LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

Indicators of a Spirit-Led Life

Galatians 6:1-18

INTRODUCTION

The majority of Galatians dealt with Paul’s defense of his gospel of grace. After defending the truth that a person is made right with God only by responding by faith, Paul had the task to explain how grace leads to a righteous life. There is always the fear that whenever a person does away with the Law that the person will lapse into lawlessness. "Not so," says Paul. Attached to his gospel of grace is the Law of the Spirit. Applying the Law of the Spirit to your life results in a life of love which more than produces a righteous life. Whereas the Law of Moses primarily prevented people from only harming others, the Law of the Spirit results in people doing good to others. From now on Christians are to live a life under the leadership of the Spirit.

A Major Word of Caution. Too often we get giddy over Paul's teaching on freedom. The giddiness I fear many times comes from a misinterpretation of what Paul is saying. Paul is NOT saying that because we are free we can act irresponsibly. Such Christians can become so irresponsible that only a 2-year old can rival them in their behavior. Neither are we to neglect the feelings of others as we express our freedom in Christ. Always remember that the Spirit leads us to LOVE others. When we are purposely doing things which might unnecessarily offend another person, then we are NOT living according to the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ within you wished to promote Christ and love through you. Anything less is living according to the flesh, a lifestyle as dangerous as living under the Law.

In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul listed some general characteristics of the person who is being led by the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The question remains as to how these different characteristics play out specifically in life. In other words, in certain situations how will the Spirit lead you and me to act in love or out of patience? Chapter 6 provides us with examples of Spirit-led behavior. If you or I are involved in the kinds of situations listed in chapter 6, then the Spirit will guide us to respond in the following ways listed in chapter 6. (Some have reduced this passage to being nothing more than just a list of things Christians should or should not do. It is almost as if they have deleted the Spirit from the Christian life and have set up another list of laws to replace Moses’ Law. This is simply not true in light of the numerous times that Paul mentions the Spirit even these next 10 verses).

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of examples of the way people act in following the Spirit. For example, when you read Eph. 5:19-33 and Eph. 6:1ff., you will see other indicators of the person led by the Spirit. In these passages the Spirit-led wife submits to her husband, while the Spirit-led husband loves his wife the way Christ loves the church. The Spirit-led child will honor and obey his parents, while the Spirit-led father will bring his children up in the instruction and discipline of the Lord. Looking at these different passages gives a beautiful picture of the kind of life the Spirit-led person will live. (Now note that if these things are not true in your life, you should not focus on them; these are gauges or indicators. If the thermostat indicates it is 50 degrees outside, you don’t strike a match under the thermostat. Instead, you go back to the Spirit, get things corrected with Him, and then let Him lead you to start treating your spouse the way Christ would have you to, etc.)

One other issue needs to be addressed before looking at these specific indicators in chapter 6. Does the Law of Moses have any relevance for the Christian today? Remember that Jesus Himself did away with the dietary laws (Mark 7:19), while His sacrifice on the cross made the sacrificial system totally irrelevant (Heb. 10:14). What about the Ten Commandments? Don’t they function as a type of guide for the believer? No. The only guide for the believer now is the Spirit. Having said that, we must also say though that the Spirit will never contradict what God communicated to Moses in the Ten Commandments. God is consistent and as such will not contradict Himself. The Ten Commandments serve as a type of identifier helping us know whether something we hear is from the Spirit or from Satan/the flesh. For example, if I feel a compulsion to murder (or hate) somebody, I can be sure that the Spirit is not the one who impressing this upon me because the Spirit will never violate the 6th commandment not to murder. Once again though the focus is not on the command but on the Spirit. The command just helps me identify just exactly who it is who impresses certain things upon me at the moment.

RESTORATION OF A FELLOW BELIEVER (6:1)

How does the believer who is Spirit-led respond to the situation in which another believer is caught in sin? Note several observations about this verse. First, it assumes that sometimes some believers are going to be caught in sin. In Gal. 5:17 Paul explained that 2 opposing natures live in the believer, the flesh (human nature we were born with) and the Spirit (given to us at the time of salvation). Until Christ returns and does away with our old sinful, human nature, we are going to experience a great struggle within ourselves. Hopefully, most of the time we will experience tremendous victory; unfortunately sometimes we will fall. What is even sadder is that some Christians cross the line and commit a sin which does serious harm not only to himself but also to the church. In that situation the Spirit-led Christians must take certain steps.

The second observation is that the person receiving restoration or discipline is actually guilty of sin he is accused of. Innuendoes and hearsay are not grounds for disciplining anybody. Hard evidence is required. In Matt. 18:16 Jesus says that only on the basis of at least 2 witnesses should discipline be administered. (Now a witness is somebody who has actually witnessed the sin occurring; not someone who was told that the other person had committed a sin. That person is a gossip, not a witness.) This is reinforced by the word "caught" in verse 1. The word literally means "surprised." It is as if the person was caught red-handed or actually caught in the act of committing that sin. Hard evidence and nothing less is required for disciplining.

The third observation is that discipline should be administered only by Spirit-led persons. In any church you have good people who are not led by the Spirit and good people who are led by the Spirit. You also have people who are "righteous" and not led by the Spirit in addition to "righteous" people who are led by the Spirit. The operative clause here is "led by the Spirit." Since the church belongs to no one less than Jesus Christ, then discipline should be administered the way He wants it administered. The person led by the Spirit is going to administer discipline the way Christ Himself would administer discipline. Be wary of allowing people who are always judgmental and critical of others to administer discipline. Many times they are the least qualified spiritually to administer it.

Next, whenever the Spirit-led person tries to restore the fallen brother, he should do so in a spirit of gentleness (part of the fruit of the Spirit). He is not coming in to destroy the brother; he is coming in to restore the brother. The word "restore" literally means "to mend," like "to mend a fishing net." Many times we want to wreak vengeance upon another person while Christ all along is trying to restore the very person He has died for.

Paul says that the reason the Spirit-led person should restore gently is that failure to do so could result in that person himself falling into the very sin he is trying to deal with. Instead of being sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, some people come flying through the door and try to discipline the fallen brother in an arrogant manner. They are setting themselves up for a major fall. They’re attitude many times is "Oh, I would never do such and such a thing." The moment they cop that attitude they are becoming more and more susceptible to committing that very sin. We are weak all over. Acknowledging it and trying to shore up our weaknesses with the power of the Spirit is the only way to prevent us from falling. Thinking that we in and of ourselves are strong is a sure recipe for disaster.

BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS (6:2-5)

The next situation the Spirit-led believer finds himself in occasionally is that of helping a fellow-believer. Paul claims that the Spirit-led believer is going to help fellow Christians who need help. Note that one essential here is that the other Christian has a legitimate need. In verse 5 Paul commands believers to bear their own burdens. Sometimes Christians have legitimate needs which can be met only by another believer; at other times Christians have needs they need to meet on their own with the help of the Lord.

This is not the only passage in which Paul deals with helping other believers. Two groups of people who received special attention in the early church were orphans and widows. Deuteronomy also adds the legal alien. These more than any other are susceptible to abuse from other people. Note that simply because they are susceptible to abuse does not mean that they are automatically qualified to receive assistance. In discussing the role of the church in helping widows Paul said that the widows must meet certain criteria before the church was to help them: (1) they were not to have family members who could help them; (2) they were to have a good reputation for good works; (3) they were to have washed the disciples’ feet; (4) they were to be at least 60 years of age; (5) they were to have shown hospitality to other believers during their younger years (1 Tim. 5:3-16). This is important because in today’s society financial strain many times is the only criterion we use to measure whether or not somebody needs help.

Paul claims that whenever we help somebody else with their need, then we are fulfilling the Law of Christ. Whatever else the gospel is about, it is primarily about the fact that mankind is in desperate need of spiritual help and yet cannot help itself. Only God can help mankind out of this spiritual mess. God in Christ did just that very thing, help us out of that spiritual mess. Helping others in need is the only legitimate way we can demonstrate that we too needed God’s help.

Verses 3 and 4 are somewhat difficult to interpret. Whichever direction you take in interpreting these verses, this much is true—somebody is arrogant and thinks that he is either beyond needing help or else beyond helping somebody else. Paul encourages this person to do a thorough self-examination before he cops that attitude. Some of us evaluate ourselves by simply OK-ing anything and everything we do simply because we did it. In that system of evaluation, what is done is not as important as who did it. Another way we evaluate ourselves is by comparing ourselves with somebody else. Now we never compare ourselves with somebody who is doing far better than ourselves. We tend to compare ourselves with others doing a lot worse. Instead we need to go to the Lord and allow Him to reveal to us our true spiritual condition. When we do that, we are going to discover that in some areas of our life, we are going to need help in order to make it spiritually (God has not given to any Christian all the spiritual gifts). When we realize that we too need help, we are going to be more open to others who need the help that only we can give.

FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES (6:6)

The next element Paul addresses is that of the relationship between the ministers and those to whom they minister. God will always lead the Spirit-led believer to support financially ministries and ministers. He is implying that the believer who does not do this is not Spirit-led.

On first glance this may appear like we are reading too much into this verse; however, when you realize that this is not the only time Paul addresses this issue, you will realize this is the meaning of this verse. In 1 Cor. 9, Rom. 15:27 and 1 Tim. 5:17-18 Paul deals with this issue at length. For Paul it is inconceivable that those who are fed spiritually should not feed the ministers physically (Rom. 15:27). In fact he claims that those ministers who are involved in the ministry of the Word should receive double honoraria (1 Tim. 5:17). Paul is placing the ministry of the Word at the top of the list of ministries Christians should engage in (see 1 Cor. 12:28). Whereas other ministries are good and valid, they too should be governed by God’s Word. Many times Activities Ministries in the church can devolve into nothing more than fun and recreation. China painting is fine; however, it pales when compared to the ministries of the Word.

Why would a person refuse to support financially the ministers who have blessed him spiritually? For the simple reason that his system of values radically differs from God’s. In his opinion his money is more valuable than what he receives through the preaching/teaching of God’s Word. The problem is not that he does not have enough money but that his system of values is not God’s system of values.

A SERIOUS WARNING (6:7-9)

In these injunctions Paul has not given a list of suggestions we can mull over and do with as we please. In rejecting what Paul is saying, he claims that we are rejecting God Himself. Moreover, when we reject these injunctions we are copping an attitude which can lead to disaster. The person who neglects what Paul says here is sneering at God. The image behind the word "mocked" has to do with a person’s nose. The person who rejects what Paul says here is either turning up his nose at God or is thumbing his nose at God. Either action shows a disdain for God Himself. Well, Paul says that you and I cannot adopt such an attitude with impunity.

Paul claims that each and every one of us is a spiritual farmer who will one day reap a harvest. That is a given. There’s nothing we can do about that. We will one day reap whether we like it or not. What we can determine though is what we will reap. Now only two kinds of harvest are possible, not three, and not one you or I may want to devise. Only two kinds are possible. We simply determine which one we will reap. The first harvest is corruption, devastation. The second harvest is eternal life, the life of God Himself. What I sow determines what I will reap. If I sow to the flesh, that is, if I decide to live life apart from the leadership of the Holy Spirit, then I am going to reap devastation, corruption. On the other hand, if I live life under the leadership of the Spirit, then I am going to reap eternal life.

Now many Christians are dead set on reaping eternal life even when they live life apart from the leadership of the Spirit. In fact they insist that this is what will happen to them. They would be like a foolish farmer who pitched a fit because he reaped a crop of corn when he sowed cottonseed. If the attitude of that farmer is foolish, how much more foolish is the attitude of the person who sows fleshly seed and yet expects to reap spiritual harvests.

Unfortunately many of us have a microwave-able attitude towards life. If we sow spiritual things today, we expect an abundant spiritual harvest tomorrow. Well, just like it takes time to grow crops out in the fields, so it takes time to grow spiritual crops. If physical crops emerge when they’ve been sown, tilled, sunned, and watered, then you can bank on it that spiritual crops will come whenever we sow, till, sun, and water to the Spirit.

VALUE YOUR SPIRITUAL FAMILY (6:10)

In verse 10 Paul is summarizing the life the Spirit produces in a person—"do good to all men." Whatever else the Spirit does, whenever we follow Him, He guides us to do good to all people. More than that He guides us to do good especially to "those who are of the household of the faith."

The idea behind "household of the faith" is that of the family. The Bible takes very seriously the concept of the family. For example, not only in the Ten Commandments but also in Paul’s letters do we find an emphasis on parents caring for their children and children honoring their parents. According to Paul whenever a family member is in need, the family is primarily responsible for helping that family member. He claims that if a person does not take care of his family when he has the means to do so, he is worse than an infidel (unbeliever, 1 Tim. 5:8).

Well, as important as our physical families are, our spiritual families are even more important. This is the family Paul is referring to here in verse 10. When we accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, His Spirit came into our lives so that we became children of God just like He is God’s child. It follows logically that if God is my Father and God is your Father, then you and I are brothers and sisters because of our relationship with Christ. God is deadly serious about this relationship. Every other relationship you have will one day dissolve; the one between you and God and the one between you and other believers though will be eternal.

An example of this is our relationship with our children. Right now Nathan and Molly are "under" me, so to speak. As they grow and mature, they will become full adults. That relationship though will change. When I baptized Nathan, I said, "I baptize you my son and now my brother . . ." When I baptized Molly, I said, "I baptize you my daughter and now my sister . . ." One day they will no longer be my son and daughter, only my brother and sister in Christ. Our relationships with each other based upon our relationship with Christ are eternal. As such we need to value them and focus on them more than many times we do.

Shouldn't we focus on the lost instead of the church family? The answer is yes and no. Although you take care of your family at home, you also look to the needs of others. We should actually focus on both, with the primary emphasis being a focus on the church family.

Why would you focus first on your church family though and then on the lost? Don't we want the lost to get saved? Yes, that is the reason we first place emphasis on the church family--we want people to join that family in order to be saved. Now who is going to want to join our family if we neglect that family? How many times as a young person did you want to go to a friend's house because his family was really neat and loving? You didn't want to go to a friend's house where the parents mistreated their children. You invited those kids to your house in order to rescue them. When we don't love and care for one another in the church, the world sees it and decides it wants no part of that church family. Family first, NOT family ONLY. It is an OPEN family though which welcomes and INVITES new people to join that family. John says that is the way to win a lost world (1 John 4:12).