Sermon Tone Analysis

Context

Paul’s concern in the letter is that people would stop messing with the gospel and that people would top tolerating those who were messing with the gospel.

The idea that one could believe Jesus is the Christ and that He died for our sins and that He rose from the dead and expect to be justified by placing one’s faith in these truths were ok, but one must also obey the Mosaic law, and in particular, be circumcised.

Paul has argued that justification is by faith alone in Christ alone.

The law was not given to provide salvation, but to make clear that salvation was necessary and could only be provided through a Savior.

The law now is a blueprint for holy living for those who have been made holy through the redemptive work of Jesus.

And as we have made our way through this epistle, we have come to some of the problems the Galatian church were experiencing as a result of this faulty theology.

hey weren’t getting along.

There was a sense of chaos among the people and, sin was evident and Paul was urging them ro come back to the truth, and provided instruction and warning to help them not only have peace with God but with each other.

What we will see today is something that is not difficult for us to relate to.

People weren’t getting along.

People were sinning.

How do we handle that?

Introduction

Process for confrontation

Church discipline

Confrontational but loving

Practicing this is part of what it is to help one another.

We typically think of helping one another within very specific parameters.

And these parameters are too narrow.

FCF: Our understanding of helping each other is too narrow.

Main Idea

Burden-bearing requires confrontation.

Why is confrontation necessary for burden-bearing?

Because confrontation nurtures spiritual health (1-3)

AQ: How does confrontation nurture spiritual health?

It exposes sin (1a)

Notice how Paul begins this chapter: brothers.

This brings back what Paul said in

When we were here a few weeks ago, I noted this was a little difficult for me to understand.

Where does this confidence come from.

It’s not in the people of the Galatian churches.... it’s in the work of God in the people of the Galatian churches.

And Paul’s confidence in God is now being reflected in how he is referencing the people… brothers.

For all the concern and criticism.

For all the doctrinal missteps.

For all the in-fighting and division, Paul remains confident in the Lord, and continues to appeal to this troubled church as brothers.

Now remember the concerns Paul referenced in the previous chapter.

On the one side of the coin was a concern for legalism.

Legalism is the presumption that people can, through their effort, gain and retain God’s favor.

In the Galatians’ case, that showed itself in the false teaching that circumcision was a necessary means to gain God’s favor.

Paul countered this idea when he said:

But on the other side of this same concern coin was antinomianism (no law).

The belief that the freedom we receive through Christ in our salvation frees us to from the law in such a way that it is no longer relevant to Christian living.

And Paul expressed his concern for this when he said

In light of all the false teaching that was going on in the church, the willingness to entertain that false teaching, it no surprise that Paul addresses how to deal with sin in the church.

This is Paul’s instructions on church discipline, which in some ways echoes what Jesus taught about church discipline in Matthew 18.

caught means suddenly discovered in a transgression.

When we come upon someone who is living in sin, how are we to handle it.

You see, in the next verse Paul will issue a command to bear one another’s burdens.

But when you and I think about bearing each other’s burdens, we don’t think of that kind of help in confrontational terms.

The kinds of burdens that we help each other bear are sickness, loss, financial struggle, some kind of oppression.

But given the context of these verses it is clear, I suggest, that the kind of burden-bearing Paul is referencing is one that requires loving confrontation.

It’s the kind that sees a brother or sister struggling in their sin, and instead of concluding that that kind of struggle is none of our business, we get in the swamp with them to gently urge them to come out back onto dry and stable ground.

And what this kind of confrontation does.

The kind of confrontation that is a means of bearing another’s burden is that it helps to expose sin.

It sees sin as God sees it.

But in exposing sin, we do not become judgmental or censorious, but we go to our brothers and sisters out of a concern for their spiritual well-being and the glory of Christ.

Another way confrontation nurtures spiritual health is

It promotes maturity (1b)

Now how would confrontation promote maturity?

Notice who Paul identifies to be involved in confronting those caught in any transgression: you who are spiritual.

Those who are spiritual are mature.

They are characterized by the Holy Spirit.

Look how this same word is used in

Notice the contrast.

spiritual people and people of the flesh.

The difference has a great deal to do with the maturity of the people.

Remember, we just dealt with the fruit of the Spirit in the previous chapter.

Those who are spiritual are those who display this fruit through their lives.

So mature people are to engage in this work of confrontation, but how is this maturity displayed?

Notice what the spiritual are to do: restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Now the word restore carries the idea of repairing something that is broken.

In fact, this word was used to describe mending fishing nets:

This is the procedure of the confrontation.

This is the process of church discipline.

What Paul makes clear here is that the purpose of this kind of discipline is remedial and not punitive.

In other words, its purpose is to fix what is broken, not punish the broken.

This is emphasized by how Paul says this process is to take place.

End of v. 1: in a spirit of gentleness.

Remember, gentleness is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit.

There is no room for harshness or a condemning, judgmental tone in this confrontation.

But what this is making clear is that this kind of restoration cannot be accomplished without confrontation, and while this kind of confrontation requires a firm urging to repent, it also must be qualified with gentleness… that is a mild, even-tempered approach.

This can be a difficult needle to thread, and all of us need to depend on the leading and working of the Spirit to manifest His fruit in us as we engage in this kind of ministry, but it also requires that we be spiritual, that is, mature.

Characterized by the Holy Spirit.

Another way confrontation nurtures spiritual health is

It strengthens community (2a)

Really, v. 2 is the heart of this passage.

It is the main message.

To bear something is to endure something difficult.

Now you might have noticed that this sermon’s title is a little peculiar: More than one neck needed.

Burden here is literally a heavy weight or stone that someone has to carry a long distance.

Here, of course, the weight are difficult circumstances.

Even more specific to the context, the burdens are the difficulties we experience as a result of our own sin.

And if these burdens are like heavy weights or stones hanging around our necks, our brothers and sisters are called to lend their necks to help us endure the weight.

It may be that we are justly bearing the weight of our sin, but that does not mean that in the body of Christ, we should not anticipate or expect that members of the family of God will come to our aid.

And when the body of Christ functions this way, the community is strengthened.

Number of people is one thing, the quality of the community is something else.

But their is a purpose to this burden bearing.

There is something about our efforts to help each other bear the weight of our difficulties that goes beyond our present ability to endure.

You see, Another way this kind of confrontation nurtures spiritual health is: