Down-to-Earth Spirituality: Life Together (Gal.6:1-10)                                          2008.08.10    Pastor Richard Yu  

In this section, Paul mentions a number of practical examples of what life in the Spirit looks like if believers were to live by the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit. On the surface these verses do not appear to follow a clear flow of thought, but upon closer examination it seems that Paul intertwines two fundamental aspects of Christian life in the Spirit: mutual accountability and personal responsibility.

First, believers are mutually accountable to one another. Paul teaches that believers are mutually accountable in that we ought to pick up those who are overtaken by sin (1a), to hold up those who are burdened with trouble and problem (v. 2), and to build up each other by sharing good things with, and doing good to, them tirelessly (vv. 6, 9-10).

When a brother was overtaken in a sin before he’s able to escape, those who are spiritual – meaning those who walk by the Spirit and follow the guidance of the Spirit – ought to pick him up with a gentle spirit and preserve fellowship with him through forgiveness.

(You walk by the Spirit when you take in the Word of God, when you pause to mediate on the things of Christ, when you pray to express your gratitude towards God and your sense of dependence upon Him, and when you interact with, and care for, fellow believers whom Christ also loves and makes His presence known.)

Paul goes on to teach that believers ought to carry each other’s burden- in the sense of sharing each other's troubles and problems. Not only sharing the burden, but also the “good things,” which is a term used in the NT primarily of spiritual and moral excellence. Therefore, the sharing of good things refers to the common fellowship among the ones who are taught and the one who teaches; the growth and maturing in the spiritual and ethical quality in the believers’ lives are the good things that build up both the teacher and the one who are taught. The best reward and encouragement for me as a pastor is the visible spiritual maturity in you! And that’s the thing that builds me up the most.

Furthermore, since believers are called to live as a community of witness in the midst of non-believers, we ought to make use of every opportunity we now have in doing good to each other, and to those outside of our community. How we treat each other is our greatest attraction to a world seeking love, kindness, and compassion.

Second, believers are personally responsible for their own obligations and actions. (vv. 1b, 3-5, 7–8). Even when helping a brother is sin, one must be vigilant in preserving one’s own integrity and purity so as not to be dragged into the sin the other brother is entrapped. Paul’s command for each to carry his own load seems to contradict what he just said about carrying each other’s burdens. But he uses a different term here. The word “load” refers to anything that is carried, and has no connotation of hardship or of a burden. It was often used of the general obligations of life that a person is responsible to carry on his own.

Paul uses the sowing and reaping metaphor to show that sin, however pleasurable in the undertaking, always has consequences, bad consequences even in this lifetime. We see this fact again and again when we have to deal with problems arising from personal abuse of alcohol, drug, violence, or sex.

Both mutual accountability and personal responsibility are important and need to be kept in balance. Tilt it one way, overly emphasizing the mutuality, you’ll get the idea of Christian communal life, which, although can be rooted in biblical principles, but not the way to describe how Christians ought to live. 

Tilt it another way, overly emphasizing the personal responsibility, you’ll get the idea of Western individualism, thinking that you are accountable to no one but God. It is not enough to own up to one’s own actions and duties; Christ also calls us to live self-sacrificially for the sake of others.

In the end Paul teaches that, by the grace of God, the believer can follow the Law of Christ, and actually be a concrete help to others who are in need. At the same time he teaches that all those who are able to take care of themselves should not relinquish their personal responsibilities and become a burden to others. Paul’s message is a mutual accountability that does not deny personal responsibility and a personal responsibility that includes mutual accountability.

Paul is looking for disciples who are prepared to be burden bearers, with a willingness to make sacrifice to help others in need. The Law of Christ is both practical and workable, and ultimately attractive, as you and I live by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit.