Grace From Galatians (17 Of 19)

Paul’s concept of the church throughout the scriptures is that the Believers are the family of God.

WHY IS HE ADDRESSING THEM?

He is addressing them because people in the family of God are supposed to love one another as a LOVING FAMILY.

Like all families, the family of God has times when people need to assist and take care of some of the family members who are in need of help. These verses of scripture tell us how this is to be done by the family of God.

Let’s first look at-

I. WHO IS TO DO IT

Look at Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

After addressing the family of God as “Brethren,” he refers to the one needing assistance as a “man.” Look at verse 1 again, “Brethren, if a man…”

WHY DOES HE REFER TO THE FAMILY MEMBER AS A “MAN”?

Because as members of the family of God we must never forget that each of us are merely humans. Each one of us is subject to the same desires, passions, and urges and temptations as the rest.

• Sometimes people in the family of God will be talking about another member of the family of God, and they will say, “I do not understand how they could do such a thing!”

• This kind of response many times is no more than SINFUL PRIDE. In other words they are saying, “I could never do a thing like that!”

Listen, it should never shock us that some in the family of God will fall into sin sometimes, because they are mortals subject to the same temptations we are tempted with.

1 Cor. 10:13, says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

We all face the same kind of temptations, and we are all human and are tempted by these things. The Lord can always be trusted, but those in the family of God sometimes will yield to temptation.

God has made a way for us to escape every time we are tempted, but for one reason or another, some do not take the route of escape, and they fall smack dab in the middle of some kind of sin.

Notice, no particular sin is mentioned because all sins affect the family of God. We like to categorize sin as big sin and small sin. In the sight of God, all sin is sin, there is no such thing as BIG or SMALL sin in the sight of God!

This is why the Bible equates lust with doing the act. For example, suppose I see something that you have and I lust for it. Now I do not steal it from you but I lust for it. In the sight of God, I have the same rotten desire a thief has. But the reason I do not steal it is because I am afraid I might get caught and be sent to jail. I STILL HAVE THE SAME ROTTEN DESIRE A THIEF HAS. This MENTAL THIEVERY is as bad as committing the ACT ITSELF.

For example, scripture addresses this lust problem in another way. Look at Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

In the sight of God, MENTAL ADULTERY is equal to PHYSICAL ADULTERY. Some folks have the same evil heart as those who commit the act. Perhaps the only reason they do not commit the act is because they are afraid they might get caught.

Sin is sin in the sight of God. God can see when the heart is EVIL. But notice, the family of God does not go out and look for sin, but sometimes we are “overtaken” by sin.

There are many Christians who have fallen into sin. One day Satan sets a trap for them, and in a time of weakness they fall into Satan’s trap. When this happens, WHAT SHOULD THE FAMILY OF GOD DO?

We have a variety of options, such as:

• Shame them

• Scold them

• Criticize them

• Spread rumors about them

• Isolate them

All of these are options the church has when someone falls into sin. God’s solution is that the person be RESTORED.

The word “Restore” is the same thing as what a physician does when someone breaks their arm. If a child breaks their arm, the parents could: