Galatians 6:1-10

THE SEEDS WE SOW

 

This past summer, Sharon and I decided to extend our sprinkler system. Only one third of our yard was covered by the existing system, so we called on Scott Dyck to help us.

            Scott needed to trench a network of channels to lay down the new pipe. This meant that where a trench was dug, grass was cut out. With fresh dirt covering the trenches, grass would need to be seeded. Scott left me a big bag of seed and said to use what I need, and he would come get what was left. 

            So, I lay down a good covering of grass seed, turned on the sprinkler system, and waited. But all I saw after a time was weeds. You know about my battle with weeds. And the seeds just sat there, no sprouts. I’m also not very patient. I pulled the weeds and decided to seed again. This time I laid down a thicker layer, turned on the water and waited. Again, I looked and no grass. I called Scott and said, “Charge me for the whole bag.” I know what you’re thinking – he’s not a yard guy.

            My thinking was horticulturally sound, I thought. More grass, less weeds. If you sow grass, you should get grass. But grass has a way of growing where it wants and when it wants. I ignored the problem and eventually the grass filled in where the trenches used to be. I confess I have a lot to learn. 

            In this series on the letter to the Galatians, we have learned that the gospel stands alone to save us; we don’t need to add anything to it. Jesus’ sacrifice is enough to remove sin and make us acceptable to God. Paul has argued that adding the law to grace takes away its effect. Our freedom in Christ does not, however, take away our responsibility to live godly lives. 

            There are only two choices. Either we live according to our sinful nature and become slaves to sin again, or we live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. What it comes down to is this: What are the seeds we sow? What Paul argues for is that we use our freedom in Christ to produce a good that benefits others.

** Note: I will not be following a linear analysis of the text but will begin with 6:7-8. In my study, I found it to be the key passage that interprets the whole. The principle of sowing and reaping applies neatly with Paul's challenge to be mutually responsible for one another and to do good to the family of believers.

The Incontrovertible Principle of Life (6:7-8)

 

There is an incontrovertible principle of life that everyone knows even if they can’t explain it. The Bible talks about it from cover to cover: You reap what you sow! If you want to grow carrots or corn in your garden, you must plant carrot seeds or corn. If you want to earn a degree, you must study and invest in it. We invest in what we want to receive.

            This is the principle Paul applies to our growth in the things of the Holy Spirit. He wrote, “Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who only live to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit,” (6:7-8). 

            What do you want to harvest from the Christian life? If we go back one chapter, we see the two types of harvest a person can glean from life (see 5:19-23). To satisfy the sinful nature means to indulge basic urges of the body in a selfish manner without thought to others. Paul says that this ends in corruption, or as the NLT says, “decay and death.” I thought it was odd that decay came before death since when a person dies, they then decay. But the order makes sense if you think of gangrene. While you live sinfully, selfishly, you are decaying while you live, like an untreated wound. Death is the result. 

            To live to please the Spirit is find life that is truly life. If we live a life that is stingy and selfish, we reap decay. If we love and serve others, we will reap a life in community. The person who lives in isolation without a care for others lives for self alone. The person who learns to live for others will find a community of life. 

            Paul urges us to sow good seed wildly. He told the Corinthians, “Remember this – a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the who plants generously will get a generous crop,” (2 Cor. 9:6). See? That’s why I used a whole bag of grass seed. Do you want to see good stuff happen? Do you want to be part of a lively community of believers who care for each other and love each other through good times and bad? Then you must invest in it by sowing wildly and generously in the lives of others. If you put nothing in, you get nothing out. But if you live to serve, you will find yourself overwhelmed with the fruit of the Spirit. In turn, others will want to serve you in your time of need. You reap what you sow.

 

What it means to “Live by the Spirit” (5:25)

 

Paul used an expression explaining the principle, “those who live to please the Spirit.” This is like the expression he used in 5:25, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” 

            Paul’s intention in both verses is the same. The literal interpretation is “keep in step with the Spirit” or “walk with the Spirit.” And the meaning is that we follow in the path of the Spirit. When I was little and playing with my friends, my dad would come to get me at supper time. I would follow behind him and try to keep up. I even tried walking like him. My mom laughed when she saw me mimicking his gait. Kind of a bouncing walk. 

            We want to copy the Spirit’s walk. If we walk in the ways of the world, we indulge our fantasies, we give in to anger and bitterness, we lose our temper, we eat and drink what we want, we cry foul when our rights are infringed upon, we lie, we dabble in porn and pretend it doesn’t affect us. But if we walk in the Spirit, we are practicing the rhythms of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to those who irritate us, and those who need us. It is living under the divine control of the Holy Spirit and letting him work in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

            It sounds so spiritual. Does it seem beyond your ability to live that way? People who seem to do this well appear to be super-spiritual. It’s like Christianity at another level. I can’t do that. My natural inclination is to think of me first. How about you? Yes? I have begun to pray honestly in this regard, “Lord, I’m weak in this area (fill in the blank). Through your Holy Spirit empower me where I am struggling to do good.” Can you do that? That’s living by the Spirit.

 

Where we begin to sow “good” (6:9-10)

 

Do good. Okay. Do you ever feel like quitting? You have been doing good, serving, helping, and getting little results. You do good and life just kind of flatulates on you. Maybe you have been kind to a person who is just cantankerous, and they haven’t softened a bit. It’s discouraging. 

            Do good anyways. Paul urged, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith,” (6:9-10).

            Don’t give up! The worst defeat in college football came in 1916 when Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College 222 to 0. Cumberland never made a first down. The smaller Cumberland players were being mauled. Halfway through the first half, one of the Cumberland players fumbled the ball. It rolled toward a teammate and the one who fumbled yelled, “Pick it up. Pick it up.” The teammate yelled back, “You pick it up! You dropped it!” That’s how we feel when we keep getting knocked down and fumbling the ball. It seems like we will never get it right. Paul tells us, “Don’t give up.” 

            Keep doing good. Paul adds something that may surprise you “especially to those in the family of faith.” The place to begin doing good is here in the church with each other. Scot McKnight emphasized this too when referring to the famous Matthew 25 passage where Jesus tells the story of separating goats from sheep. Jesus said, “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty…” and so on. Those destined to inherit eternal life are surprised, “When did we do this?” Jesus replied, “Whatever you did to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” We often take these verses as motivation to show compassion to the poor in general. That’s important, to be sure. But we miss the part Jesus says, “these brothers and sisters of mine.” In the gospel accounts, Jesus always used the term “brothers” of only one group of people – his followers. 

            Paul of course interprets this correctly. He encourages the Christian to “do good to everyone.” But notice the order: first the church and then society. The intention is that the good we do to and for each other will spill over into society. If Christians do good everywhere but in the church, we misrepresent the gospel. It is here, in this community, that we must take every opportunity to do good. 

 

Grace Frees us to Love others Spiritually (6:1-5)

 

What does “doing good” in the church look like? We have often talked about RFC being a family. Now if you have an ideal picture, like a Norman Rockwell painting, of the church family, you are going to be disappointed. Think of your own family and the disfunction that exists there. Think of how brothers and sisters squabble over issues. It’s not perfect. And neither is the church. But we are family. 

            So, Paul makes several assumptions about the church as a family and what it means to sow “good” seeds in that context. 

First, he assumes that the Christian life is going to be lived in relationship with others. You cannot live a Christian life in isolation. The country singer croons, “God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy.” Yeah, but God has called us to live in community as believers, so we must endure the crazy. Paul said, “Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another,” (5:26). 

Second, he assumes that living as a family is going to be challenging. “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path,” (6:1a). Your sin is my problem. That may seem uncomfortable to many of us. We like to keep our sins private. But what if we could actually talk about our struggles with sin more openly? We may find that we are not so unique in our struggle. We could help each other.

Third, he assumes that we will bear each other’s burdens. In fact, Paul refers to 5:14 and “love your neighbor” as the basis of this assumption. “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ,” (6:2).

Fourth, Paul assumes we will do all of this from a position of humility. “If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important,” (6: 3). 

            These are the assumptions for being the family of Jesus at RFC and in the global church. We start right here to sow seeds that are good for each other. Do this and we will begin to spill over into many lives.

I want to share a picture of the vision Paul has for the community of believers: 

A man kept honeybees and showed them to his friend one day. He took the lid off a 5-gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. The friend asked if he could help them, and the beekeeper said he wasn’t sure if they would survive.

            Once again, the friend asked if he could scoop them out and put them out of their misery. The man conceded and they put them into an empty yogurt container and left it outside. Bees were flying all over the place at that time. 

            Something cool happened. The three little bees were surrounded by all their sisters (workers are female) and they were cleaning the sticky stuff off the little bees. Then there was only one left but still being tended by the other bees. 

            When it came time for the friend to leave, they checked the container, and it was empty. 

            Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family who would not give up on them, who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness, who resolved to help them till the last bee was set free. 

 

            That’s the body of Christ as it was meant to bee. 

What kind of seeds do we sow in the fertile soil of community? Are you harvesting what you put in? If we wallow in bitterness and envy, we will get back bitterness and envy. If we sow in love, joy, peace…we will get more back than we can handle. You reap what you sow. That is the incontrovertible principle of life - what you put in is what you get out. What are you putting in to the relationships of this community? Love, joy, peace...

 

                                                            AMEN

Galatians 5:1-15

FREE INDEED

 

What does it mean to be free?

            As with all concepts, freedom means different things in different contexts. Children will submit to their parents’ rules and orders when they are young, but then they reach the age of teenage angst and ask “why” or say “no.” My sister has often shared that she got married at barely 18 to be “free” from mom and dad. She felt that they unfairly heaped responsibilities on her. 

            Freedom meant something else to Esther when I visited her ten days ago. After years of battling cancer and chemo treatments that left her depleted, she said she was ready to be free of this body of death. Esther was confident of the Lord’s forgiveness, and she was ready to be set “free” from this life. 

            When we idealize the idea of freedom as human beings, there tends to be a misconception attached to our hope. People living in China may long to live in a free-market system; those living in Iran dream of freedom from the tyranny of a theocratically oppressive regime. Teenagers want to be free of curfews and chores. But in each situation, freedom from something means becoming responsible. 

            After a long argument against adding the requirements of the law to the grace of Jesus, Paul now begins to talk about freedom in Galatians 5. For Paul, “being free” is personal and existential: To be set free means becoming what God wants us to be and to do what God wants us to do. It’s a paradox: Freedom from is at the same time to be free for and liberation to. Answer this: You want to be free from ________ (self-consciousness; fear; debt; etc. Does that mean you can do whatever you want? No! To be free is to become responsible. 

            Paul’s thesis grows out of Jesus’ words: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free,”(John 8:34-36). What is this freedom Jesus speaks of?

For Freedom Christ has set us Free… (5:1)

 

Many Bible teachers agree that this little phrase is the essence of the letter to the Galatian churches, “For freedom Christ has set us free…” (1a). Paul is hyper-emphatic. He uses a noun and a verb to drive home his point. In Greek it literally reads, “Freedom – you – Christ – set free.” 

            There are two parts to what he says here. First, being set free is only realized in connection to Christ. Through faith in Christ, we are set free from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, from the law as a system of being made right with God. You are free from superstition, from all that enslaves you, and from the curse of the law. You are even set free from the guilt of the addiction you are wrestling with. 

            Second, being set free is a result of the death of Jesus Christ. Only Christ’s death redeems us from our captivity to sin and the law. 

            The timing of this message is uncanny. Yesterday, our nation observed Remembrance Day and honored the war dead. It is often stated that these soldiers fought and died for our freedom. I will not disparage their sacrifice. But it needs to be said that while they fought and killed for our political freedom, Christ died for our spiritual deliverance. We often say that they died for the freedoms we enjoy, freedom to worship how we want. Yes, I am not denying that. But that freedom can be lost when a political or military power chooses to take it from us. However, the freedom that Christ Jesus purchased for us on the cross with his blood can never be lost or taken away from you. No dictator and no power on earth can take away your freedom from the curse of sin and death. 

            Paul urges then, that the Galatians not give in to pressure to add to Christ’s work. “…stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” (1b). The yoke of slavery is anything we think we must do to be made right with God aside from faith in Jesus Christ. Let no one say, “Christ is not enough.” There is nothing good we can add to our faith to make God love us more, and there’s nothing bad we can do to make him love us less. It doesn’t matter how well we perform or how bad we mess up. Jesus loves you to the maximum degree. For freedom like this, Christ has set us free.

 

Reviewing Paul’s argument for Freedom (5:2-12)

 

We have been working our way through the first four chapters of this letter and have talked a lot about the problem of trying to find acceptance with God through the law. In short: it doesn’t work. Paul reviews the problem in verses 2-12 again, this time through the specific example of circumcision. 

            Rather than labor through the argument again in detail, I want to summarize his points under two categories:

a) How the Law steals your freedom (2-6). In these verses, Paul warns that trying to keep the law through the ritual of circumcision devalues your faith in Christ. He says:

§  Circumcision cancels out faith in Christ (2). 

§  To require one law (circumcision) obligates a person to keep the whole law (3).

§  Trying to keep the law cuts you off from the grace of Christ (4). 

§  Only by depending on the Holy Spirit can we find hope (5).

§  And only faith working through love counts for anything (6).

b) How False Teachers try to steal your freedom (7-12). We know there were teachers who came after Paul had been to the area and were trying to add law to gospel. They may have been well intentioned. They may have spoken with confidence and eloquence. Paul has this to say about them:

§  It only takes a few people preaching a false gospel to mess up the church (7-10). Using a running metaphor, Paul asks, “Who cut in and tripped you up?” These people are meddlers (7); they are not from God (8); and they are contaminating the gospel (leaven) (9). 

§  The cross is offensive to anyone who teaches that righteousness is earned by works of the law (11-12). These teachers were misrepresenting Paul, it seems, and inferring that he taught circumcision too. 

Knowing Paul’s teaching, we know that adding to Christ’s work empties it of the power of grace. It’s like the man who had a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. Realizing that the baseball could be valuable, he decided to sell it. Only problem, after some time the signature had faded. He took a pen and carefully traced over the letters to make “Babe Ruth” stand out. But by trying to add to what Ruth had done, he destroyed what Ruth had done. What was once valuable now became worthless. 

            Christ alone! Nothing else. Otherwise, the grace of Christ is robbed of its power to free you.

 

What it means to be Free (5:13-15)

 

If we are no longer obligated to keep the law, we can do whatever we want. Right? We are under grace, right?

            Paul anticipated this thinking. He knew that some would misunderstand the freedom we have in Christ and abuse Christian liberty (without law we have chaos, anarchy). He returns to the theme of verse 1, “For you were called to freedom (brothers and sisters). Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh…” (13ab). 

            If we don’t have to obey the law to be accepted by God, does that mean we can live any way we want? No, of course not. When Paul speaks of the flesh here, he is talking about the sinful nature. If we think that freedom means the removal of all restraints, we miss the point. It’s not about giving in to human desires and whims. If we do that then we make ourselves slaves again to our desires. We can become enslaved to something by emphasizing our freedom to do it. 

            Grace is not a license to sin. Far from it. Paul wrote to Titus saying, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age…” (Titus 2:11-12 NIV).

            True Christian freedom is not about indulging our desires. When the Spirit indwells you, you are transformed into someone who doesn’t have to obey the law but wants to. What is God’s law now? It is not hanging over the Christian – it is under the Christian. Some people hold God’s law like a rod of terror over us and threaten us to live by their interpretation of what a Christian should and shouldn’t do. The law is no longer a rod of terror. No, the law is under you for you to walk on, to be your guide, to show you the way. 

            If we live by the flesh (our desires), that’s what rules us. We are ruled by the self. And that’s where we run into conflict with each other. “…if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another,” (15), Paul says. Being ruled by “my way” or the “I” versus “we” and “us” turns us into wild animals in Paul’s imagery. The church cannot be a witness of Christ if we are "hacking on each other" behind each other's backs. 

            Martin Luther King Jr. warned civil rights advocates in the 1960s that freedom was not permission to seek revenge on those who had denied them their rights as US citizens. He said, “In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” King preached that if the African American would gain freedom from racial discrimination, they must not ignore the law, but in essence, be better than the law. To be better than the law is to meet hatred with love. He said, “we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” His dream of freedom was a vision that joined black and white people in harmony. 

            King was echoing the words of Paul, “…but through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (13c-14). True freedom liberates believers from their selfish will so that they find joy in serving others. Freedom manifests itself as love, as a desire to help others. You can see the contrast between the flesh (serving self) and loving your neighbor (serving God/others). This is true freedom. 

 

Here is freedom…

            Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light,” (Matt. 11:28-30 NLT). 

            At the beginning of chapter 5, Paul told the Galatians not to submit again to a yoke of slavery. Jesus invites us to come and take on ourselves his yoke. What’s happening here?

            We are trading yokes. The yoke of the law was hitched to a load we could not pull. The burden was heavy with a “Do not…” and a “You must not…” Jesus offers us a yoke of freedom. I have often heard teachers say that Jesus is in the yoke with us. I’m not sure if that’s what he meant, but it makes a cool picture. If anyone could take the yoke of the law and pull the burden of righteousness, it would be Jesus. So, why not? Jesus in the yoke beside you, doing the heavy lifting, giving you the freedom to pull as you are able. 

            Are you tired of trying to live up to a high moral standard? Do you feel the burden of being a great Christian example? Jesus offers you rest. That sounds like freedom. Not a release from responsibility, but a new yoke, a better yoke. We are invited to partner with Jesus, to learn from him the rhythms of grace, to serve God because it’s a joy, not a “must.” 

            His yoke is easy; his burden is light. It’s love. Someone said, the Pharisees loved to teach the Law while Jesus taught the law of love. 

            Jesus said, “If you remain faithful to my teachings…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,”(John 8:31-32). And you will be free indeed.

                                                            AMEN