LETTER TO THE GALATIANS
How to Live the Christian Life Apart from the Law—
INTRODUCTION: Introduction: Live SPECIFICALLY, NOT GENERALLY!!!
Up to this point, Paul has been speaking in generalities. Generalities can get you into trouble though. You may FEEL loving, but are you truly loving? You may FEEL patient, but are you truly being patient?
Paul introduces this section by informing us that by means of the cross of Christ, our old sin nature was crucified, put to death. The cross has that kind of power in our lives (it won’t be completely dead, though, until Christ returns and finishes what He started).
Next, Paul encourages us to live consistently what is true about us. The Spirit of Christ came to produce the very life of Christ within us; therefore, we are not only to live by the Spirit in a general way, we are to walk by the Spirit, that is, let the Spirit work in our lives in each and every area of our lives. The Spirit living within us has practical applications for our lives on a DAILY BASIS! The Spirit is not here to produce feelings; He’s here to produce a life. The Spirit of God's Son is within us to produce on a daily basis the very life that Christ lives. When that life is produced within us, then we are truly becoming what Christ saved us to be: sons and daughters of God.
SPECIFIC WORKS OF THE SPIRIT
| 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, challenging one another, envying one another. 1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load. 6 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 will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. |
Pride
The first action of the truly spiritual person is actually presented in a negative way, the issue of pride: “Let us NOT become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” According to C.S. Lewis, the worst of all sins is pride. It is the sin of the spirit, not of the flesh. As a result, it is worse than sexual immorality, murder, homosexuality, etc. (In case you think that sins of the flesh are worse than sins of the spirit, remember this: Satan is pure spirit.) Moreover, in Mere Christianity Lewis claims that competition is at the heart of pride. The Christian is not to be in competition with other people, especially with other Christians.
Too often I’ve seen ministers and other Christians so jealous of other ministers and other Christians. You want to know if you are jealous or are in competition with others? Examine your feelings whenever you hear that another person’s child is doing great at school or at work. Do you rejoice or do you find something you can criticize that kid about? Suppose you’re a SS teacher and another teacher in the church has a bigger class than you. Are you happy for their success, or are you concerned that the other teacher is not as deep as you are in God’s Word? Do you rejoice when other churches in the town do well, or do you automatically claim that they are doing well simply because they have more money than your church does? Do you have the same kind of attitude that the famous American author, Gore Vidal, had? “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” Your answer to questions like these shows you whether or not you are competitive.
Restoring a Fallen Christian
The second action of a truly spiritual person, of a person truly led by the Holy Spirit, is he restores a fallen Christian in a spirit of gentleness. A long time ago I heard a preacher say that the Christian army is the only army which shoots its wounded. “You sinned? Well,” (Bam!) “take that, sinner!” How unlike the U.S. Armed Services which has as one its motto “Never leave a comrade behind!” even if he/she is wounded or dead.
One of the most wonderful stories about the Apostle John shows his concern for other Christians (the story comes from Clement of Alexandria through the church historian Eusebius as recounted by William Barclay).
| “John became a kind of bishop of Asia Minor and was visiting one of his churches near Ephesus. In the congregation he saw a tall and exceptionally fine-looking young man. He turned to the elder in charge of the congregation and said to him: “I commit that young man into your charge and into your care, and I call this congregation to witness that I do so.” The elder took the young man into his own house and cared for him and instructed him, and the day came when he was baptized and received into the church. But very soon afterwards he fell in with evil friends and embarked on such a career of crime that he ended up by becoming the leader of a band of murdering and pillaging brigands. Some time afterwards John returned to the congregation. He said to the elder: “Restore to me the trust which I and the Lord committed to you and to the church of which you are in charge.” At first the elder did not understand of what John was speaking. “I mean,” said John, “that I am asking you for the soul of the young man whom I entrusted to you.” “Alas!” said the elder, “he is dead.” “Dead?” said John. “He is dead to God,” said the elder. “He fell from grace; he was forced to flee from the city for his crimes and now he is a brigand in the mountains.” Straightway John went to the mountains. Deliberately he allowed himself to be captured by his robber band. They brought him before the young man who was now the chief of the band and, in his shame, the young man tried to run away from him. John, though an old man, pursued him. “My son,” he cried, “are you running away from your father? I am feeble and far advanced in age; have pity on me, my son; fear not; there is yet hope of salvation for you. I will stand for you before the Lord Christ. If need be I will gladly die for you as he died for me. Stop, stay, believe! It is Christ who has sent me to you.” The appeal broke the heart of the young man. He stopped, threw away his weapons, and wept. Together he and John came down the mountainside and he was brought back into the church and into the Christian way.” |
At the end of verse 1, Paul gives us the reason we should restore one another in a spirit of gentleness. What reason does he give?
Failing to restore a fallen Christian in a spirit of gentleness may open us up to the sin of pride ("I am better than that person because I would never do such a thing as that!"--again, we see the spirit of competition at work!) When we fall into the sin of pride, we are falling into the sin of Satan and are very vulnerable to falling just like he fell.
Bearing Others’ Burdens
We must bear the burdens of others when necessary, and we must let others bear their own burdens when they are able. Unfortunately, too often in the U.S. and in the American church, one of 2 attitudes prevails:
The truth is that both attitudes are right at the appropriate times. Whether we like it or not, some people will never be able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and make a real go of it. They may be mentally handicapped. They may be locked in a poverty cycle from which they will never be able to free themselves. Such people do exist, and they do need the church’s help; actually they need YOUR help!
At other times though, some people CAN help themselves. We are not really helping them because they are simply using us. They are freeloaders. We are not only not helping them whenever we extend aid to them, we are actually hurting them, preventing them from becoming full-functioning adults. Paul is quite clear on this issue: “If any one will not work [notice he says “will” not “can’t”], neither let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).
If we are going to err, though, it is better to err on the side of helping people when they don’t actually need it; however, we need to get each situation as right as possible.
Financially Supporting Teachers/Pastors in the Church
Next, we who are being taught by the pastor/teacher in the church have the moral duty to provide for that pastor/teacher financially. How important is this issue? Paul actually devotes nearly all of 1 Cor. 9 to this issue. (He mentions this same principle again in 1 Tim. 5:17, 18.)
Apparently, there were some in the Corinthian churches who felt that they shouldn’t pay their pastor. “After all, he only works on Sundays and Wednesdays, one and a half days each week.” First of all, such a statement is ludicrous. Ministers put in a whole lot more hours than many in the congregation know. PLUS they put in some late hours others in the church don’t know about. He may be at the hospital at 5 in the morning to pray with somebody before they go into surgery. They may be up late consoling someone who has just lost a loved one. You don’t know the hours the ministers keep. Some trust would be nice here on our part.
However, suppose the minister did work just a few days each week (which he doesn’t). Why would that change anything? We build multi-million-dollar buildings which are used mainly on Wednesdays and Sundays. The question is not how often we use the buildings or how often the pastor works. The question is how valuable that time is. Is worship on Sundays valuable? When you get sick, do you need the pastor to come visit you in the hospital? How about when a loved one dies? You find out really quickly how valuable that pastor is.
Now some will say they don’t care if the pastor visits them when they get sick. They say that only when they are well though. Before my mom had heart surgery in 2002, she said: “Now I don’t want B.F. (the pastor at FBC Corsicana at that time) to take some of his precious time to visit me in the hospital. He’s got more important things to do than that.” When she got sick, though, her whole attitude changed. “Where’s B.F.? I sure hope B.F. is going to come pray with me!” It was comical but also quite sweet the way she acted then. It’s easy to talk big when you’re well or are not grieving. It’s quite another thing when you are sick or are grieving.
When it is all said and done, it is all a question of value. What is more valuable? Your money or the ministry you receive from the pastor? Your attitude towards supporting the pastor financially reflects those values.
By the way, Paul was not the only one who claimed that those ministered to should financially supported those who minister. What did Jesus Himself about the worker and support in Matt. 10:9, 10?
Reaping and Sowing
Paul concludes this section with two general statements, first on spiritual reaping and sowing. Bottom line is this: you will reap what you sow. It is true not only in the natural realm; it is also true in the spiritual realm. If a farmer sowed beans in a field during the spring and then griped and complained because he didn’t harvest wheat in that same field in the fall, everybody would rightfully think that he was crazy. Well, we have a lot of Christians who go around sowing to the flesh—living for themselves and not for Christ and then getting upset when their lives end in shambles. You sow to the wind and you will reap the whirlwind.
Too often many Christians despair when they read Paul’s words here. They have not sown to the Spirit but the to flesh. They realize that they are going to reap the whirlwind. Just like in the story of the house built on the rock or on the sand, several immutable principles are operating here. First, you are going to sow. You may sow to he flesh or you may sow to the Spirit, but you are going to sow. You have no say in that matter, Second, you are going to reap. You will reap the good things because you sowed to the Spirit; you will reap the whirlwind because you sowed to the flesh-but you are going to reap. No if’s, and’s, and but’s about it. You do have one choice though; you can choose to sow to the Spirit by following the Spirit daily or you can sow to the flesh by doing your own thing daily. That’s the only choice you and I have in this matter.
But what if I have sown to the flesh all these years? Is all lost? No, because even today, though you may be reaping from what you sowed in the past, you are still sowing today for the future. I can’t change what I reap today because I have already sown in the past; however, I can determine what I reap in the future by sowing to the Spirit right here and now. The focus should be on the sowing I am doing right now and not worry about what has happened in the past.
Charity Towards the Household of the Faith
The second concluding statement commands us not only to do good to ALL men but especially to whom?
Now that last statement surprises some people. In the contemporary church we’ve been told all day long that we should not focus on church members; rather all our efforts should be on reaching the lost.
Well, no and not really. The primary focus should be on ministering to the church, not to the lost. Why? What are you trying to get the lost to do? You are trying to get them to join the family of God. Now suppose you neglect that family. Is anybody seriously going to want to join that family? No. A lot of us have or have had children. Some kids always want to bring other kids to their homes. Others would rather drop dead than have other kids visit their home. Parents need to take this personally. It shows you what your kids think of your parenting and your care for them. If the family is cared for, it is going to want to reach out to bring others into the family—and those visiting your family will want to join that family. Well, when we neglect the family of God, the same thing happens—the family is miserable and spreads only terrible stories about their family. The result is that the lost reject the church and the salvation it offers.
Second, it is only morally right to take care of your family first, not exclusively, but first. If a dad took care of the neighbors’ kids but neglected his own, everybody would think he was a horrible person. Not just a bad dad but also a horrible person. The old saying is true: “Charity starts at home.” Again, this does not mean that we neglect the lost; we do reach out; however, the primary focus should be on the family.
This applies also to giving to the poor. Jesus said what separates the goats from the sheep—the goats going to hell and the sheep to heaven—is the way they treated the CHRISTIAN poor (Matt. 25:31-48). But I thought that whether or not I went to heaven depended on the way I treat Jesus. That’s true. Completely true. But according to Jesus, when I have treated the Christian poor with charity, whom have I actually treated with charity (25:40)?
The fact, though, is that when a person becomes a Christian, he is so identified with Christ that the way you treat that person is the way you treat Christ. The best way I can determine whether or not I love Christ is the way I treat the CHRISTIAN poor, the Christ who is poor.
When I help the Christian rich or the Christian powerful, am I helping them because I love Christ or because I feel like I can benefit from helping them? When I help the Christian poor, when I know that person can offer me nothing back in return, I know that I helped him or her only because they are Christ to me.
If you or I are serious about Christ, then we are going to be serious about helping Christ by helping the poor Christ in our midst, the Christian poor.
In case you don’t think this is all that serious an issue, when you have time, do a brief study on the importance of caring for the poor not only in the OT but also in the NT.
Again, the focus will be on helping the Christian poor (just like the focus in Islam is on helping the Islamic poor).
The concluding verses of Galatians are anticlimatic. Even though the concluding verses may be anticlimatic, they don't take away from the force of this tiny epistle. Galatians is the clarion call to a life of faith, not only at the beginning of one's relationship with Christ but throughout one's relationship with Christ. As Paul said in Rom. 1:17, "For in it [the gospel itself] the righteousness of God is revealed FROM FAITH TO FAITH, as it is written, 'But the righteous man shall live by FAITH.'"