Galatians Chapter 6
Originally posted Wednesday August 20, 2008
Galatians Chapter 6:1-10 Proverbs for Christian Life in
Christ
To live a life which
exhibits the fruit of the Spirit - to walk in the Spirit, is not a perfect
life. The first part of Alexander Pope's quotation, "To err is
human," relates to all who strive for perfection. John Wesley knew this to
be so in his own life. So did Paul. Transgressions happen and they happen
within the church. Paul's emphasis on love as the work of one's faith is to be
part of how the community deals will those who have erred. If a Christian
who walks in the Spirit acts with genuine love, joy, kindness and
gentleness, these qualities can be expected when dealing with those
"detected in a transgression." Paul urges a spirit of gentleness when
doing so for the object is not to condemn but to restore the other to
fellowship. In many of Jesus' acts of healing, forgiveness and
restoration were integral parts. Healing broken relationships with
forgiveness is not the exclusive purview of the religious community.
Injured relationships are part of life. Paul urges the Galatians to mend them
with gentleness and kindness. He urges us to do the same and not to be tempted
to carry our resentments with us.
In an extended
proverb on "walking in the Spirit" Paul exhorts the community to
a unity expressed through mutual gentleness and kindness. We are to bear
one another's burdens, offering our helpful presence. Doing so fulfills the
"law of Christ" to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are not to
think of ourselves as more important than others. Doing so is self-deception, which ignores the equality of all who are in Christ. We are to be concerned
with our own discipleship, testing it against the standard of "the
law of Christ" and not be concerned with that of our neighbor's
lest we "think we are something" and our neighbor is not. After all
each of us has our own work to do and our concern should be to do it as
well as we can and not to judge another's. Our work and our neighbor's will be
impartially judged by God.
The ending element
of the proverb calls for the material support of those who teach. While this
seems to set particular persons apart in importance, it is likely the
teachers in the various small communities of Galatia are fellow evangelists who
have worked with Paul to establish the churches. They probably are not new
Christians but those who know Paul's message well. Titus and Timothy
come to mind for such a role. Their function would be to read and interpret the
Scriptures and to ease the transition from a pagan culture to the new life in
Christ. Such people, Paul writes, deserve the support of the community. Those
of us who are old enough or who were raise in a rural church will
remember the delightful tradition of "pounding" the Pastor. All the
members would gather, usually at a "dinner on the grounds" or
"pot luck" dinner. The idea was that each member would bring a pound
of some food item for the new Pastor and family (lemon pound cakes were always
welcome).
Paul ends this
passage placing his exhortations within the frame of the final judgment. He
makes the connection for the Galatians between present actions and future
accountability. The two roads are well lit. Spending one's best energies on
"works of the flesh" will lead to "corruption from the
flesh" (spiritual death). Living a life in which the fruit of the Spirit
is made manifest in all things leads to eternal life from the Spirit. This is
the meaning of accountability, that we will reap what we sow. Therefore, he
writes, "[do] not grow weary in doing what is right...work for the good of
all, especially for those of the family of faith."
Galatians Chapter 6:11-18 Final Admonitions
Paul writes the
closing for his letter himself in "large letters." He wants to
be sure they understand the true nature of his primary concern. In a
reference to his earlier comment about being persecuted for his message of
"freedom in Christ" apart from the law, specifically the tradition of
circumcision, he casts doubts upon the sincerity of those who want to compel
the Galatians to be circumcised. Their goal is to make themselves look good in
the eyes of their fellow Jewish Christians, to boast by pointing to the
Galatians as a success story for the Law of Moses. By convincing the Galatians
that being a complete Christian requires circumcision they hope to avoid being
persecuted "for the cross of Christ." Possibly Paul thinks these
false apostles really do believe in the freedom Christ brings in reference to
the Law of Moses. But they cannot bring themselves to admit it or preach it for
by doing so their fellow Jews will persecute them just as they have persecuted
Paul. As for Paul his only boast will be the cross of Christ through which
he and his world have become new creations. His old world and his old self
have been crucified with Christ. By comparison this new creation is everything
while circumcision is nothing.
Paul speaks his
benediction of peace upon all who will "follow
this rule" (those who will renounce
circumcision). The benediction is also pronounced over "the Israel of
God." Because he has characterized the Galatian churches as the seed
(descendants) of Abraham and inheritors of God's blessing (the Kingdom yet
to come) Paul makes the bold claim that the church is the new Israel. It is the new Israel God has created in the
work of Christ. Thus Paul blesses not just the Galatian church with peace and
mercy but all communities of Christ.
Vs. 17 is not a flippant remark. It is a
reprise of vs. 3:1 in
which Paul, referring to his own life as a much battered apostle, points
out that when he came to Galatia Christ's crucifixion was "publically
exhibited" to the Galatians in Paul's scarred body (see also 4:12-14). His devotion
brought on the severe persecution, "the marks of Jesus branded on [his]
body." This is the stigmata, the signs of his own disgrace and humiliation
at the hands of Jews and Gentiles alike. He has had enough of this trouble over
circumcision. He has demonstrated in his own body his freedom in Christ, a
freedom for which he has paid a heavy price.
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