Do Not Lose Heart in Doing Good
Pastor Bill Nichols - November 8, 2009Introduction
Today we come to the end of our study of the book of Galatians. In this study the Apostle Paul has argued the superiority of faith in Jesus Christ to submission to the Mosaic law. Paul warned Christians against abusing their freedom in Christ by using their forgiveness as an excuse to indulge their sinful nature. And in it Paul admonished Christians to live by the Spirit in order to overcome the desires of the flesh.
Paul concludes his letter to the churches of Galatia by giving them some really good advice concerning judging fellow Christians who have fallen into sin, and by warning believers against thinking that they are immune to doing the same.
Galatians 5:25 through 6:10 (New International Version)
"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 6
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.
"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
I. Responsibilities of Living by the Spirit
In this passage Paul says that mature Christians have certain responsibilities to those who are less mature, and especially to those who are struggling with their spiritual lives.
A. Beware of Pride in Your life.
There is a danger in being a "Good Christian." The danger is that you will begin to think that you are better than other people. You may be more mature than some of your Christian friends, but that does not make you better in God's eyes. You might find that you do not struggle in some areas of sin that less mature believers do, and this can lead to pride or conceit. Paul says that this kind of attitude by a believer leads to provocation and envy, which he lists in chapter five as "acts of the sinful nature."
How many times have you heard of a Christian who has committed some sin, but instead of praying for that person or sending them a note of encouragement or doing something, anything to help restore them to in their spiritual walk, you just shook your head and did nothing, or even worse, you joined in with others condemning them, hoping they get their just reward from God?
That is exactly what Paul here warns mature believers against. It is so easy to puff ourselves up and think ourselves spiritual, and to look down our noses at those who are struggling with their spiritual lives. But that is not what God wants mature believers to do.
B. Restore Gently!
In Galatians 6:1 Paul says that those who are spiritual, (we will define spiritual as those who are mature in Christ), should restore him gently! The word "restore" used here was a term used by fishermen for mending their nets. Fishing nets were valuable assets in Paul's day. If the net got a tear, rather than discarding it, the fisherman would take the time and effort to mend the net. That is what God wants us to do for those fellow believers who blow it, gently restore them in their faith.
Every Christian blows it from time to time.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall (continuous activity) short of the glory of God."
That is what Paul is referring to here. He is not referring to those who practice sin, as mentioned in verse 21, but to those Christians who slip or lapse into the old nature, while struggling to live according to the Spirit.
Notice Paul says that this should be done gently with the ultimate goal being restoration to spiritual living, and it should not be done with a spirit of judgment and condemnation.
Paul also tells those who consider themselves to be spiritual or mature, to "watch yourself" lest you too may be tempted. I believe Paul gives this warning for two reasons. First, in our empathy for the one who has fallen, we might let down our guard, and instead of restoring our brother, we too might become caught up in the same kind of sin as our fallen brother. Second, and maybe more dangerous, is that Satan has a tendency to attack you at your point of pride.
Back during the Vietnam war, the use of camouflage reached new heights when the military began to sew officer's insignia on to their uniforms with drab, cloth patches. The reason they did this is that those bright, shiny metal insignia which the officers were used to wearing with pride, reflected in the sun and that made the officers an easy target for the enemy to pick out and shoot them using sniper rifles.
Satan likes to attack Christians where they are most proud in their spiritual lives too. When those of you who are mature try and correct someone who has sin in their lives that you have conquered in your own, beware; for Satan will soon tempt you with the same thing in your life. Restore with gentleness, but beware of pride.
C. Carry Each Other's Burdens
In the context of his writing, Paul also suggests that those who are spiritual should be a source of accountability to those who are struggling with sin. Carry each other's burdens, Paul states. Then in verse five Paul says, each one should carry his own load. Which is it? Carry each other's burdens, or carry your own? Actually, it is both. Paul uses two different words in this passage which can be translated burden or load. The one in verse two refers to a heavy load that is pressing the person down. It is a load that is too heavy to carry alone. How many of you have noticed in your life that when you are accountable to someone else for something, there is a greater motivation to accomplish a task. When we make ourselves accountable to each other for sin in our lives, we are more likely to overcome that sin than when we are accountable to no one. Paul says we should be accountable to each other for the areas in our life that we struggle with. By doing so, we fulfill the law of Christ. (Jesus bore our sin on the cross for us.)
Additionally, we need to test our motivations when correcting others, and not compare ourselves spiritually to one another, for there will always be those who are less mature than us, and there will certainly be those who are more mature than us. We are all accountable to God for our own spiritual lives, and must carry our own load, which here is a light load, like a day pack.
II. You Reap What You Sow!
Galatians 6:7-10
A second warning that Paul gives concerns our attitude toward God, which is demonstrated in how we live our lives.
Spiritually, there are two types of people. Saved and unsaved. Likewise, there are two types of believers; those who walk according to the Spirit and those who walk according to the flesh.
I believe that Paul here is again warning against abusing our freedom in Christ. Those who think they can use there freedom to indulge the flesh with sin are deceived by Satan into thinking that God either does not notice, or that He does not care. Paul says that God cannot be mocked. The word mocked means to turn the nose up at one. One of the most frequently used proverbs in Scripture concerns sowing and reaping. Paul here quotes it, saying that a man reaps what he sows.
How many of you like to raise a garden? Who here has ever sowed beans and reaped squash? Or which one of you have sowed beets and reaped turnips?
The same concept is true with your spiritual lives. If you sow to the sinful nature, you're going to reap destruction. If you want to reap eternal life, you have to sow to the spiritual life. You cannot have it both ways.
The way I see things in relation to our spiritual lives is that we are too impatient. Eternal life seems to be so far away. We sometimes think that until this life is over we will not reap the benefit of living a spiritual life, and the world has soooo many pleasures to offer right now. These things cause us to become distracted and we grow weary of waiting. But the reality is that those who sow to the spirit now will reap spiritual things now, like the fruit mentioned in chapter five, and a productive, fulfilling spiritual life while we are here on this earth.
Paul says, do not give up! You will reap a harvest in accordance with what you sow! So do good to all people, especially believers, and God will do good to you!
Conclusion
The last section of Paul's letter, Galatians 6:11-18 are primarily a summary of all that he has said up to this point. You can read that for yourself later today.
But there are three things in particular that I would like for you to take from this study of the book of Galatians.
- There is only one gospel. The gospel I preach is the one that Paul and Peter preached about Jesus death, burial and resurrection. Jesus did this out of obedience to the Father, and out of love for you. In doing so, He has already paid the penalty for your sin. All you have to do to receive the gift of eternal life is to repent of your sins and accept what Jesus has done for you by believing the gospel message, and confessing with your mouth Jesus as Lord.
- God wants you to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. If the things of the world were not pleasurable, none of us would struggle with the flesh. In the short term, the things of the flesh bring pleasure and satisfaction, but in the scope of eternity, only a life of obedience to Christ, and submission to the things of the Spirit, will bring eternal reward and satisfaction.
- Recognize that everyone sometimes struggles with sin. When a fellow believer falls into sin, you who are spiritual should seek to restore and not to destroy. Satan is a destroyer and he will do all that he can to destroy a believers life. Those who are Christians should not come to Satan's aid, but rather to the aid of the fallen saint. Restore with gentleness and beware that you do not fall to temptation yourself.