Will You Face Trials… Together?
GIST: In the face of trials, we need each other; therefore, you must live uprightly, so you may restore gently and bear lovingly.
SCRIPTURE: Galatians 6:1-5
1 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. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.
We’re coming to the end of our short study on how to live in the face of trials. This morning and evening, we’re going to look at two passages which essentially address our need to face them together. Next Sunday, we’ll wrap up the series by looking at our need to persevere. Then, you’ll get a nice break because my family will be on vacation for two weeks :D.
I. We need each other (Context)
Let’s start by talking about the context of this passage and its general message. I’ve been reading over Galatians for the past couple weeks and have been struck by the emotions. It’s almost as if the entire letter is written as an ALL-CAPS appeal. Paul is deeply concerned for these people, mostly because they have fallen away from the Gospel and bought into the teaching that you need both Jesus and the law. The results were divisive. Rather than coming together in service, they were looking to accuse one another of faults. Therefore, he reminds them of the true Gospel--we are sinners who can only be saved by the precious blood of Jesus, and, if we are, we need to live like those changed by it.
This passage then zooms in on some practical applications of living like we’re saved, and gives two big picture points: 1) we will all have burdens (which we’ve established over the past few weeks), and 2) Christians are meant to bear these together (Alistair Begg). Christian life was never meant to be a solo act.
II. Therefore, Live Uprightly
1b Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted… 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.
A Lack of Humility: Ok, so we’re taking this in a little backwards order, but I think you need to see this to fully understand the context. It seems this original audience wasn’t bearing each other’s burdens because it didn’t see the need, and it didn’t see the need mostly because of a lack of humility. In the same way, before we can effectively help one another, we need to have our hearts in the right place.
Burdens Vs Loads: Let’s go ahead and address the two contrasting ideas here about carrying burdens. Some translations will use the same word in verse 2 and verse 5, so that it seems to say ‘carry each other’s burdens, but carry your own burden’ (which might still work if we took it as you carry your burden with the help of others). But there are actually two separate words here, so many translations will take it as ‘carry each others burdens, that which heavily weighs you down, but carry your own load, the responsibilities God has given each of us individually. In fact, while the word used in verse 2 means something heavy and, thus, hard to carry, the word used in verse 5 is the same word that would be used to describe a soldier's pack which was personally assigned to him and designed to be carried.
Take Up Your Cross Daily: I think in the context here, we can see this as parallel with what Jesus tells His disciples in Luke 9:23, “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” We have been saved from our sins, but we still live in a sinful world with a sinful nature. Verse 1 reminds us of this by telling us to “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted”. The famous hymn, “Come Thou Fount”, puts it better than I could:
“Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, (a chain used to restrain a prisoner)
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” (emphases added)
Keep the Right Perspective: Remembering who we are, sinners saved by Grace in desperate need of continual Grace as we walk through this narrow path, should right our perspective on helping others. St. Augustine put it like this: "There is no sin which one person has committed, that another person may not commit it also." Or the proverbial phrase we would do well to remember, but whose source is apparently unknown, “there but by the grace of God, go I”.
Boasting?: Don’t be thrown off by the verse 4 saying, “4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.” It is when you examine your own works in light of God’s standard, instead of vainly comparing yourself to others, that you will be reminded, as Paul says later in verse 14, “...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.” We won’t have anything to boast in that is of ourselves--that’s the point. We, like all the lost around us or all those trapped in sin, need Jesus.
You must take your Christian walk seriously--spending time daily with Jesus in prayer and Bible study (please don’t let the familiarity of this admonition detract from its importance)-->
III. So You May Restore Gently
1a Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
Caught in Sin- The context here is talking about Christians who get caught by sin, not necessarily by deliberate effort, though that could be the case, but more like without even noticing. Remember, we are all sinners and can still fall into temptation even once we’ve been saved. That is why we must be diligent to take up our cross daily, and guard our hearts and minds by the Word of God. Nonetheless, sin will sometimes “get us”, for lack of a better word. This reminds me of God’s admonition to Cain in Genesis 4:7. Cain is upset that his sacrifice had not been accepted, and God tells him: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” The same idea is echoed in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13: 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (emphasis added). Sin wants to destroy you. We are in a spiritual battle and cannot afford to be lax in our stance.
Spiritual- Nonetheless, when this does happen, the spiritual are called to restore the trapped. The word spiritual here is one that Paul has been using throughout the letter. It refers to anyone who is “in the Spirit”. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit fills us. We become His. So, Paul is not referring to some elite class of believers called “the spirituals”; this is meant for all believers. The problem was that this original audience was more concerned with the “catching” part than the “restoring”. They were all about pointing out when others were falling short, but restoring? Not as much. And we have to get this...because we’re no better.
Restore- The word restore here means to fix, or repair. It’s the same word used in reference to the disciples fixing their nets. It means to make useful again. We’re not given a specific process by which to do this, but I think the implications are there. How else can someone caught in sin be made useful again, but by repenting of that sin and being restored in their service to God. We should help bring them back. James 5:19-20 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Shouldn’t that be the goal? Shouldn’t we want to see each other being used by God? Too often, we’re like these Galatians. We find out someone is caught in sin, and we gossip about it. Sure, we might cloak our gossip in the pretense of prayer, but if there’s no desire to restore, then there’s no purpose in our praying.
Gently- And that’s where this last part comes in. We have this word gentle again (see Philippians 4). So much of our lives will be improved with a healthy dose of Christ-like humility. Compassion and understanding should temper our reactions to others. This does not mean we won’t sometimes need to be direct, or say hard things. This is not a call to passively ignore sin. Rather, it is a call to address it head on--it is a call to restore, not ignore! Yet, to do so with the right heart. “3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3
Of course, I can’t separate this from parenting in my mind...because that’s where I live. It’s hard to correct a child sometimes, and I won’t claim for a second to have mastered it. Why is it hard? Because when I see my child doing something wrong or harmful, my first instinct is to jump in and stop it, to come down strong and put them back on the right path. Yet, I also want them to learn and grow and… be restored. And, you know, I also realize I’ve been on the other side of the fence. All of my kids are probably 10x better kids than I was, so having a “I can’t believe you just did that attitude” really shouldn’t have a place in my heart. Because I love them, I don’t want to just yell at them about their shortcomings; I want to build them up, so they’re no longer trapped. I know what it feels like to be trapped in sin--the guilt, the shame, the struggle--and I don’t want that for them. This should be our heart as we walk together as the family of God, as well.
IV. And Bear Lovingly
2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Bear Burdens: I know I’ve taken up much of your time already, so I’ll try to be brief in these closing points. We are called to be the kind of people who humbly love because we have been eternally changed by gracious love. This will be demonstrated in how we help each other. Though we must all carry our own load, sometimes we’ll find ourselves burdened. These burdens don’t have a cookie-cutter form, but you guys know that. Sometimes...life is just hard. And it is in those times, we need to come alongside one another--not to take the burden then upon ourselves, but to carry it together.
In my time, I have moved some pretty heavy pieces of furniture, and I am not exceptionally impressive in the “strength” department. I remember one time helping a neighbor move a cast-iron framed piano into his house. He couldn’t do it alone. Together, we could do it a little better. But, when my brother-in-law came over and we all finally got a hand on that monster, we took it through the door. (Ironically, the day after typing this example, my brother-in-law & I moved another piano…)
In Love: This is fulfilling the law of Christ. We could camp out here for a long time, but won’t. Look at what Jesus says in John 13:34, and I think you’ll see what this law is: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. To help one another in times of trials is to live like Jesus--who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our ultimate trial.
TAKEAWAYS:
In the face of trials, we need each other; therefore, you must live uprightly, so you may restore gently and bear lovingly.
- As you remember God’s love and grace, love those around you with grace.
- Be ready and willing to both help and be helped.
- As American’s we tend to err on the side of one of the other. We either carry the banner of “Take Care of Each Other!” or “Pull Up Your Own Boot Straps!” Carry burdens together as you take up your own cross.
- So we won’t have to face trials alone.
EXTRA QUOTES:
“Deal considerately and kindly with the fallen, for you may fall. Bear each other’s burdens, for to claim any superiority to them is mere delusion.” -John Ellicott
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (I Cor. 10:12.) If David who was a hero of faith and did so many great things for the Lord, could fall so badly that in spite of his advanced age he was overcome by youthful lust after he had withstood so many different temptations with which the Lord had tested his faith, who are we to think that we are more stable? These object lessons of God should convince us that of all things God hates pride.” -Martin Luther
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