“Living in Gospel Community (Galatians 5:25 - 6:10)", Will DuVal | 11/9/25
Galatians 5:25 - 6:10 | 11/9/25 | Will DuVal
My wife’s favorite film is Into the Wild. It’s based on the true story of teenager Christopher McCandless, who abandoned his privileged life to hitchhike across North America into the Alaskan wilderness, rejecting society and materialism in search of truth, meaning, and happiness which he thought could only be discovered in an untethered, solitary life (Google AI + wikipedia.com). It’s a beautiful movie well worth watching, so if you HAVEN’T, fair warning: I’m about to spoil the ending; plug your ears. In the very last scene, he mistakes poisonous berries for edible ones, and eats them and DIES, all alone, out “in the wild”. And just before he dies, his too-short LIFE flashes before his eyes, and every single SCENE of it that he relives, the moments that MATTERED at ALL, every ONE of them included OTHERS: his family, his friends- the very “society”, PEOPLE, he was trying so hard to ESCAPE. So with his dying breath, he grabs a pen and writes: “Happiness only real when shared.”
Happiness only REAL when SHARED. It’s a message the BIBLE whole-heartedly AGREES with. God, who is himself Trinity - Father, Son and Spirit - created US, humanity, in his very OWN inherently relational image; indeed, we were made FOR relationship: with God, first and foremost. But with one ANOTHER as well. The very first thing in all of creation that was “NOT good”, was Adam’s ALONENESS. So God created Eve. And their “Fall” in the very next chapter really amounted to a FRACTURING of those relationships, both with God AND one another. And in many ways, our story ever SINCE, for thousands of years now, has been humanity trying desperately to regain what was lost: a REAL, SHARED HAPPINESS, with God and others.
This is what JESUS claimed he came to do: restore us to right relationship with God our Father, and thus, with ONE ANOTHER, God’s children, now brothers and sisters, as well.
But as anyone who has ever enjoyed (or ENDURED) any relationship knows all-too-well, there is a COST to every relationship, even the BEST ones. Even JESUS said, “Whoever would follow me (be in relationship with me) must take up his CROSS”. Real relationships are COSTLY.
And this morning in Galatians 6, the apostle Paul is going to flesh that out very practically for us: the GOOD, the BAD, and the GROUNDRULES of “living in gospel community” with one another.
The real, shared BLESSINGS, the real, honest BURDENS, and the required BEHAVIOR of “Living in Gospel Community”.
(SCRIPTURE:) Would you STAND with me as you’re able… Galatians 5:25-6:10 [Bibles… Info Bar…]:
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
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. 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.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
This is the word of God… Seated…
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Paul offers us SIX DEFINING MARKS here of true, gospel community. That IS, community that is the result of, is centered on, and is empowered by THE GOSPEL. You don’t get ANY of this life-giving, “real happiness”-producing community, belonging, fellowship… without the GOSPEL.
Now that doesn’t mean non-Christians don’t have friends. Sadly, to the Church’s SHAME, many of us grew up idolizing the kind of community that seemed to be enjoyed ONLY by those OUTSIDE the church, who didn’t have to fear being JUDGED for their sins, by the moral police: we dreamt of experiencing that same sense of belonging shared around Sam’s bar in the show “Cheers”, or the closeness and affection we saw between Chandler, Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe. We all LONG for it, deep down. But unfortunately, given our real-life experiences, the LAST place some of us would ever think to LOOK for it is THE CHURCH!
But here in Galatians 6, Paul says, “No; not only CAN you experience it, that belonging in the Church; you SHOULD experience it here; you MUST and you WILL… if we are doing it right at all.” This is the BEST place to find it. Why?
Because what is the GLUE that holds THIS community together: not BEER or an APARTMENT; brothers and sisters: we share the GOSPEL in common. The soul-saving, life-changing, eternity-securing good news of Jesus Christs’s life, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins and our reconciliation with God. …AND with one ANOTHER.
And we’re gonna see HOW that gospel touches and actuates all SIX of these defining marks of true community as we work our way through. But we can’t forget the CONTEXT here: Paul has spent MOST of the last 5 chapters reminding the Galatians, and US, of the gospel: “Jesus plus NOTHING”; Christ alone is wholly SUFFICIENT for our salvation. But while faith alone saves us, true saving faith is NEVER alone. And last week Paul detailed the FRUIT, the natural BY-product of a gospel-transformed, Spirit-filled heart: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control”. Those are the defining marks of an INDIVIDUAL who is “walking by the Spirit”.
NOW, in chapter 6, Paul turns his attention to the marks of a COMMUNITY that is “keeping in step”, LIVING by the Spirit.
#1- We oughta be marked by SELFLESS GOODNESS. (5:25-26; 6:9-10)
To the extent THAT we - v25 - “live by… keep in step with the Spirit”, we will “walk” in SELFLESS GOODNESS.
Paul has called us to radical selflessness no fewer than SIX times already in chapter 5 ALONE; every time he mentions “LOVE” - v6 “only faith working through LOVE counts”; v13: “through LOVE, serve one another”; v14: “the whole LAW is fulfilled in this one word: LOVE”; v22: “the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE” - and JESUS defined “love” AS SELFLESSNESS; “laying down your life for someone else” (Jn 15:13). And then we looked more closely last week at the Greek words for “kindness” and “gentleness” in particular and noted that they TOO really just boil down to SELFLESSNESS. And that’s how Paul ENDS ch5 now in v26 as well: “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
*CONCEITED means you’ve got a superiority complex - “I’m better than you”...
*ENVY is really the other side of the same coin: an inferiority complex; “you’re better (or better off) than me”.
What do BOTH share in common? A whole lot of focus on and concern for ME… for SELF. And that’s what this verb “provoking” right in the middle, that LINKS the two, what it really means: it means to “challenge” a rival; it means you approach relationships from a zero-sum, “Me VS you” vantage point. You can’t WIN, cuz then I’d LOSE.
According to Paul, there is no QUICKER way to RUIN any chance you may have of life-giving community; that’s why he lists it FIRST here.
AND why he circles BACK to it, and BOOKENDS this passage in vv9 & 10 by reiterating: “And let us not grow weary of doing good… as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those of the household of faith.”
Now: SO much there; for starters, I’ll remind you that “goodness to others” here, a.k.a. “KINDNESS” from last week, really is the opposite of the kind of SELF-CENTEREDNESS Paul described back in v25: “conceited, provoking, envying”. And Paul tells us SIX things about “doing good” here in vv9 & 10 alone:
First of all, who DOES it? V9: “And let US”; who is “us”. Back up to v8: those who “sow to the SPIRIT”. In other words, it is entirely possible to do something “NICE” for someone else, all the while sowing to your FLESH and therefore reaping CORRUPTION. People do the right thing for the wrong REASON all the TIME: cuz it makes them FEEL good, to help others; or sometimes, even more sinister, because it makes them feel morally SUPERIOR, to be the “helper” and not the “helpee”. Is that really “doing good”, if it’s still SELF-motivated; it may be “doing NICE”. But only when we sow to the SPIRIT do we “do GOOD”.
Second, then: what IS this “good” that we’re called to do? Think back to last week: it is acting in another’s best interest, even when it costs us.
Third: HOW do we do it? Perseveringly; “let’s not GROW WEARY of doing good… don’t GIVE UP”. Commentator Philip Ryken points out (263): “Originally the term (for “weary” here) was used to describe something that had gone slack, like an unstrung bow.” In other words: “When it comes to doing good to others, Christians don’t SLACK OFF”!
And by the way, what do you do when you DO feel yourself start to “grow weary”: “God, I’m not sure I can PUT UP with my ungrateful kids…
with my harsh husband… with my unsupportive wife…
with my needy sibling…
with my worldly co-workers…
with my superficial, disingenuous LIFE group…
“God- I keep doing GOOD to them! Pouring MYSELF out for what is in THEIR best interest, receiving little to NOTHING back in return, and I’m growing WEARY!” – What do you DO?
Isaiah 40: You wait for the LORD. Who “gives power to the faint…
Even youths shall grow weary [in this fallen world]...
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength…
they shall run [the race of faith] and not be weary” (vv29-31).
Fourth: WHEN do we do good? v10: whenever you possibly can, for as long as God LEAVES you here to do it; v10: “So then, as we have opportunity”. The Greek word there is kairos - “TIME”. As you have TIME, USE it to do GOOD to others. Meeting just got cancelled? Just got back some time, half hour of your day? Use it to do good. You’re 82… 88… 93 years OLD… and you’re STILL HERE?! As long as there’s TIME, USE it to do GOOD. Cuz one day time will run OUT, and in HEAVEN, you can’t do GOOD to others who are already living in PERFECTION! So do it NOW, while they still NEED it.
Fifth: WHY do we do good? YES, simply cuz it’s the right thing to do. YES, for the BEST reason of all: because it is pleasing to GOD. But interestingly, the motivation Paul offers us HERE in v9 is: “for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up”. Reap WHAT? Back up to v8: “the one who sows to the Spirit [and accordingly, does good to OTHERS,] will from the Spirit reap eternal LIFE.”
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory… he will separate people… And say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you… For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’... ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’” (Mt 25:31-40) Come REAP your eternal REWARD.
You say, “WAIT a minute; isn’t that works-RIGHTEOUSNESS?”
No, because there are gonna be a lot of GOATS on the LEFT, saying, “Jesus, Jesus, WE helped people TOO!” And they’re gonna have to hear him say BACK, “Yeah, but YOU did it for the wrong REASON; cuz it made YOU feel good, or feel superior. So clearly it’s not the “works” themselves that save you. It is our “sowing to the SPIRIT” - “My SHEEP fed and clothed and visited others because THEY were following ME, the Good Shepherd, who lays down his LIFE for others, in true SELFLESSNESS (Jn 10:11).
Sixth and LASTLY (for mark #1 anyway!): TO WHOM do we “do good”? V10: “to EVERYONE… but ESPECIALLY to the household of FAITH”, fellow BELIEVERS.
Do good to EVERYONE; even your ENEMIES, Paul says in Romans 12, those who do YOU harm. Nevertheless, “Repay no one evil for evil… but overcome evil with good.” (vv17-21)
So we do good to ALL… but ESPECIALLY to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re helping spearhead this food drive right now for ALL of our wider community, impacted by the government shut down. But we’re offering even more financial help than THAT to West Hills MEMBERS. Some might think, “Well that’s unfair and self-serving”; No, friends; that’s just BIBLICAL and PRACTICAL. We are our BROTHERS’ keepers - that means we must FIRST take care of those in the FAMILY. And after THAT, if we can STILL afford to do even MORE good for those OUTSIDE the family, then we’ll do our best, “as we have OPPORTUNITY”; the time and the resources, which are FINITE.
#2- Gospel community is marked by GENTLE RESTORATION. (6:1)
Once again, here, in just one verse, Paul manages to pack SO much in - the “who”, “what”, “when”, “how”, and “FOR whom” of restoration.
He starts, actually, with the “FOR whom”: “BROTHERS, if ANYONE…”. Two things that tells us:
*First of all, in general, we confront BELIEVERS stuck in sin (“brothers”); not UNBELIEVERS. Cuz why would you EXPECT anything different from someone who’s still spiritually DEAD inside? Don’t be surprised when SINNERS… SIN! But SAINTS… we confront.
*But second, those first three words of v1 tell us that we are ALL candidates for needed confrontation. “If ANYONE”; getting “caught up in sin” can happen to ANY of us. You think ELDERS ever need confronting? PASTORS?! If I had a NICKEL for every time someone had to call ME out on MY sin… NONE of us is exempt!
Second, we’re told WHEN to confront: “if anyone is caught in any transgression”. Now, there are TWO clues here, I think, that suggest we are NOT actually called to confront one another about EVERY SINGLE sin we may commit. The first hint is that the Greek text actually reads “caught in SOME transgression”, not “ANY transgression”. You could almost translate “caught in some PARTICULAR sin”. Now, Paul doesn’t identify WHICH sins, specifically. But he does give us a HINT, with his SECOND clue: the word “CAUGHT” here. The Greek word means “overcome” or “overtaken”. This is not a single, or occasional sin, but a PATTERN of ENSNAREMENT, and domination. In many, probably MOST cases, we should instead apply Paul’s advice from 1 Corinthians 13:7, that “love BEARS… it endures all things”. Or as PETER put it: “love COVERS OVER a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8); it ABSORBS them. That’s what you DO when you FORGIVE someone - you absorb their offense. Instead of holding it AGAINST them, making them PAY for it, YOU pay. You BEAR. You forgive.
But the kind of sin Paul has in mind here has not only “overtaken” its perpetrator; it THREATENS to overtake the wider church COMMUNITY. “Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump”, Paul warned the Corinthian church (5:6); unchecked sin SPREADS, like a virus or a CANCER. So in SOME cases we have no choice but to AMPUTATE; we “cut off” an unrepentant sinner, who refuses to acknowledge and turn from their wickedness. But long before you get THERE, Paul instructs us in Galatians 6, you FIRST seek to “RESTORE”.
That’s our THIRD sub-point now, the “what” here, is restoration. Before we rush to DISCIPLINE, we seek to RESTORE. That’s what JESUS had in mind when he counseled, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Mt 18:15) Restoration! That’s the goal in Galatians 6 too, with the brother or sister “ENSNARED” in sin: we confront in hopes of restoring. The Greek word means “to MEND”, as you would a broken NET or BONE.
Sadly, as Philip Ryken laments (245): “Christians do not always [make the best spiritual orthopedists]. Sometimes we ignore sin. Lacking the courage to confront it, we simply pretend it isn’t there… The bone is never set and the wound never heals. Other times Christians notice the broken bone of sin, but never get past making a diagnosis. They simply stand around talking about what bad shape the sinner is in… This kind of treatment is better known as GOSSIP. [Worst of all], there are even times when Christians CONDEMN sinners, blaming them for needing to go to the spiritual emergency room in the first place. They treat others like outcasts, harshly scolding them for being spiritually out of joint and apparently forgetting that they themselves are sinners in need of grace.”
What does a good doctor do? Not IGNORE, not GOSSIP, not BLAME or CONDEMN, but graciously confront, and gently restore, “mend”.
Because as JAMES observes in HIS letter, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone brings him back… whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover OVER (same word as Peter!) a multitude of sins.” (5:19-20)
Fourth, who does the restoring? “You who are SPIRITUAL”. Who’s THAT? The spiritual VARSITY team? Pastors and elders? No; that’s EVERYONE who’s filled with the Spirit, and who WALKS BY the Spirit. So there’s a sense in which EVERY Christian is called to be a “restorer”. And yet, there’s ANOTHER sense in which we really DO wanna find the most “spiritual”, and most “spiritually MATURE” believers for this work of restoration. Why? Because we’re gonna see in just a minute that it’s really hard to do this without EITHER falling prey that sin yourself, OR falling prey to SELF-RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTALISM. Holiness AND humility - it’s a rare combination.
Okay, lastly, and QUICKLY, since Paul used the same word back in his “fruit of the Spirit” list last week that we examined at length, but HOW do we restore a sinner? “In a spirit of GENTLENESS”. And we noted that the Greek word, praUtes, has a connotation of being not only “tender” but HUMBLE as well. It’s BOTH. I can’t be HARSH and condemning… OR self-righteous and JUDGY if I’m gonna confront you. Before pointing out the speck in YOUR eye, I better have checked for the plank in my OWN eye FIRST, cuz God knows it’s THERE!
And that’s part B to Paul’s answer of “HOW” we restore: gently and HUMBLY. CAUTIOUSLY, we might say, “Keeping watch on yourself, lest you TOO be tempted.” You better be acutely aware of your OWN proclivity to sin, even if that sin is just judging THEM for THEIR sin. According to JESUS, THAT is actually the WORSE sin. Jesus actually FORGAVE the TAX collector (the worst sin IMAGINABLE to a 1st c. Jew), but he confessed his sin and cried out, “Have MERCY on me, Lord!”, whereas the PHARISEE, who praised God that he wasn’t like the tax collector, a “SINNER”, and looked down his nose at others - Jesus CONDEMNED him. So be real careful, focusing on OTHERS’ sins.
“Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor 10:12)
#3- Gospel community is marked by HUMBLE HELPING. (6:2-3)
We are called to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Ryken observes (247): “This kind of spiritual work… takes more effort than restoring a sinner… It is less like setting a broken bone and more like carrying a stretcher.”
And the FIRST thing we should notice is that Paul just ASSUMES we’re gonna HAVE burdens, living in a fallen world. Jesus said as much as well, in John 16:33 “In this world you will have troubles”.
And finding ourselves “caught in sin” again is just ONE of the many burdens we might face: “sorrow, worry, doubt, failure, poverty, loneliness, illness, divorce, disability, depression” (Ryken, 248), debt, addiction, abuse, trauma, relational rifts… the list goes on.
Now, our GREATEST “burden-bearer”, of course, is the Lord himself. So 1 Peter 5:7 invites us to “cast all your cares on him, because he cares for you.” However, Ryken points out (238):
“often the way God lightens our load is by getting other Christians to do some of the carrying. If we are discouraged… it may be because we are trying to carry too much weight all by ourselves. God has given us one another. Every believer is called to be one of God’s bellhops, always ready to pick up someone else’s baggage… Some do it through prayer. Others offer warm hugs and speak kind words of comfort and sympathy. Still others help in practical ways, by cleaning the house, bringing a meal to share, or sharing an appropriate Christian book… [But in one way or another,] Christians always rally around to help.”
At least we OUGHT to. Jonathan Edwards noted that the BIGGEST reason Christians excuse ourselves from helping those in need is that we’ll say, “Well, they brought it on themselves.” To which Edwards’ replied: “Do you not know the gospel AT ALL? What Christ did for YOU, while YOU were yet a sinner? The filth He had to pull YOU out of… and pull OUT of YOU, YOUR heart?! Whose fault was THAT, the sin Jesus saved YOU from?! (from The Duty of Christian Charity, quoted by J.D. Greear, “Freed to Love” sermon)
So J.D. Greear quips, “You know the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto YOU.” Well here, Paul upgrades it to the Platinum rule: “Do unto others as Christ has done unto you.”
BUT, Greear continues, the problem is that “most of us want to give to others without it really costing us. We want to give without feeling the burden.” But is it really even a BURDEN then, if you DON’T feel it?
Let me add a THIRD reason we fail to bear one another’s burdens, and I’d actually argue that THIS is probably the single biggest reason: because we don’t KNOW about them.
Either you’re too disconnected from the church community - like, you hear the prayer requests for “Baby Jonah” (and Tommy and Cait) still in the hospital, or Jean Briggs’ grieving family, or Henry Stewart’s recovery, or John Leary & Amanda Wells’ job interviews, and you have absolutely NO idea who ANY of these people are; how are you gonna “bear their burdens”, in prayer, or otherwise, more practically, bring a meal to someone you don’t KNOW. Good excuse to GET to know ‘em, I’d say; so I can help bear their BURDEN!
But the even more PERVASIVE reason we don’t know each other’s burdens isn’t due to lack of connection, but lack of vulnerability. How many prayer requests go un-REQUESTED each week? And some of you, I know what you’re going through, and I’m thinking to myself, “I know I couldn’t go through that alone, or with just the pastor knowing, bearing… I know I’d want all the prayer and support I could GET!”
Brother, sister: don’t deprive us of the blessing of bearing your burden. I wanna “fulfill the law of Christ”; I wanna reap an eternal REWARD for “not giving up” on “doing good”, ESPECIALLY to my fellow brothers and sisters. Don’t cheat me OUT of that!
And don’t cheat YOURSELF out of the HELP. We ALL need it at times; even PAUL. As stalwart as he was, shared in 2 Corinthians 7: “when we came into Macedonia… we were afflicted at every turn — fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (vv5-6). We ALL need a Titus at times, don’t we? And need to BE a Titus, for someone ELSE (Merida, Galatians, 127). Even JESUS let himself be MINISTERED to; are you stronger than JESUS? Careful!
No, church, this is how we “fulfill the law of Christ” (v2). “A new commandment I give to you,” Jesus said in John 13:34, “that you love one another”. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word,” Paul told us back in chapter 5: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”” (5:14).
Now, there is one more ESPECIALLY pernicious reason we sometimes fail to help others, which Paul mentions now in v3: PRIDE. “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
Ryken comments (250): “The way we treat others depends in large measure on what we think about ourselves. People who have a rather high opinion of themselves are generally unwilling to carry anyone else’s baggage. They are too self-centered to be self-giving. They think serving others is beneath their dignity… This attitude was especially common in the ancient world, where it was considered demeaning to help others”.
That’s what made Christianity so RADICALLY counter-cultural: our hero got FAMOUS helping others - feeding them, healing their diseases - and then he DIED to bear our GREATEST burden of ALL - our SIN - in the most ignoble, SHAMEful way imaginable: naked, mocked, SPIT upon, and hung on a criminal’s cross.
“Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows…
he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many…
[and] his soul makes[i] an offering for [our] guilt” (Isa 53:4-12)
Praise God, Church, that bearing burdens wasn’t “beneath” Jesus! Let’s not “DECEIVE” ourselves into thinking it’s beneath US.
#4- Gospel community is marked by SELF-REFLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY-TAKING. (6:4-5)
“But”, Paul goes on, “let each one test his own work… and boast… in himself alone… For each will have to bear his own load.” – At first pass, this APPEARS to be at odds with what Paul’s already said in TWO ways:
First of all, what is this “reason to boast will be in himself alone” business? He just TOLD us in the very last VERSE “Don’t think you’re SOMETHING when you’re NOTHING”. Next week, in v14, Paul’s gonna CONCLUDE his letter by saying, “I don’t boast in ANYTHING but the cross of CHRIST”. So what does he mean in v4 here?
In this case, our ESV Bibles may actually render the Greek TOO literally; the NIV translates more idiomatically: “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else”. Ryken explains (251): “Instead of comparing ourselves to others [think back to v26’s “provoking”, “CHALLENGING”, “Me vs. You” thinking”; instead of THAT… which can be ESPECIALLY tempting BOTH when you are RESTORING a sinner (“I’m better than you”) OR helping carry burdens (“I’m so great”); instead of comparing…]
we should test ourselves against GOD’S standard, which is the only one that counts. This kind of testing - or self-examination, as the Puritans called it - is a necessary part of the spiritual life.”
Cuz UN-spiritual people look HORIZONTALLY, at the neighbors across the street and conclude, “Well I must be a pretty good person… I’m better than THEM!”. But the Christian knows the ONLY standard that matters is the VERTICAL one; how she compares against GOD’S perfect will for us. And when we do THAT, how much “reason to BOAST” does any of us have? I think Paul writes that tongue-in-cheek. He exhorts us in Romans 12:3, “not to think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to, but to think with sober judgment”. Don’t think you’re SOMETHING when you’re NOTHING.
The SECOND tension here is v5’s “bear his own load”; I thought we were to bear ONE ANOTHER’S burdens; SHARE them?
Paul actually uses a different Greek word here for “load” (phortion) than he used previously for “burden” (“baros”). A baros is an unbearable weight; a phortion was the word for a “soldier’s pack”. Perhaps heavy, but bearable.
Terminal cancer is a burden no one ought to bear alone; the Covid I had 2 weeks ago: load. I may request prayer for it, but we’re not calling a special church-wide intercessory meeting.
Your 40 year-old daughter tells you she hates you and never wants to speak to you again: that’s a burden I hope you’d invite your life group into. Your FOUR year old daughter tells you the same thing; that’s just a load you get to bear for now, parent.
Writing a 5,700 word exposition every single week, so I can stand up here and speak on GOD’S behalf (no pressure!) - at times that feels like a BURDEN. And I may start sharing it a little more often with the other pastors and elders. But MOST weeks, that’s just my load to bear.
The DIFFICULTY comes in discerning the difference. Tony Merida observes (Galatians, 129); “Some treat everything like a “load”. They refuse to tell anyone or ask for help. That is not healthy. But others treat everything like a burden, occupying hours of people’s time with things they should take care of themselves.”
So how do you KNOW? Just ask. Ask GOD first, but ask those around you as well: “Be honest with me: am I just being needy, overly dramatic here?” Ask ME! I’ll shoot you straight. 🙂
#5- Gospel community is marked by GRATEFUL GENEROSITY. (6:6)
“Let the one who is taught the word [that’s Y’ALL]] share all good things with the one who teaches [that’s ME]”. If this really IS God’s word - “God has spoken to us; here it IS!” - if that’s TRUE, then don’t you WANT someone - NEED someone! - whose (almost) exclusive JOB it is to study it and understand it and then explain it and help you APPLY this word, in your life?
I hope you appreciate it. I know COLLECTIVELY you do; I think I’m well-paid, I am (usually) well-encouraged. If you DON’T do a good job, personally, of “sharing all good things” with me - kind words, generous giving - I’m gonna tell you what I tell my wife every time I start to feel unappreciated: “Don’t give me hugs and compliments NOW; right after I’ve ASKED for them (or in Y’ALL’S case this morning: right after God’s TOLD you to!); maybe wait a few days… weeks, so it’ll feel more GENUINE. 🙂
(And btw: “good” is a relative term. Next year we’re doing no CARBS for Pastor Appreciation month; not so “good” for my WAISTline. 🙂)
But one last serious note on “SHARING”: JD Greear points out “It’s significant that Paul used the word “share” here rather than “give.” The difference… is commitment. When all you do is give, you can say, “OK, I paid my dues, now you do the work of the ministry.” When you “share,” you’ve taken ownership of the mission. You say, “This church’s mission is my mission… and I’m willing to do whatever God asks to see that mission multiply.”
You wanna share something good with ME? Share the MISSION. Share the good NEWS with those around you who desperately need to hear it. THEN I’ll know I’m not laboring in vain up here every week; that the message getting through.
“They’re DYING; we’ve got the MEDICINE; now let’s get it OUT, together.”
Lastly, #6 - Gospel community is marked by SIN-SLAYING SPIRIT-SOWING. (6:7-8)
We’ve talked about this at length the previous TWO weeks now, so I’ll simply let Paul’s REMINDER to us here suffice: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
You can “sow to your FLESH”, and live for your-SELF, but it brings only DEATH. Or you can “sow to the SPIRIT”, and live for CHRIST, and reap eternal LIFE. It’s that simple.
But friend, do not be DECEIVED into thinking you can EITHER reap what you don’t SOW (cuz if you don’t live for Christ NOW, you won’t be living WITH him for ETERNITY!)... OR into thinking you won’t have to one day give an ACCOUNT: Romans 2:6- “God will render to each one according to his works: to those who… in well-doing seek for glory and honor… he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth… there will be wrath and fury.”
Now as soon as you HEAR that, you know we can’t POSSIBLY end there. Because the reality is that you and I prove to be “self-seeking”, truth-disobeyers pretty much every day of our LIVES! So what do we do when we’ve FAILED?
When we slip up and sow to the FLESH again?
When we FAIL to be grateful or generous with others?
When we FAIL to bear our own loads well?
Or fail to help OTHERS carry their BURDENS?
Or fail to restore gently?
When we DO become “conceited, provoking, envying”?
What do we DO?!
We trust in the One who showed US “selfless goodness”, and “gently restored” us, by bearing our burdens, our sins, on the CROSS. The One who, despite our UN-gratefulness, showed us the meaning of true generosity - “though he was rich, yet for your sake [Jesus] became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). We trust in the One who slayed sin and death once for ALL that He might reap eternal life FOR US!
Friends: we trust in JESUS. Happiness is only REAL when it’s shared with HIM.
Let’s pray…