Galatians 6:2-6
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Sunday
Sunday
October 2, 2022
October 2, 2022
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
Last week we started this last chapter of Galatians with a rather lengthy introduction to how to go about restoring a saint that has gone the way of Law and has fallen into sin. The scriptures that follow today continue in that same vein. Paul is concerned about there being division in the Church of Galatia. He doesn’t want the ones that have resorted to the teachings of the Judiazers to be further shamed and outcast from those that did not. I can see a real burden on the part of the Apostle to want to keep the Church together and to do it in the best way possible under God’s love and light. We as Christians can get a bit Holier than thou, and he didn’t want that happening. The burden of staying on the right path of Sanctification, can be difficult to see in the natural and we can be easily caught unawares if we are not careful.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Burdens has the following meanings: “A burden that is desirable” as in 2 Corinthians 4:17 which means “weight”
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
or “One which is hard to bear” as in Acts 15:28
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
and Rev 2:24
24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
In the context that Paul is using this word burdens, it is the latter meaning. This burden is to the responsibility each saint should feel for the spiritual welfare of his fellow Saints, especially when they have sinned.
In this particular instance, the spirit dominated saints should feel the responsibility of rescuing their Brother or Sister who have put themselves, most certainly ignorantly, under Legalism. The answer Paul gave us was to kindly and lovingly tell them the reason for their failure, which is a lack of Faith in the Cross, this faith will ensure the help of the Holy Spirit. This person has probably tried everything they know to succeed and have failed and are extremely confused at this stage. They have probably have been overcome. They need to be told why they have failed and how the failure can be stopped so that it never happens again. They must be told that their hope is in the Cross and what Jesus did there. They have to know and understand that the sacrifice that Jesus made there was more than just for their salvation. It must be explained that this faith that they displayed at salvation must be exercised daily to unsure a victorious life. Not that they need to be saved daily but the same faith that they placed in Jesus to save them then will allow them to have victory sin now. The holy Spirit can work no other way. He will do for us what we cannot, like Jesus did for us what we cannot. The holy Spirit does for us through our faith In Jesus Christ. He cannot and will not help us to overcome sin, defeat the devil, throw aside ugly, ungodly passions, without out our Faith being in the Cross.
Everything we have to gain from being a Christian comes through what Jesus Did at the cross. What He did there cannot be minimized. It seems so simple and yet so profound at the same time. The commentary says it this way.
Galatians Three Things are Tied Together
Not only did Salvation come through the Cross, but so did the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, as well as Divine Healing. Also, financial prosperity and victorious, overcoming Christian living, come no less through the Cross, than Salvation from sin. Everything points to the Cross of Christ, and flows from the Cross of Christ. If we don’t understand that, we are missing the point of the Word of God, and in fact, the entire understanding of what the Atonement really means.
Galatians Three Things are Tied Together
If we want Healing, we must look to the Cross, for there the price was paid, in that “with His Stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5; I Pet. 2:24).
If we need financial help, Jesus addressed poverty at the Cross even as He addressed every other problem which came about because of the Fall. And the most important thing of all, at least after one comes to Christ, is that our Victorious, everyday living, which means Victory over sin in every fashion, is brought about solely by our Faith in the Cross. Sadly, most Christians I think, do not know that, and that’s the reason for so much failure.
This concept while seemly simple seems to trip up even the most consecrated christian from time to time. It can get anybody from laity to preacher. The problem arises when we read and study the Word of God that if we read the promises and the events of the Bible and fail to realize that they all point o Jesus. That the entirety of the Word points to what jesus would do for humanity at the Cross then we can get things jumbled up in our mind. We don’t receive anything from the Father except through our Faith In What Jesus did on the cross. We don’t receive blessing from quoting or praying certain scriptures over and over. Or by reading certain passages every day. We receive by Faith in the fact that Jesus took the debt of our sin upon him and was killed in our place so that we can walk free in this world in Peace with God. The minute we think that it is anything other that what Jesus did for us that gains us anything is the minute that we lose. But the person that wants to do what is right, that wants to live for God, that wants to be a good example but can’t seem to shake what ever it is that is plaguing them needs patience and kindness and gentleness from his fellow Christians. We talked last week of the cancel culture that is pervading our country. We don’t cancel each other. We should 2 Cor. 2:7-8
7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
But again, the reason for the widespread failure is that most preachers do not understand this basic truth of the bible. They have probably failed so many times themselves with out any help from the Holy Spirit that instead of digging deeper into the Word for the answer they turn to psychology for the answer. They turn to what man has thought up. Man is ruled by the father of Sin. Man is ruled by Satan, and nothing that the mind of man comes up with is better than what God has already put into action. Nothing that the world gives you will solve your problems. This week I sat in two different meetings that dealt with kids that are dealing with trauma in their lives. Whether it if from direct abuse, physical, mental, or sexual, or indirectly from witnessing the abuse of others or from Neglect or any of the terrible ways a child can be damaged physically or psychologically they now have trauma in their lives. The percentage of students in schools that are dealing with trauma has dramatically increased in the last several years. This is not surprising to any teacher. We see it on a daily basis. For children the trauma comes out as a behavior response. It comes out as them acting up in class or having an outburst over something small or not being able to sit in their seat or breaking down at nothing, or them thinking that you are yelling at them when you simply correct them. It could mean a violent reaction to correction or the inability to follow directions. Staring off into space or even sleeping. We have had much training on how to identify the trauma. Much training on how to have conversations that lead to digging behind the behavior to the root of the problem. But the training on how to help someone that has gone through all of that awful stuff, is absolutely hogwash. They try to tell us that just talking out the problems can help. That by coloring or standing while they work can help, that having certain scents going in the room can help, that doing exercises can help that certain sounds for frequencies can help. Let me just tell you that I have tried all of those things. I do what I can for all of my students. But the thing that has truly worked, the only thing that can take away their pain, that only thing that can heal their trauma, that can replace pain with hope, that can be a balm to an open wound is Jesus christ. Through Faith in What Jesus christ did for us at the cross the Holy Spirit can go to work in our lives to correct that hurt. to heal that pain, to calm that storm. To right that wrong. To rewire the brain if need be so that it functions properly. He can take a brain that has been turned to mush by abuse of drugs and alcohol and heal it to the point that the person can enroll in school and become a doctorate in their chosen field. You say can that really happen? I say yes it can. And it has. There is a man on staff right now in Baton Rouge that that is his story. Our Children need this message. our children need the cross, our children need to hear that Jesus is the answer not some counseling problem. Not some new diet, not some new supplement, not some, new program. It is Jesus Christ. And not the Jesus Christ that the world paints him to be, but the Jesus Christ of the Word of God. Not the Jesus that works like a magician, not the Jesus that jumps to your every whim, not the Jesus that excuses your every sinful desire, not the Jesus that you just look at every now and then and expect him to work when you ask, just because you ask, even though you don’t really want to live that way he instructs you to live and even though you don’t want to give up your worldly lifestyle or worldly friends or worldly habits, because he asked you too. Not the jesus that you think you can make work like a gumball machine where you put in a quarter and something comes out. No that is not how he works and that is Not Jesus. That is another Jesus. That is not the Savior.
And if you are trying to restore a brother or sister and this is your path, this is your suggestion. Then the next verse is for you.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
This is a person that has put himself above the person that has failed. We are instructed not not place ourselves in the position of God. Because when compared to Him we are nothing. god is the only one that can stand in judgment over the failing Christian. we are to help them along the path, we are to encourage and be patient with and listen and help them with their burden and to try and steer them to placing their faith back in the right object. But not to stand in judge and jury over them and not to think that we have a better way than Christ. Romans 12:3 puts it this way.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Now I don’t want us to get the idea that we are all worthless in God’s eyes. That is not the case. But if we find comfort or satisfaction by measuring ourselves against another persons failures then we become the one that “deceiveth himself”. But when we compare ourselves to one that has failed we do a disservice. Paul also taught in 2 Corinthians 10:12
12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
When we look at ourselves as superior we tend to not want to restore the one that has failed. this is the unwillingness of taking on that burden of responsibility that we have. It is bad enough to be deceived by someone else, but for one to deliberately deceive oneself, is spiritual ignorance of the highest order.
We should know and understand that we have failed and have needed to be restored. That we have been forgiven and need to forgive. That if we were in this same place that we would want the best treatment possible. This is one type of error in not wanting to bear the burden of helping another Saint. Vs 4 speaks of another problem we may have.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
Now not only can the Fellow believer fall into the trap of comparing himself to the other person and think himself more than he should but he might also think that He isn’t good enough to help the other person. “Everyone else is better than me to help in this situation.”
To counter both these forms of error, Paul suggests that each Believer has a task from the Lord and is responsible only to the Lord for doing it. To use others as a norm is a kind of escape. When a Christian has his eyes on the Cross, rather than on other Christians, then in his own eyes he will at best be an unprofitable servant (Lk. 17:10
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
and God Himself will receive Glory (II Cor. 10:12–18
12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:
15 Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,
16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
“but let every man prove his own work” is not a
statement about working for your salvation. That would be ludicrous as Paul has been speaking against that all along, but rather referring to what a man can demonstrate in his own life. Paul’s emphasis is on what a man sees in himself, and not what he sees in others.
“Prove” in the Greek is “dokimazo” and means “to put to the test for the purpose of approving”
So the point is for Christians not to form an estimate of themselves by comparing themselves with others. But to put themselves to the test to find out what there is in their characters and in their lives which would merit approval. The idea is that we need to weigh our own works instead of using the sins of others as justification for our own. The Greek verb for “prove” also refers “to the examination of metal to test its purity.”
We tend to make excuses for our own short comings or to evaluate them in different ways. Like instead of covetousness we are ambitious. Instead of calling our issue a sinful temper tantrum we say we are high strung. The list goes on and on. I tried to do this with my dad. Instead of comparing myself with other Christians though I would compare myself with other people my age. Regardless of their beliefs. That did not go very well with Him, and it definitely does not go over well with God. It is easy to inspect others and not so easy to inspect ourselves. If we can’t even judge our own stuff correctly how are we going to judge the heart of someone else?
“and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” means the following:
This is still about addressing the restoration of a failing Saint. Before we begin to find fault with another we need to look at our self first.
If we haven’t proven our self, meaning if we haven gone through the same type of temptation or test and passed it without failure, only then do we have room to rejoice. But if we do undergo the temptation or test and in fact pass with flying colors, by the help and grace of god, we will have an idea at least as to how severe the situation is and will have no room for criticism of the person failing.
Any rejoicing done, must be done only in the Grace of God, and never a gloating over the failure of someone else.
Far too many Christians are rejoicing over the failure of others. This is terrible, but does happen. If this attitude is kept the same type of temptation which came upon the one that failed will now come to this individual and when it is all over they will see just exactly how much rejoicing remains.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
Now some might thing that this is a contradiction to the verse that we started with today, but it is not. The word bear here that the translators used is a different Greek word. Bear here is the Greek word “phortion” and means “a man’s pack” or what each person ought to bear. The other work was for heavy burdens- more than what a man should carry.
The idea is her that if we have examined ourselves and know what our own issues are and know what our own shortcomings are then we will not be placing ourselves on a pedestal over someone else. We will graciously deal with the situation, or sin in another because we know our own burden and our own responsibility to God and man. We know we are responsible for the life we live and will not compare our self with others.
Finally we come to Vs 6 Galatians 6:6
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
So here in this final verse for today, Paul is speaking to the to those that receive instruction by Godly teachers in the Word of God. Receiving instruction in the word is probably one of the most important things we can do as Christians. it shapes who we are and what we believe. But how many seek to be taught things that affirm their own thinking? this that affirm their own desires? One thing that I have found in this Faith, and reading this Word is that my thinking is constantly challenged. My desires are being challenged. What I do is constantly being challenged. I am being changed by what I read and what I study and by what I am taught. Seeking a church or a teacher that just affirms your own thinking will get you no where. Will there be places like that? Yes. But instead of looking for a place or a teacher that teaches what you want to hear or what you like to hear , you should instead be looking for a teacher that teaches the truth of the Word. And when you reed the Bible yourself you should not search for the scriptures to uphold your thinking but instead read the word to guide your thinking. True teaching will encourage, comfort, and correct. All three. If you never feel correction, there might be something wrong.
“communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things”
This is a dialogue and support of that teacher. When ever I have had questions about the word, or wanted to get clarification on something I would always seek out those that I knew were solid teachers. And if the teaching was correcting me then I would communicate even more. I did not shy away from the teaching or shun the teacher, but instead sought to dive deeper. To gain clarity. To understand more. That is what a teacher is for. In Galatia however there was a separation from those that were teaching as Paul had instructed, as the Word had instructed and a separation had happened by those that were following after the Judiazers. He is encouraging a reconciliation here and a return to support of those true teachers. A return to unity within the Church of Galatia. A unity based on Grace and Faith not on Law. He also wanted the Spirit -Led Saints to take upon themselves the responsibility of restoring to the right method of living a Christian life, those who had put themselves under Law, and also that of restoring to fellowship with the Lord Jesus, those Saints who had sin in their lives because of their lapse from sanctifying Grace.
I hope that you are gaining something from this teaching and I want you to know I am always available for questions or conversations about this learning.