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness;”
In this verse and the next two verses, Paul gives a list of the works of the flesh. These works of the flesh are the things that a man under law does. This is a partial list as Paul indicates: “some of which are” (v. 19) and “and things like these” (v. 21). These works of the flesh or sins may be grouped as follows: three sexual sins, two religious sins, eight interpersonal sins, and two social sins. The three sins listed in this verse are sexual sins: immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness.
5:20. “idolatry, sorcery; enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissension, factions,”
The first two sins listed in this verse are religious sins: idolatry, sorcery. Then there are listed seven interpersonal sins: enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissension, factions. The eighth interpersonal sin (envy) is given at the beginning of the next verse.
5:21. “envy; drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, of which I forewarn you as I previously said, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The first sin listed in this verse is the last of the eight interpersonal sins. Then there are listed two social sins: drunkenness, orgies. Paul completes his list of the works of the flesh with a warning: “Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” He had given this warning before when he was with them. This warning implies that those who will inherit the kingdom of God will not practice these sins.
GALATIANS 5:22-23
GALATIANS 5:22-23
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law
5:22. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”
In this verse and the next verse, Paul gives a list of the nine virtues that he calls the fruit of the Spirit. The singular form of the word “fruit” suggest that the nine virtues are a unity, like a bunch of grapes rather than separate pieces of fruit. When the fruit of the Spirit is present in a Christian, they are all present. These nine virtues are usually grouped into three groups of three each. The first group is inward and God-ward: love, joy, peace. The second group is interpersonal: patience, kindness, goodness. The third group is personal: faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The last two of this third group is given at the beginning of the next verse.
5:23. “gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
This verse starts with the last two virtues in the third group. The verse ends with a clause which not only says there is no law prohibiting this fruit of the Spirit but also implies that the fruit of Spirit has nothing to do with the law. The law cannot produce this fruit; it is produced by the Spirit.
GALATIANS 5:24-25 (26)
GALATIANS 5:24-25 (26).
24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26. Let us not become boastful, provoking one another, envying one another.
5:24. “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Paul now refers to the basis for walking by the Spirit. The death of Christ and our participation in it is the negative basis. The believer has not only died with Christ to the law but also to sin (Rom. 6:1-14).
5:25. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
Now Paul here refers to the positive basis for walking by the Spirit. The resurrection of Christ and our participation in it is the positive basis. The believer not only shares in Christ’s death but in His resurrection. It is by the Spirit he shares in the resurrection; he lives by the Spirit. On the basis of his participation in the resurrection of Christ by the Spirit, Paul exhorts his readers to walk by the Spirit. The Greek verb, stoicheo, which is translated “walk,” means “to be in rows” (of waves, plants, etc. as well as men), “to walk in a line” (especially of marching in file to battle). Hence it means “to walk by a rule.” Here it is not an impersonal law or rule but the Spirit of God. The believer is to walk in step and according to the Spirit as his guide and the orderer of his life.
GALATIANS 5:26
5:26. “Let us not become boastful, provoking one another, envying one another.”
This verse should probably be part of the next section. Some take it as transitional. It specifies one aspect of walking in step with the Spirit and it indicates one kind of trespass in which one might be overtaken ( Gal. 6:1). Paul here shows his great tact: he does not accuse them of being vainglorious. He implies that this sin is not yet present among them, even though it may very well have been. The Greek word, kenodoxos, which is translated “boastful,” means literally “empty glory.” It could be translated “groundless conceit.” There is here an implied reference to divisions and factions among the Galatians. The persons being addressed here may be the leaders of these factions. Two effects of this boasting are expressed in the last two phrases of this verse: (a) it provokes one another and (b) it causes them to envy one another. The Greek verb, prokaleo, which is translated “to provoke,” means literally “to call forth.” Boasting calls forth boasting in another and where one does not have something to boast of, it causes envy of another.
GALATIANS 6:1-10
In this section, Paul develops some of the implications of walking by the Spirit. Paul focuses on concrete situations in which the fruit of the Spirit may operate. The situations Paul here selects are those that develop out of the legalism which is the error with which the letter deals. The theological error of legalism produces practical errors, sins. Legalism’s good intention is to produce righteousness; to its surprise it produces the opposite, sins. Then its solution is to try harder. When that does not work, it blames the sins on man’s lower or sinful nature. The Biblical solution is to reject the legalism that is the cause of the sins, and to accept and to adopt the Biblical theology of salvation by grace through faith and its practical implementation, walking by the Spirit and not by law. To walk by the Spirit is to walk in love which is the fulfilling of the law of Christ.
GALATIANS 6:1-5.
1. Brethren, if indeed a man is overtaken in some failure, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus 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 examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in himself alone and not in another. 5. For each one shall bear his own load.
6:1. “Brethren, if indeed a man is overtaken in some failure, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness,
considering yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
Paul opens this section again by addressing his fellow-Christians as brethren. This sets the tone of the section because it deals with interpersonal relationships. The first situation Paul deals with is that of the one who has been overtaken in some failure. Contrary to the intention of legalism, one is overtaken by sin (Rom. 7:8-11). The Greek verb, prolambano, which is translated “overtaken,” literally means “to take beforehand,” hence “to overtake, to surprise.” Not only is the one under law surprised by the sin, but legalism is always surprised by the results that it produces, the sins. The Greek word, paraptoma, which is translated “failure,” literally means “a falling beside,” hence “a false step, blunder, failure.” It is not the usual Greek word for sin, hamartia. The result of doctrinal legalism is sins, which from the point of view of grace, are not a falling short of the law, but are blunders and failures from which one must be restored. The Greek verb, katartizo, which is translated “to restore,” means “to render fit or complete,” hence “to mend, repair.” It is used for the setting of a dislocated or broken bone and making it fit and useful. This must be done with care. This is what love would do. This grace (love in action) can be done only by one who is walking by the Spirit. Paul calls such ones, “you who are spiritual.” He is not referring to some class of self-designated mystical, superior spiritual people. By this term, pneumatikoi, he means those who are walking by the Spirit. They have that fruit of the Spirit, meekness, by which they consider themselves, lest they also are tempted. The temptation is to legalism. To adopt a superior attitude that this cannot happen to me is to fall into legalism: to place oneself under a standard to which one compares oneself and considers oneself capable of always conforming. The Greek word, prautes, which is translated “meekness or gentleness,” means “gentleness, humility, courtesy, considerateness, meekness” in the older favorable sense of “unassuming.” A meek person is one who is soft, not hard, toward God and others; not weak but having controlled strength.
6:2. “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”
Paul continues his discussion of the first situation. He exhorts his readers to bear one another’s burdens. The Greek word, bare, which is translated “burden,” means “a weight.” A burden is something too heavy for one person to bear alone and must be shared by others. Paul is probably referring to the burden that legalism imposes (Acts 15:10). This seems to be implied by the last clause of the verse: “thus fulfil the law of Christ.” Not only does love fulfill the law in bearing one another’s burdens, but it also removes the legalistic weight of the law and replaces it with the easy yoke of Christ (Matt. 11:28-29). The law of Christ is the commandment He gave: Love one another even as I have loved you (John 13:34).
6:3. “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
Paul continues his discussion of the first situation. He explains why they must bear one another’s burdens as discussed in the previous verse. He does this by discussing the situation mentioned in the last verse of the previous chapter ( 5:25). Legalism produces an overblown view of oneself by the attempt to conform to the standard of the law. In the attempt to be justified by the law, one is tempted and often does over value one’s works in order to make oneself conform to the standard. Such ones deceive themselves. Paul is here probably referring to the work of the Judaizing teachers.
6:4. “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in himself alone and not in another.”
Paul continues the discussion of the previous verse. He exhorts them to examine their own work. This is the way to correct such an overblown view of oneself and self deception. Such a sober and objective evaluation of one’s work will limit boasting to himself and not to others. The Jewish legalists were boasting in the circumcision of others and Paul is attempting to eliminate such boasting.
Paul concludes the discussion of the previous two verses. He gives the reason for such self examination of one’s own work: each man must bear his own load. The Greek word, phortion, which is translated “load,” literally means “something borne or carried,” hence, a ship’s cargo. The legalist is thus forced to carry his own load. There is no other one to carry it for him; legalism separates men from each other and places them in competition with each other. There is no contradiction between verses 5 and 2; not only are there different Greek words used in these two verses, but also different subjects are being discussed. In this verse, Paul is discussing legalistic burden bearing and in verse two he is discussing the burden bearing of love.
GALATIANS 6:6-10
GALATIANS 6:6-10.
6. And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. 7. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not grow weary. 10. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
6:6. “And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.”
In this verse, Paul now turns to another situation which is not unrelated to previous discussion. Paul exhorts his readers that are being taught the word to share all good things with him who teaches. This is in accordance to what Paul will later teach in first letter to the Corinthians (9:7-11; 13-14).
6:7. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
Paul continues his discussion of this second situation. In this and the next verse, Paul refers to sowing and reaping. Although the principle of sowing and reaping applies to any work done, Paul is applying it to the particular case of the sowing and reaping that a teacher does.
6:8. “For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Paul continues his discussion of sowing and reaping. In this verse, he is contrasting the sowing and reaping of the legalistic teacher with the sowing and reaping of the teacher of the gospel and of the grace of God. The legalistic teacher sows to the flesh and will reap from the flesh corruption. What he has taught, salvation by the works of the law, by the flesh, will produce the works of the flesh and its end corruption. But the teacher of the grace of God has sown to the Spirit and will from the Spirit reap eternal life. The flesh is not the sinful nature and the Spirit is the Spirit of God and not the new nature.
6:9. “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not grow weary.”
Paul extends the principle of sowing and reaping to all Christian good works. He exhorts his readers not to lose heart in doing good. He encourages them with the promise that they will reap in God’s appointed harvest time, if they do not grow weary or faint.
6:10. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
In the previous verse, Paul has spoken of the season for harvest, in due season, in its own time. In this verse, Paul speaks of the season for sowing, as they have opportunity or time. And he also speaks of the field for sowing: all men and especially to those of the household of faith. And he also speaks of the seed to be sown: doing good. The good that they are to sow is whatever will benefit all men and do no harm to them. Love will not only find a way but also will find what to do. Love is doing good to the one who is loved and that is “especially to those who are of the household of faith.” As Jesus commanded, “Love one another as I have loved you.”(John 15:12)