Do not Become Weary Doing Good
Galatians 6:1-10
Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
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“You foolish Galatians” is what the church of Galatia has been known for ever since Paul wrote to them. They were foolishness to want to be circumcised and placed back under the law when they were justified through their faith in a risen Savior. While the law describes what is involved in being holy, only those that have their desires and passions of the flesh crucified with Christ are enabled to “walk in the Spirit” and therefore can produce a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (5:22-23). While it might be tempting for us modern day Christians to perceive the Galatians as “foolish,” is this not a term that applies to us as well? Does not walking in the Spirit and under the Law of Christ mean that one is to take every opportunity to do good unto others? Can we honestly say we are doing others good when we refuse to gently correct but instead mimic their sin? And is it right to ignore the heavy burdens of our brothers and sisters when we have the financial or time resources available to help them? Have we truly become so blind and deaf that we can ignore Paul’s warning: “what you sow you shall reap”? This sermon is going to look at some of the practical ways that today’s church can walk in the Spirit so that we might no longer look “foolish” but faithful in the eyes of our risen Savior!
Doing Good by Gently Correcting Those Who Sin
1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
The first example of how the church is to walk in the Spirit is by gently correcting those who sin. Living in this “ME” generation that no longer believes in absolute truth or sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3-4), “self-glorifying flights of fancy” with carnal thoughts and behaviors are bound to happen within the walls of the church. When this happens, Paul says the church is NOT to ignore the sin by “sweeping it under the rug!” When a believer becomes entangled in sin (Hebrews 12:1) it becomes not just the responsibility of those with pastoral and counselling skills but specifically those who walk in the Spirit to gently correct them. Whether the person was “overtaken” by a “sudden overpowering temptation” or is willfully sinning against God, to help such a person become free from such entanglement one must approach him/her with a “spirit of meekness.” The whole church is not to “descent on the guilty fellow member,” lest they become so offended that their reputation has been questioned that they refuse to hear the truth. Only the one whom God calls, whom has a tender heart and has the fruit of gentleness, should attempt to correct the person’s behaviour for their own good!
For the church to build each other up in the faith and become spiritually mature, mutual accountability must be accompanied by some form of personal responsibility. Those who choose to correct another cannot take the attitude of a “self-righteous prosecutor” but must approach a sinning brother or sister with humility, acknowledging their “own equal vulnerability to temptations to sin.” One must be particularly careful to not let the “worldly argument” or the pressure to “appease” the carnal Christian become the grounds of not only justification to continue in their sin but one’s justification to join them! Before meeting with a sinning person one must first examine what Scripture says and what one’s motives are concerning the matter. Those who see “living in submission to the Spirit” as a license to sin or an opportunity to look good at the expense of another should recuse themselves and confess these “planks” of sin before trying to deal with the “speck in their brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5)! While sinlessness is not a prerequisite to helping others, only those with a genuine desire to submit to the Spirit are able to deal with the sin in others.
Doing Good by Carrying the Burdens of Others
The second example of how the church is to walk in the Spirit is by carrying each others’ burdens. While “burdens” metaphorically refer to the intense struggle to overcome personal and moral failures of sin, this term also relates more generally to “worries, temptations, doubts and sorrows” that by chance come to those living in a fallen world (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Even though Scripture promises if we cast our burdens upon the Lord (Psalms 55:22) He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28), this does not put aside our responsibility to invite a fellow Christians to love us (John 13:34) by allowing him/her to bear our “burdens as their own!” Too often out of pride or the desire keep our lives private we refuse the aid of fellow believers. For Paul, the practice of “mutual burden-bearing” fulfills the law of Christ as a person not specifically under the letter but the heart of the Torah which is summed up to love God and one another (John 13:34-35; Matthew 22:37-40). By being a supportive faith based community, one that bears each other’s burdens, we demonstrate not only obedience to but show our love for (Matthew 25:31-46) He is the cornerstone of our church (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Doing Good by Carrying Your Own Burdens
3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load.
The third example of how the church is to walk in the Spirit is by being responsible for our own burdens. Paul warns that burden-bearing should not lead to “mutual competition or to insidious comparisons of one’s own imagined spiritual maturity” with that perceived in a “weaker” brother. The sight of an erring brother should not instill feelings of pride of superior spiritual maturity, but through self-examination humbly see one’s own position as justified before the cross and as the product of “the transforming work of the Spirit.” Paul also warns that one is not to carry the burdens of others at the expense of using their gift of self-discernment (1 Corinthians 11:28, 2 Corinthians 13:5) to rightly assess and repent of their own sins, of which they alone will be individually accountable to God at the judgment. Only we are ultimately responsible for the sin we commit! To avoid the “danger of empty glory and uncritical self-esteem” of the Pharisee or the Prodigal Son’s older brother, the grounds of self-justification can only be found in grace and through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)! It is only when we take responsibility for our own sins that our motives are pure enough to generously carry the burdens of others out of love for God and them.
Doing Good by Sharing with the Pastor
6Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
The fourth example of how the church is to walk in the Spirit is by providing for the financial needs of the pastor. “In the spirit of reciprocity,” those whom have received the benefits of the pastor’s teaching and preaching should “bear the burden of financially supporting” them. The time devoted to ministry and not to providing for oneself should be compensated, for the “workman” is worthy of his/her pay (1 Corinthians 9:11, 14; 1 Timothy 5:17, 18). Few things “disclose the priorities of the heart” more clearly than the giving of alms! Too many churches have lean harvests due to their “unsympathetic attitude towards the ministers of the Gospel” and their missionaries. I am a bi-vocational pastor and as such have much of my needs already provided for by my full-time job. The support I do receive from the church I am grateful for without this support I would have to take on a much higher position at work and as a result would have less time to devote to His flock. The members of McKees Mills Baptist church have traditionally given from cheerful hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7) to keep the ministry of this church operational and despite being a small church, God has kept not only our door open but our hearts as well.
Warning: What you Sow you Shall Reap
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life
God cannot be mocked, one simply cannot escape reaping what one sows (Proverbs 22:8; Job 4:8; Hosea 10:12-13)! Just because Christians have been freed from the law of Moses does not mean there is an “absence of consequences or accountability” for the crop they plant. It is the “immutable law of God” or “moral order of God’s economy” that those who give into their “self-seeking drives and impulses” to please the flesh will reap a harvest of moral, spiritual decay and ruin while those who discipline and allow their lives to be governed by the Holy Spirit will yield a harvest of eternal life. Paul is not teaching that it is by works that we are saved, but that no one is saved without works. Any attempt to avoid the consequences of one’s moral thoughts or deeds is futile for while we are free to choose to whom we give our allegiance, flesh or Spirit, God alone chooses the eternal consequences of our choices. So, one can choose to ignore Paul’s teaching in regards to helping the person that sins, carrying others or our burdens or providing for the financial needs of the pastor; but in doing so will receive the negative, eternal consequences of living by the flesh and not in the Spirit.
Do not Become Weary Doing Good
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Paul concluded this passage by stating one is not to become weary but to seek every opportunity to do good. Living in the Spirit by doing good requires a substantial investment of one’s time, resources and energies. While it is the “season” to sow, one must be patient and not loose heart when the harvest does not come within one’s lifetime. This fact should not make us frustrated or weary but bring us great joy for eternal rewards are far better than temporal ones! Even though the boundaries of self-pride and individualism are strong in our culture, with gentleness and humility we are not to become weary but instead are to seek every opportunity to correct one another’s sins, carry one another and our burdens while providing for the financial needs of our pastors. While this command relates to all people regardless of culture, nation or sex; we are to give “special attention to the member of the household of faith” whom are God’s sons and daughters by virtue of faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Take heart, those who put into practice these four simple but provocative ways to walk in the Spirit need not fear they will ever look “foolish” in the eyes of God!
Sources Cited
James D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians, Black’s New Testament Commentary (London: Continuum, 1993).
David A. deSilva, The Letter to the Galatians, ed. Ned B. Stonehouse et al., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018).
James Montgomery Boice, “Galatians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976).
Curtis Vaughan, Galatians, Founders Study Guide Commentary (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2005).
Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995).
Daniel C. Arichea and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1976).
L. Ann Jervis, Galatians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book, 2011).
Lee Martin McDonald, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Acts–Philemon, ed. Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2004).
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986).
