Galatians 6:4-6 • Restoring the Fallen Pt. 3

Review & Overview

1. Previous Study’s Review

Last Sunday we started a new series called “Restoring the Fallen”

All about about helping that friend who has fallen, messed up, and sinned, but wants to come back and repent.

And we saw…

1. Sin Affects Everyone – No one is exempt (1 John 1:8-10). Sin steals our joy, damages our relationship with God, weakens the church, and hurts our witness (John 15:4-6, 1 Corinthians 12, John 17:21).

2. Holiness is the Church’s Priority – A holy life fuels evangelism and spiritual growth. Ignoring sin weakens the body, but pursuing holiness strengthens the church and glorifies God.

3. Confronting Sin is Our Responsibility – We must address sin with love and accountability (Ephesians 5:11, Titus 2:15). Discipline is about restoration, not punishment (2 Corinthians 2:7-8). Jesus outlined this process in Matthew 18:15-17.

4. Paul’s Message to the Galatians – Legalism led them away from the Spirit and into sin (Galatians 3:3). Paul calls them back to grace, urging them to restore those who have stumbled with gentleness and accountability (Galatians 6:1-2).

Final Thought: Sin destroys, but God restores. Our role is to lift each other up, hold each other accountable, and walk in the Spirit together.

Let’s begin our reading in Gal 5:29 and read down to Vs. 6 of Ch. 6. READ…

3. Current Study’s Overview

The Title of today’s message and the Title of the Sermon Series is: Restoring the Fallen

This is part 3 of the series.

Restoring the Fallen because we live in a world of constant comparison.

Social media, career success, even our spiritual lives—it's easy to measure ourselves against others and think, At least I’m doing better than that guy. 

But Paul warns us here that God is not interested in how we stack up against others—He’s looking at how we run our own race.

In today’s sermon, Paul lays out two crucial principles: First, we are responsible for our own walk with Christ. No one else can carry that load for us.

But second, as a church, we are called to lift one another up—not just picking up the fallen, but building them up in truth.

So today, I want to challenge us: Are we running with our eyes on Jesus, or are we coasting because we think we’re ahead of someone else?

If you are taking notes I want to look at 2 things today:

1. Assess and Progress Vs. 4-5

2. Confess and Impress Vs. 6

1. Assess and Progress Vs. 4-5

1.1 Assess Yourself Vs. 4

This verse is a reality check. What Paul is saying is, instead of looking at someone who has fallen and thinking, “Well, at least I’m better than that guy!”,

we need to take a hard look at our own lives.

Because God doesn’t grade on a curve. You don’t get a pass just because you’re doing better than someone else.

God’s standard is absolute and the same across the board.

So Paul is telling us—examine your own work. Don’t measure your spiritual life by comparison to other people.

Because It’s easy to fall into that trap, right? We think, “Yeah, I know I have issues, but have you seen that guy? I mean, at least I’m not that bad!” 

If we’re truly walking with God, our joy shouldn’t come from looking better than someone else but from knowing we’re living our life out of Love towards God.

ILLUSTRATION: Years ago, my brother in-law trained for his first marathon. He wasn’t the best runner, but he was determined to finish. He put in the miles, followed a training plan, and on race day, he felt ready.

The race started well, but around mile 15, he hit a wall. His legs felt like lead, his lungs burned, and he started second-guessing whether he could even finish.

But then, as he was struggling, he noticed a runner ahead who was a better runner than him was in way worse shape—red-faced, gasping for air, barely keeping a jogging pace.

And my brother-in-law told me, “At that moment, I thought, ‘Well, at least I’m doing better than that guy.’

It actually gave him a little boost. So he stopped pushing as hard because he figured, ‘If I’m ahead of him, I must be doing okay.’”

But as he kept going, something unexpected happened. Around mile 20, that same exhausted runner who had been struggling passed him up. He

found a second wind, while my brother-in-law, who had been coasting, had nothing left to give.

When he told me the story, he said, “That moment hit me hard. Ispent so much time measuring my race against someone else that I forgot to run my best.

I got comfortable because I thought I was ahead, but in the end, I had nothing to show for it.”

APPLICATION: That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Galatians 6:4. It’s easy to compare ourselves to others and think, “At least I’m doing better than them.” 

But again, God doesn’t grade us on a curve. He’s not looking at how we measure up to others—He’s looking at how we’re running the race He set before us.

On Judgment Day, God isn’t going to ask, “Were you better than your neighbor?”

So let’s stop coasting, stop comparing, and start running our race with endurance—eyes fixed on Jesus, the only standard that matters.

So the question is—are you running with your eyes on God’s standard, or are you just coasting because you think you're ahead of someone else?

APPLICATION: Run your race well. Test your own work. Stop looking side to side, and fix your eyes on Jesus.

1.2 Progress By Yourself Vs. 5

This is interesting because go back and look at Vs. 2.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens…”

Wait a second—verse 2 just told us to bear one another’s burdens?

And then verse 5 tells us that each one should bear his own load his own burden. (Pause)

This is where English doesn’t quite capture the nuance of the Greek language. Because there are two different words being used here.

In verse 2, the word burdens is the Greek word baros (baroos)which refers to a heavy load—something too much for a person to carry alone.

This is the kind of burden we’re all called to help others with, like when someone is struggling spiritually or going through hardship.

In verse 5, the Greek word for load there is phortion which refers to a light pack—like a personal backpack.

This represents the responsibility we all must carry ourselves, specifically when we stand before Christ at the judgment seat.

Now, this is what I want to do.

I want to illustrate these two different types of loads that Paul talks about in Galatians 6.

One is the load we help each other with when times get really heavy (baros), and the other is the personal load we must each carry for ourselves (phortion).

Action: Ask one students to attempt to lift or carry the heavy prop. Then ask another to help. They might stagger or struggle initially, showing that this load is indeed heavy.

ILLUSTRATION: This heavy bar represents the burdens—the deep, heavy struggles that sometimes become too much for one person.

Paul calls us to bear one another’s burdens. Notice how these students need to work together because this load is simply too heavy for just one of them.

APPLICATION: In life, we all face heavy moments—crises, grief, or challenges. We’re not meant to go through these alone; that’s why we help carry each other’s heavy loads.

Action: Ask this student to put the backpack on and walk a short distance on their own. Emphasize that the backpack is light enough for them to carry by themselves.

ILLUSTRATION: This backpack represents the personal responsibility that each one of us must bear. Even though it’s light enough to carry, it is yours alone.

When we stand before God, no one else can take off the straps for us. Each of us must be prepared to bear our own load.

APPLICATION: This shows that while we can support one another through life’s heaviest challenges, our own walk with Christ—our personal commitment and accountability—cannot be transferred or shared.

We must each run our race with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

So in this life, we help carry each other’s barus—the heavy, overwhelming burdens that are too much for one person.

But one day, when we stand before Jesus, we each carry our own phortion.

No one else can stand in for us, make excuses for us, or carry that responsibility on our behalf.

APPLICATION: That’s why we need to focus less on how we compare to others and more on how we stand before God.

If we truly grasp that, it changes how we treat people. It humbles us. It makes us more compassionate.

Instead of judging, we restore. Instead of tearing down, we lift up.

And that leads to the next step—after we pick someone up, and hold them up, we need to build them up.

Otherwise, they’ll just fall again. That’s what Paul gets into in verse 6.

2. Confess and Impress Vs. 6

Verse 6 is one of those verses that has sparked a lot of discussion.

Many have jokingly called it the “pay the preacher” verse because, many preachers interpret it to mean that the church must pay the pastors.

And many preachers like getting paid. And that’s why so many interpret it that way.

A lot of people assume Paul is telling the Galatians to financially support their teachers—maybe because there was an issue with them not doing so.

But as I kept reading and meditating on this verse That just doesn’t fit. 

Why would Paul, in the middle of talking about restoring a fallen brother, suddenly throw in a reminder about paying the teachers? It feels out of place.

But if you just dig into the Greek a little bit and dig a little deeper. Here’s what you can find:

The phrase “Let him who is taught” comes from the Greek word katecheo—which is where we get the word catechumen, meaning a learner.

The word “share” is koinoneo, which means to hold equally or to have fellowship.

Now, that really threw me off because if this verse was about money, how does that fit?

Once you give money to someone, you’re not sharing it anymore—they have it.

So this verse is talking about a common fellowship, something held together.

So what exactly are they supposed to share?

Paul says “all good things.” Now, does that mean money? Maybe.

But the Greek word here is agathois, which is the plural form of agathos, meaning good.

If you translated it super literally, it would say, “Let him who is taught in the word share with him who teaches in all goodies.”

Now, what are the goodies? Some say money, but interestingly enough, agathos is mostly used in Scripture to describe spiritual excellence, not material things.

Agathos, is used for inner, qualitative goodness—spiritual truths. You see this in Romans 10:15, Hebrews 9:11, Hebrews 10:1, and many other places.

Romans 10:15 NKJV

15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Hebrews 9:11 NKJV

11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Hebrews 10:1 NKJV

1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

So what’s Paul really saying here? He’s telling the Galatians that part of restoring a fallen brother isn’t just picking him up and supporting him—it’s also building him up in the truth.

The one who’s been taught the Word should be sharing that same spiritual wisdom with the one who’s been restored. That’s the final step in restoration.

APPLICATION: we are reminded that restoration is a two-way street.

It’s not enough to simply be lifted up by the Word; we are also called to pass along that spiritual nourishment to others.

Ask yourself: Are you quietly enjoying the blessings of God’s Word, or are you actively sharing that goodness with those around you?

APPLICATION: If you have been taught the Word and have experienced the transformative power of Christ, you have a unique responsibility to share “all good things”—not just material wealth, but the deep, inner spiritual excellence that comes from a life transformed by the gospel.

This isn’t about writing a check for your pastor; it’s about intentionally investing in the lives of those who labor in the truth.

When you share your insight, encouragement, and even your struggles, you strengthen the very body of Christ.

ILLUSTRATION: Your life is like a well filled with living water.

Are you keeping it to yourself, or are you inviting others to drink from it?

Every act of sharing—whether through words of wisdom, a simple prayer, or a compassionate gesture—is a tangible expression of unity and gratitude for the blessings you’ve received.

As you give, you build up your community and deepen your own walk with God.

APPLICATION: My prayer today is that we all become channels of God’s goodness.

I pray that every interaction be an opportunity to pass on the rich, spiritual nourishment you’ve received, building up our brothers and sisters in Christ and ensuring that the cycle of restoration and renewal continues in our midst.

WHY?

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

That’s what Paul is getting at—after lifting someone up and holding them up, we need to strengthen them with truth so they don’t fall again.

So, the pattern is simple:

1. Pick him up—help him when he’s down.

2. Hold him up—support and encourage him.

3. Build him up—make sure he’s growing in the Word.

That’s the full picture of restoration. May God help us to live it out!

In closing, I want us to remember that God isn’t calling us to compare our progress or take shortcuts by leaning on someone else’s work.

Instead, each one of us is entrusted with our own light load—the personal responsibility to live out the gospel with integrity before God.

At the same time, we’re called to lift up those who stumble under life’s heavy burdens, sharing the spiritual riches we’ve received and building one another up in the truth.

Today, as you leave church, commit to running your race with your eyes fixed on Jesus, He’s the finish line.

carrying your own load with faithfulness, and generously sharing the goodness of God's Word with those around you.

Let every act of encouragement and every word of wisdom be a testament to the transformative power of the gospel.

Go forth as both a helper and a bearer of light in a world that desperately needs the love and hope of Christ. Amen.

ENDING…