Galatians 6 "Walk by the Spirit, II" Walk by the Spirit (5:25) What does it mean to "walk by the Spirit"? Galatians 6 could be seen as Paul's commentary on this phrase. To walk by the Spirit means to be spiritual (6:1) to fulfill the law of Christ (6:2) to sow to the Spirit (6:8) to not grow weary in doing good (6:9) to be crucified to the world (6:14) to walk according to the rule of the new creation (6:15). to be part of the Israel of God (6:16). We are wrapping up our series on Galatians this week. Paul has made it clear that you are not under law, but under grace. OT Israel was the son of God in his minority. And so Israel under the Mosaic law was no better than a slave. But Jesus Christ is the Son of God who has come to maturity. He has entered his inheritance, and so all of you who are in Christ are no longer slaves, but are sons, and fellow heirs with Christ. All that Jesus received from the Father, has now been given to you. You cannot win God's favor by obeying the law. Paul insists that you cannot win God's favor by the works of the law. You are justified by faith alone. But it is not at though you begin by faith and then add the law. Paul says that having begun by the Spirit, the only way to live the Christian life is by the Spirit. As he has just said in 5:16, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But what does it mean to walk by the Spirit? Chapter 6 explains what a Spirit-led life looks like. 1. Bear One Another's Burdens and Fulfill the Law of Christ (6:1-5) Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Paul now tells you to fulfill the law of Christ! What is this "law of Christ"? It is not a new law like that of Moses. It is not a new legalism. As Paul has said repeatedly, you do not begin with the Spirit and then become perfect by the flesh. Salvation is of faith from first to last. Rather, the law of Christ is summed up in verse 14: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Or as Paul puts it here in verse 2, "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." How do you bear one another's burdens? Verse 1 explains this. Have you ever caught someone in a sin? How did you handle it? Did you scream and holler at them? Paul says to restore them in a spirit of gentleness. Gentleness should not be confused with wimpiness. Sometimes you need to be firm. But you always need to be gentle. Gentleness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23). You may be angry. Sin should make you angry. But just because someone else sinned doesn't mean that you should too! And indeed, keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. When you are working to restore those who have sinned, beware lest you fall into temptation yourself. Keep your eye fixed upon Jesus Christ. How do you do that? Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Jesus told us that a servant is no greater than his master. To paraphrase that in Paul's language in Galatians a son looks like his father and his older brother. If Jesus has borne our burdens on the cross, then we are called to bear one another's burdens. And so fulfill the law of Christ. When you gently restore each other, you are bearing each other's burdens and you are fulfilling the law of Christ, which is to love one another. This is what it means to walk by the Spirit. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. What a second, I thought that Paul said that we were to bear one another's burdens! Yet now he says that we will each have to bear his own load! What makes it even more perplexing is that Paul says that each one will boast in himself alone! Isn't Paul the one who said in 1 Corinthians 1 that boasting is excluded! Didn't Paul say, quoting Jeremiah 9:23-24, "let him who boasts boast in the Lord"? I thought that Galatians was the epistle where Paul excludes works entirely! So how is it that we must bear our own load, and boast in ourselves?! Remember that Paul is talking about what it means to "walk by the Spirit." We are no longer talking about the works of the law, or the works of the flesh, we are talking about the works that are produced by faith the "faith working through love" of Galatians 5:6. You must bear your own load. And your load will include the burdens of others. Just as their load will include your burdens! So test your own work not the works of the flesh (which result in death), nor the works of the law (which cannot give life), but the fruit of the Spirit faith working by love and ask yourself, "is my faith producing good works?" Can you boast in yourself alone? I know. This sounds so weird. It runs contrary to everything that we think about ourselves. But Paul says that there is a proper way to boast in yourself. Not the self-righteous boasting of the Judaizers. Not the idea that you can stand on your own two feet before God. The very thought is ridiculous! I only dare say this because Paul himself said it first: but you boast aright when you boast that you walk by the Spirit which is the same thing that Paul says in 1 Cor 1, when he says that boast in the Lord. In other words, you do not think of yourself (by yourself) as "something." Your only boasting is in Christ. 2. And Do Not Grow Weary in Doing Good to Everyone (6:6-10) In verses 6-10 Paul urges the Galatians to continue to be diligent in doing good. As you walk by the Spirit, do not grow weary in doing good! One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Literally, the catechumen must share all good things with the catechist. Paul here provides a brief command to the church to provide financially for their teachers. Paul may have been concerned that the Galatians were not providing adequately for their ministers. But he is content to make a brief comment so it was probably not a major problem. So you should do good to those who teach you the word of God. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows that he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Last time we looked at the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh is our selves considered as being in Adam. The flesh is humanity as it is apart from Christ. The flesh is weak and powerless, and has been brought under the power of sin, death and the devil. The Spirit is the life-giving power of the new creation. The Spirit of the Son of God the power of our Lord Jesus Christ with us. I said last week that the Spirit of God plants seeds of new ways of thinking, and knowing, and doing. Here Paul says that we are to sow to the Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is not a passive thing. The Spirit has given you new life. So live by the power of that new life! You are no longer a child. In Christ, you have grown up. You are mature. So let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. There will be a harvest. Do you understand now why I keep insisting that God looks at your works in two different ways? If you are trying to win God's favor by your works, then your works are filthy rags. You cannot be justified by works. And likewise, if you think that you can begin with faith and then become mature by works, then you are equally severed from Christ you have fallen away from grace! You are not justified by works. You do not become mature by works. You are justified in Christ. You become mature in Christ. And then and only then can you talk about truly doing good. But, in Christ, you can do good! Your righteousness, your sonship, your maturity, is all in him. Indeed, even your good works are all in him! But whatever you sow, that you will also reap. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. What does it mean to do good? Too often we ask that question trying to justify ourselves, "Who is my neighbor?" Everyone doesn't really mean everyone, does it? The "especially" means that I get to focus on the church, and if I really don't have time for anyone else, that's not really my fault . . . . . . is it? Do good to everyone. Be kind to the grocery store clerk. Be patient with the driver who is making a left turn without signaling! (I know, it's hard in an anonymous society, where you will never actually see that person again) But in the ordinary, everyday activities of life, do good. The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in us at all times. And especially to the household of faith. This is an interesting phrase. Paul could have said "to the church" (but "church" has the idea of the assembly) He could have said "to other believers" or "to the saints" But he chose, "to the household" the "oikeious" of the faith. You are God's household. The household in the ancient world was more than a family. It was the center of economic activity as well. In verse 6 Paul said that the one who is taught should share all good things with the one who teaches. Doing good to the household of God means taking care of each other. That may include financial care (that's why we have a diaconal offering every month!) The household of God is the place where God's fatherly care is exercised by his children. Think of the various images that Paul has used here: we are to be branches that bear fruit the fruit of the Spirit we are to be farmers who sow seed to the Spirit and we are to be members of a household that do good all by the power and grace of the Spirit of God. 3. Because (in the end) the New Creation Is All that Counts (6:11-18) In verses 11-18 Paul sums up the whole point of Galatians. He starts by authenticating his own epistle. In his own hand he writes this last greeting and he does so to make it clear that this is what you need to come away with: It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Remember the scandal of the cross? A crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms because a crucified Messiah is a cursed Messiah! To be hung on a tree according to Deuteronomy was to be cursed by God; and no self-respecting Jew could believe in a Messiah that was cursed by God! So the Judaizers tried to mitigate the scandal of the cross by emphasizing circumcision and allegiance to the Mosaic Law. In order for Gentiles to become Christians, they must first become Jews by circumcision. But, Paul says, even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. Circumcision was the cutting away of the flesh, and the Judaizers wished to boast in this very physical act of cutting away human flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The cross which was a scandal to the Jews is the source of boasting for Paul. (Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.) Gal 3:13-14 Paul says that the cross is to be the focal point of our boasting. How does this connect with Paul's call to "boast in yourself and not another"? It is because in the cross of Christ, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Or as Paul put it in 2:19-20 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. You have died. The cross was not only the death of Jesus Christ. It was also your death. And indeed it was the world's death! For in the cross, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The world the kosmos refers to the first creation as it is in Adam. Just as the flesh refers to the first humanity as it is in Adam. The world and the flesh were created good, but they have fallen under the power of the devil. They are weak and impotent. And in the cross Jesus has overthrown the power of the world, the flesh and the devil. It is no accident that God chose the cross. It is no accident that Deuteronomy 21:23 said, "cursed is anyone who is hung on a tree." After all, it was a tree where all this began. When Adam and Eve took and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of the first tree brought all mankind into an estate of sin and misery. And so God declared that anyone who was hung on a tree would be cursed. And then God sent his own Son, the second Adam, to be hung on a tree to take the curse of the first tree upon himself. And in that second tree, in the cross of Jesus Christ, the second Adam established not only a new humanity, but a new creation! The first humanity perished by partaking of the first tree; the new humanity passes through death to life by partaking of the second tree! But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The old is gone. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision circumcision is simply irrelevant! It was the sign of the old covenant the law, which was powerless to do anything about that first tree. but a new creation the new creation is all that counts. If the new creation has come, why would you be circumcised? Circumcision was a snipping away of the flesh but in the cross of Christ, the flesh has not just been snipped away, but has been put to death! New life has now come to the people of God through Jesus Christ. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. It might almost be better to say "even upon the Israel of God" (Some have tried to say that the "Israel of God" refers to Jewish Christians, but Paul's whole point in Galatians is that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile!) Those who walk by the Spirit who walk by the rule of the new creation are the Israel of God. As we sing the Psalms, we often sing about what God has done for Israel. Paul says that we are God's Israel. Israel is not about ethnic identity. The modern nation of Israel uses the same name, but is no more God's Israel, than the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a church of Jesus Christ. You can use the name but using a name does not make you what you claim to be. The true children of Abraham are those who walk by faith who walk by the Spirit who walk according to this rule the rule of the new creation! From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. Paul had been beaten just like Jesus. Indeed, he says in Colossians that he fills up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, for the sake of the church! The one who has been crucified to the world, who has been crucified with Christ, will receive the marks of Jesus the stigmata of Jesus as you are conformed to his likeness in suffering. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. So be it!