Galatians Part 12

Welcome:

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Intro:

We’ve been talking through the doctrine of adoption

When we put our faith in Jesus that we become children of God

New creations

We talked about how the gospel + nothing = everything

And last week we talked about what it looks like to walk by the Spirit

Paul outlined the desires of our flesh and then countered that with the fruit of the Spirit

And we talked about how Paul is not after self-help

He didn’t give us those things to tell us to just do better

He gave us those things to tell us that we can’t achieve it on our own

the only way to be people who are not dominated by the flesh but rather producing the fruit of the Spirit is by keeping in step with the Spirit of God

Now this morning we will see how this then begins to play out in our lives, how this works its self out practically

Galatians 6:1–6 NIV

1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

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I want to remind us of something before we get going here

And this may be just mind blowing

It may be revolutionary

And I think you’re gonna hear it and go “oh that’s why Jeret is the teaching Pastor.”

6 comes after 5

Like I know you may have learned that in kindergarten but we seem to be forgetful at times

Chapter 6 comes after chapter 5

Here is why that is important

When we think of the Holy Spirit and we think of walking by the Spirit of God

We often correlate that with the idea that the only things that come out of the Holy Spirit are things like

Crazy miracles

Speaking in tongues

Casting out demons

And the like

And I’m not limiting the power of the Holy Spirit here

But when we only think of Him in the way than that’s what we are doing

Look what Paul goes into immediately following “walking by the spirit.”

He doesn’t say, “now go perform crazy miracles”

Or go speak in different tongues

What he is most concerned about is how we behave with one another

He is most concerned about our community of believers

Not signs and wonders

He doesn’t talk about spiritual gifts here

He talks about how the community of faith should operate under the leading of the Holy Spirit

I think far to often we get so infatuated with signs and wonders we forget the power of the practical moving of the Holy Spirit

There’s nothing wrong with wanting God to do extraordinary and powerful things but we can’t allow that desire to cause us to miss God in the things we might consider normal or maybe even mundane.

Because let me let you in on a little secret. The Spirit of God usually works in our lives through the practical deeds of love for others, especially love for His church.

We have been called and belong to a body of believers. By doing so we are fulfilling the callings of God on our life

Those christians who are just chasing around the next event that the Spirit moves in but yet does not belong to a local church is missing out on the majority of how the Spirit of God moves and operates

And he or she is not applying the New Testament in their lives

Christianity is: loving God and loving one another

But we now live in a culture that researchers call “crowded loneliness”

There are more ways to connect today than there ever has been before and yet my generation is the loneliest generation ever

There are more activities, entertainments and ways to keep us busy and yet we are some of the most unhappy people this world has ever seen

And it’s really not a whole lot different from many people who call themselves Christians

And one of the primary reasons why is because we’ve replaced biblical community with “crowded loneliness.”

We’ve become so busy, so fast paced, so entertained, that we’ve lost connection with one another and therefore we’ve failed to fulfill the Biblical callings on our lives

Ball games have become more important than bible studies

Netflix has become more popular that networking

Convenience has become more important than community

Gathering stuff has become more valuable than generosity

Self overrides selflessness

And therefore we’ve become churches with more practical power than ever before and arguably have yet become less and less effective

Paul’s plea here for the Galatians and mine for you is: do not forget the importance of Biblical community

Especially in lite of all we’ve been through recently where we’ve spent the last few years forced to isolate, forced to work from home, forced to be alone.

The truth is, That wasn’t just the government at work, that was the enemy at work

If the enemy can isolate you then he knows he can destroy you

Let’s stop trying to figure out what we can divide over and start focusing on what unites us so that we may be the church and community that Christ died for

Ok so Paul starts by saying “brothers and sisters” and he uses this to emphasize again the care we should have for one another. We are family!

We take care of one another and the primary way we do that is spiritually

And so Paul says, “look there’s going to be times and moments of failure

The church should be the first one to reach out its hand and restore.

And this isn’t a suggestion. It’s something we need to be doing

I think when we see this happen we take the approach of “it’s none of my business” but the reality is it is your business when you are united to them by faith

We approach church so individualistically. It’s all about my wants, my needs, my desires and then that bleeds over into, this is my life, my problem, my business, you stay over there and leave me alone

But that’s not what a biblical church does that’s not how they behave

We restore

We go into the mess and gently bring a person back

We are adopted by God, children of God, brothers and sisters, united by Christ

We must seek the spiritual welfare of one another

Now, Paul uses the Greek word that meant, “to put back in order or repair.”

It was the same word used for setting a broken bone like a doctor

So, I don’t believe we should take this as permission to be the righteousness police.

It does not grant us permission to inspect every detail of every person’s life

The matters that Paul seems to be highlighting are sins that are destroying a persons life

Not just conscience issues

The bottom line is: we should more concerned about the person than the issue

And realize that it is only Jesus that can truly forgive and truly restore

We are called to this process to restore not destroy

When Jesus is brought the woman caught in adultery everyone wanted to stone her, to destroy her

Jesus was only interested in restoring her and this is how we should be also

Paul doesn’t give any steps for restoration but there are some steps for the one doing the restoring

#1 you MUST be spiritually mature

Paul says “those who live by the Spirit”

Not those who are trying this out

Not “those who know of the Spirit”

Those who LIVE by the Spirit

Jesus says it this way in Matt 7:5

Matthew 7:5 NIV

5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

You have to tend to your heart before you start trying to fix everyone else

#2 you must be gentle

This is not a process to show off your righteousness, nor you gifting’s or abilities.

But as we begin to keep in step with the Spirit, gentleness is something that comes from that and we begin to be gentle with others

We mourn over others sin and gently restore them back to the faith

#3 you must be careful

We must always be aware that we are not immune to falling.

We’ve been talking about the war between our flesh and Spirit

The enemy can and will try to use your good deed to bring you down if you are not careful

And one of the one’s we tend to be most blind to is spiritual pride

We tend to think that if we are the one restoring than we are better

We must never take on that attitude but realize that this is a brother or sister and we are equal

then in verses 2-5 Paul takes it a step further

And we see a few things here

#1 Burdens are a reality

Paul doesn’t say if burdens arise then help each other

He just says carry each other’s burdens

#2 We are not independent but interdependent

Paul not only assumes there will be burdens but also that you won’t be able to carry all of them on your own.

#3 Burden bearing is a command

Bot a suggestion

#4 it’s the way we fulfill the law of Christ

we see Jesus say in Jn 13:34 to love one another as Christ loves us is the law of Christ

Paul says in Gal 5:14 to love our neighbor is to fulfill the law

And here Paul says, carry each other’s burdens and you will fulfill the law of christ

John Stott says in his commentary “it is very impressive that to “love your neighbour, bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law are three equivalent expressions. It shows that to love one another as Christ loves us may lead us not to some heroic, spectacular deed of self-sacrifice, but to the much more mundane and unspectacular ministry of burden-bearing.

We are called to fulfill the law and told that to love one another is the avenue in which we accomplish that

Now Paul is saying: loving one another looks a lot carrying each other’s burdens

#5 Our pride will hinder our ability to do this

Nothing hinders true-selfless love like pride

And verse 3 and 4 don’t contradict themselves

Paul essentially says in verse 4 don’t compare yourselves to others but compare yourself with God’s evaluation, then you will be as humble/prideful as you ought to be

Which then leads us to #6

#6 There’s a difference between a burden and a load

You may read verse 5 and think it contradicts verse 2

Paul tells us to carry one another’s burdens in verse 2

But in verse 5 says each one should carry their own load

Which one is it Paul

Well Paul uses two separate Greek words here

In verse 2 for burden its the word “bar os” it means “heavy weight or heavy load.”

In verse 5 it’s the greek word “for tee on”

It means “a man’s pack”

The distinction is clear

Some things in life are so heavy you can not bear it alone. You truly need help

But not everything in your life is a crisis

You need to carry your own backpack

We don’t take advantage of our brothers and sisters and ask them to carry our backpack

Be a man, be a women, and do what you’re supposed to do.

But also, be a man, be a woman and ask for help when you need it

Usually, we fall into one extreme or the other

We are so selfish and lazy that we ask everyone else to do everything for us

Or we are so prideful and arrogant that we never ask for help no matter how dire it gets

Both are equally wrong

We carry our own loads, and always look for ways to share in carrying one another’s burdens

Then in vs 6 Paul switches gears a little but is still talking about how we relate with one another

This time between teachers and receivers of instruction

And so there are a few things here

#1 we are to be those who willingly share

Generous in our sharing

#2 as those that stand on this stage and teach God’s Word, our primary aim is to do just that

We are to use the Word of God as our beginning, our middle, and our end

My goal is not to entertain you, gimmick you, trick you, perform for you

My number one priority is to teach and preach the truth’s outlined in Scripture

And then he says it’s the responsibility of the church to care for/share with it’s pastor or instructor

Not for the pastor to take advantage of that but to use it to minister to the flock that he has been given

This is Paul’s heart. Paul yearned for the church to be who God intended it to be

Let me say this. I’ve seen the Church, big C, fail to do these things.

And the truth is, a lot of times, you would never know it from the outside looking in.

We think because the seats are full and the bank is full and our eyes are full that we’ve done what we are supposed to do

That church is successful.

But let me tell you, that is not what makes a successful church

In fact those things have little to do with the character of a church either way.

those things don’t mean they are successful just like it doesn’t mean they are sinful

I don’t think all mega-churches are un-biblical

But if Biblical community does not define a church then that church does not describe a biblical church

You may think I’m a heretic after I say this but;

It is more important for us connect, care and commune then it is for us to agree on every doctrinal matter

It is more important for us to love one another than it is for us to fill the seats

One of our Core Values here is to be Humble and Real

You know how to turn someone away from church and Christ really quick, be fake.

Jesus hated fake people

Those who would say they were followers of Jesus and then act nothing like Him

How can we say that we love Jesus, we read our Bibles every day, we come and worship with our hands raised but then don’t connect with a church, don’t serve and share, and don’t love.

Those things don’t add up!

Paul is urging the Galatians to not fall into the trap of self absorption and individualistic religion

This is a community of faith! A gathering of people! The church!

No one is too good for it, no one is above it, no one does not need it. We are all designed for this!

When we serve one another, you know who benefits from it? Of course the one being served but also the one serving and therefore the church

When we give do you know who benefits from that, of course the one getting the money but also the one giving it and therefore the church

When we care you know who benefits from it? Of course the one being cared for but also the one doing the caring and therefore the church benefits

This is the way that God has designed it to be

So my prayer for you and for us is:

That we would be the church that God has called us to be

A biblical loving church

That you would lean into the community of believers that God has called you to and not pull away from it

Listen, if this is not your church home, that is fine. Maybe you are just visiting with us, maybe you are watching this online or later but you belong to another church.

I would encourage you to lean in! Seek out ways to serve, give, and care. Don’t wait to be asked, don’t assume someone else is doing it, don’t make your mission to see how little you can do. Plug in, lean in, pour into that church

They need you and you need them! It may be messy at times but persevere and you will reap what you sow (which we will talk about more next week)

And I pray that we will be a church known for our community with each other and care for one another

And look, we’ve come a long way in this area but we have much room for growth

So let’s grow in that together

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