You know by now that all of Galatians is about being led by God’s Holy Spirit rather than trying to live by rules—the law. There were people who were trying to persuade the Christians in the Galatian churches that they had to practice the Jewish religion—and in particular, be circumcised—before they could be Christians. The Galatians were also beginning to keep the Jewish holidays. The apostle Paul’s point in writing about these things was not that it was evil or destructive to observe the customs of the Jewish religion, but that it was evil and destructive to believe that there was anything beyond belief in Jesus Christ—any ritual or “work”—that was required for righteousness and salvation. His point was that the belief that you had to “work” to earn your salvation leads to pride, envy, competition and strife—really, self-righteousness—and not to salvation. According to last week’s passage (Gal. 5:16-26), we have the choice of walking by the Holy Spirit or carrying out the works of the flesh.

And the works of the flesh are not just envy and strife. Trying to earn your salvation by “works” can also lead to every other kind of fleshly sin—sexual immorality, moral impurity, drunkenness, carousing and others. I read that some of the terrorists who flew the air liners into the World Trade Center towers were heavily into pornography. Now pornography is something that their religion (which definitely is a religion of “works”) absolutely condemns. But they were planning on being martyrs by giving their lives in destroying the “infidels”, so it was OK. And that’s the kind of thinking that “salvation by works” leads to. And I’ve seen that kind of thinking in people that were supposed to be Christians, too. It happens.

In last weeks passage Paul compared the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal.~5:22, 23) But the fruit of the Spirit is not something that you make yourself have. It’s not a “work”. You don’t grit your teeth and make yourself love. You certainly can’t make yourself rejoice. (You can give the outward appearance of rejoicing. But real rejoicing has to be from your heart.) You really can’t make yourself have any of the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit comes from Jesus living in you through God’s Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that produces the fruit of the Spirit. The way you have the fruit of the Spirit is follow the Spirit’s leading in every situation. (Gal. 5:25) And I’m not saying that, when someone cuts you off in traffic, you say, “Oh, the Spirit is leading me to be patient, so I’ll be patient.” (And if you are not patient, you can certainly ask for God to forgive you, and he will.) What I am saying is that you seek God’s will in everything and follow the Spirit’s leading in situations where you have time to seek God’s will and consider what direction he may be leading you. If you do that, then you will see the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit as he produces his fruit in you. (And I have to say that even the ability to follow the Spirit is God’s gift to those who believe. And, for the most part, it is not something that happens instantly, but takes a lifetime for us to learn to do it consistently. (And, by the way, when you are not patient when you are cut off in traffic and then you confess it and ask the Lord for forgiveness, that’s the leading of the Spirit.)

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted also. ²Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. ⁴But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. ⁵For each person will have to carry his own load.

⁶The one who is taught the message must share his goods with the teacher. ⁷Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, ⁸because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. (Galatians 6:1-10)

These things that the apostle Paul is talking about here are general principles that go with being a Christian. They are not rules to follow. They are the kinds of things that the Holy Spirit will prompt you to do. You don’t do these things to make yourself righteous. They are the things that you do because you are righteous, because you have the righteousness of Christ. You are not righteous because you do them, but you do them because you are righteous.

The apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:14, “For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s also what Jesus says. And even the Pharisees and the teachers of the law said it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we do love our neighbors as ourselves, why, if we know that someone is sinning, do we say nothing? Is that love? (And the word “wrongdoing”, by the way, is not the same word that’s translated as sin, but it’s used to refer to seriously disobeying God. It’s usually translated as “trespasses”.) So, is it love to ignore a brother or sister’s sin? But we do it. Sometimes, maybe even frequently, we ignore sin. We are maybe afraid of a bad reaction if we say anything (I’m speaking for myself). But the fruit of the Spirit is love. And it’s love to correct someone who is sinning. If the person who is sinning really is a believer, he will be corrected—maybe not immediately, but sooner or later. If he (or she) belongs to Jesus, God is faithful. As a believer, that person will be restored. Pray. (And if you want to say, “I am not spiritual. Let someone else do it.” Paul says “restore” not “ignore”. Pray.)

Paul says, “Restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted also.” Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, because they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.” (Matt~5:3-9) “Restore such a person with a gentle spirit...” “Blessed are the gentle” goes along with all the other beatitudes. (And, by the way, what does it mean to be blessed? I looked the word up in a Greek lexicon. It said, “...of persons characterized by transcendent happiness or religious joy, blessed, happy.”

Paul says, “Restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted also.” “Tempted” means “tested”. Do you remember when the Lord gave Satan permission to test Job? Satan may very well ask God for permission to test you. If you are self-righteous when you go about trying to restore someone, and Satan asks to test you, you may very well fail the test. Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, look out! Satan has asked to sift you (that’s all the disciples, not just Peter) like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said, “Lord, I'm ready to go with You both to prison and to death!” Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me!” (Luke~22:31-34) Peter loved Jesus. But he was self-confident—and he failed the test, as Jesus knew he would. But Jesus prayed for him—for his faith not to fail. His faith didn’t fail! God answers Jesus’s prayers. And, according to Hebrews 7:25, Jesus always lives to intercede for those who come to God through him (which is, by the way, the only way we can come to God).

Verse 2 in today’s passage says, “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” We all have burdens, heavy loads to carry. We have physical problems. We have health problems. We have worries. We have fears. We have sorrows and grief. We may lack food or clothing or a place to live. Some are being persecuted severely. But God has designed the church so that we need each other and can provide for each other’s needs. We can encourage each other. We can comfort each other. We can take care of each other. We can provide for each other. Let me read to you what Jesus said to his disciples. This is from Matthew 25:34-40:

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.”

In verses 3 and 4 in today’s passage, Paul is going to tell us what our attitudes should be as we serve the Lord. Verses 3 and 4 say, “For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else.”

We can have an attitude of competition where we try to do better than others. We can have an attitude where we look at others and say, “I’m doing as well as the average. I don’t have to do any more.” Or we can have an attitude of despair because we can’t do enough (and, of course, without Jesus, we can’t really do anything at all). But we must not compare ourselves with others. Jesus has different tasks for different people, so there is no way we really can compare ourselves with others. It’s the Lord Jesus we are serving and he is our standard of comparison. Can anyone say he is something—anything at all—in comparison with Jesus? Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matt.~5:3) And as I’ve pointed out before, “poor” means destitute. You are helpless to do anything for yourself. That should be our attitude. We have to totally depend on Jesus.

Verse 5 says, “For each person will have to carry his own load.” Does that sound like a contradiction? Verse 2 says that we have to bear one another’s burdens. And I just said that we are helpless to do anything for ourselves. Well, apparently there are some loads that are our own responsibility. Paul is not telling us that we should not be doing anything for ourselves but only taking care of the needs of other while they take care of our needs. There are some things that are our responsibility. And “load” is a different word from “burden”. A “burden” (in Greek, anyway) is something that is heavy. On the other hand the word translated “load” (..each person will have to carry his own load...) is the same word that Jesus used in Matthew 11:30 when he said, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Only, the HCSB translators chose to translate it as “burden” rather than as “load”. It’s the same thing Paul is talking about in Galatians 6:5. But, before I go on, let me read all of what Jesus said in Matthew 11: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt~11:28-30) I think Jesus carries most of the burden himself. And I think he does it through other Christians.

Let’s look at verse 6 in today’s passage: “The one who is taught the message must share his goods with the teacher.” All the commentaries by preachers that I looked up say that this means that you should pay the preacher (or teacher, or whatever). And the way the HCSB translators translated this verse makes it sound as though the apostle Paul is speaking strictly of material things, “goods”. But this verse literally says that you must share “all your good things” with the teacher—“all your good things”. That’s the way most of the translations I look at translate it, too. “All your good things” may include material possessions, but I would certainly think that it also includes joy and encouragement and thankfulness and many other “good things” that the Lord has given you to bless your teacher. Don’t you? And you know, we all are teachers in one way or another. Let’s share all our “good things” with each other.

This is a universal law. It’s God’s law. It applies to gardening and farming. If you sow wheat, you reap wheat. If you sow beans you don’t reap wheat, you reap beans. It also applies to spiritual things. If you sow love and joy and peace, you will reap love and joy and peace. If you sow discord and strife, you will not reap love and joy and peace. You will reap discord and strife. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. Corruption is destruction, ruin, decay, rottenness—ultimately eternal wrath and condemnation. If you sow to the flesh, these are the things you will reap. But, if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life. And even in this life, if you sow to the Spirit you will reap the fruit of the Spirit—love and joy and peace and all the fruit of the Spirit. Do you sow to the Spirit? If you belong to Jesus, he will teach you to sow to the Spirit. If you don’t belong to Jesus, don’t wait any longer to give yourself to him. Entrust yourself to him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. The burden of the world, the burden of sin, is heavy and ultimately impossible to bear.

So far, we’ve been talking about bearing each other’s burdens and bearing our own burdens. But living your life as a Christian goes beyond that. Verse 9 and 10 say, “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” We must work for the good of all, not just for those who belong to the household of faith (although that’s the highest priority).

^“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt.~5:44-48)

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” We are sons of our Father in heaven. We are adopted by our Abba Father and he can’t disown us. And as I’ve pointed out before, the last verse, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” can equally be translated (and I personally think, more likely translated) as, “Therefore you will be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” John Wesley translates it that way. And that’s our heavenly Father’s intent and purpose for us—to be perfect just as he is perfect. That’s why Jesus died for us. We will see him face-to-face and we will be like him. It says so in 1 John 3:2!