Galatians Chapter 6
-Bear and share in each others’ burdens
-Finish what you start
-God needs to know He can count on us
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (Timothy 4:7).
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
-Today’s times are intense, but be faithful unto death so you receive the crown of perseverance as you are an overcomer
We are in the efforts business
God is in the results business
-This purpose is established by God
-The mission is from God to stay in the battle
Vs. 1 Spiritually Restored
Paul is speaking to believers:
-he is calling out sinful Christians
-Paul warns believers not be overtaken, caught, detected, or surprised by trespasses(sins)
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6: 1-2).
-repentance is the key
-the spirit of gentleness is the fruit of the spirit
-sinful Christians hurt fellowship
Vs. 2 Who takes the Initiative
-do not break people down
-focus on mending and healing your fellow believer
-have concern in your voice
-have compassion in your heart
-use care in your words
-examine your own work (heart), motives, and actions
Vs. 4-5
-burden: means to bear your own load
-bearing: means to lament in another’s load, to take care of, come along side,
-bearing: means to take care of
-bearing: means to come alongside
-bearing: means to share in the weight as Jesus does with each person
Fellowship:
-being together in the word diligently studying daily
-receiving blessings
-having a shared connected of spiritual oneness
-having a Christlike intimate special relationship with one another
Vs. 6
***Christians should be on the same page with scripture
Vs. 7 God will not be mocked
-what a man sows to the spirit will spiritually reap which will be everlasting
-what you sow = thoughts, attitudes, deeds, and actions
“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:8).
Banquet of Consequences:
1. What is sown in secret will harvest all that is hidden
2. As time passes the crop ripens = the harvest never fails
3. The seeds we scatter = the harvest will be revealed
4. We know the tree by its fruit = the harvest is greater than what was sown
5. You can’t replant past harvests = sow the seeds of future harvests
**Which field are you? Will you reap of the flesh or of the spiritual?
Vs. 9 In Due Time
-today we are in the age that you can see God is sifting the church
-today God is separating the disobedient church from the obedient church
-God sees the church who walks in grace
-God sees the church who holds to the standard of living entrenched in the canon of scripture
-God sees the church who is sowing and reaping the total Word of God
-God see the church that compromises the Word and Work of Christ
-do now grow weary
-do not lose heart
-reward is in the Lord
Vs. 10
-people grow weary when they need to feel appreciated
-human nature seeks recognition of men
-take care of the household of faith
-perseverance (long-suffering) is a fruit of the spirit
-in suffering have a sacrifice of praise as a fruit of the spirit
-even when weary sow the fruit of the spirit
-know your true purpose-following men
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can” (John Wesley).
Vs. 11
-large letters = Paul is yelling at the church, highest level of emphasis
“See what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” (Galatians 6:11).
Vs. 12-13
-legalists: no freedom or a labor of love
-legalists: have left their 1st love = God and God only
-motives of the Judaizers was not to seek God’s approval
-Judaizers were validated by men which is of the flesh
Vs. 14 Age of Grace
-only boast in Christ now own achievements
-glory in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ
**Choose the cross of Christ
Vs. 15
-you are a new creation in Christ
-being transformed is an internal matter
-do not allow outward appearances have a hold on you
Vs. 16
-God knows his own
-Note: Paul says “Israel of God” not just the “God of Israel”
-”Israel of God” = all mankind = all people have choice to be part of God’s kingdom
Vs. 17
-bear the marks of Christ
“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus”
-Paul was a slave to Christ not to men
-Paul had suffered and literally had the scars on his body as he followed Christ
-Paul knew rituals does not impress God
-Paul challenges us to bear your own scars in ministry
***Paul asks what cost have you paid for the cause of Christ?
Vs. 18
-Paul sends his prayers for grace and that Christ would be in each of our spirits
Paul's resume is outlined in 2 Corinthians 11: 23-29
“Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?”