Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Galatians 6:1 A triple duty T. Adams. I. AN ACT OF CHARITY; support of the weak (vers. 1, 2). II. AN ACT OF INTEGRITY: proof of ourselves (vers. 3, 4). III. AN ACT OF EQUITY; support of ministers (ver. 6). ( T. Adams. )

Benson Commentary Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1 . Brethren, if a man be overtaken in — Greek, ???????? , surprised into; a fault — Through his ignorance, inattention, or the stress of temptation, not considering sufficiently what he is going to do; ye who are spiritual — Who have received the Spirit of truth, grace, and wisdom, and who continue to live and walk by and in the Spirit; restore such a one — By reproof, instruction, or exhortation. Every one who can, ought to help therein; only in the spirit of meekness — Gentleness, and love: qualities essential to a spiritual man, and on these lies the whole force of the cure. Considering thyself — The plural is beautifully changed into the singular. As if he had said, Let each take heed to himself; lest thou also be tempted — That is, fall by temptation; which, being still in the body, thou art liable to do, and therefore may stand in need of the same kind office from thy brother, which thou art now called to render to him. Temptation easily and swiftly passes from one to another, especially if a man endeavours to cure another without preserving his own meekness; and a consciousness of our own frailty should dispose us to be merciful toward those that fall. Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2-5 . Bear ye one another’s burdens — Sympathize with and assist each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. The apostle alludes to the custom of travellers, who, when too heavily laden with their baggage, relieve one another by bearing the burdens of the weak or fatigued, and in that manner show their good disposition toward each other; and so fulfil the law of Christ — Even that law of love, which he particularly and especially enjoins, terming it his new commandment, and making it the distinguishing mark of his disciples; and surely we may willingly receive that law from one who was himself such an unequalled example of love, and who with so gracious a sympathy bore our burdens of sorrow, and carried away the load of our guilt. For if a man — If any one; think himself to be something — Above his brethren, and take up an overweening opinion of himself; when he is nothing — Like what he apprehends himself to be; and in particular if he be so conceited of his own sufficiency, as to imagine that he is able to resist temptation by his own strength, or by the strength of inherent grace, and thereupon insults over or despises his fallen brother, in comparison of himself, and is not compassionate and friendly to him; he deceiveth himself — Is entirely mistaken in the judgment he forms of his own state and character. But let every man — To prevent so great an evil; prove his own work — Narrowly examine all he is, all he has, and all he doth; and then — If his spirit and conduct be found agreeable to the rule God has given him, and so be approved by God; he shall have rejoicing in himself — In what God has done for him and in him, by pardoning and renewing him, and enabling him to walk before him in all well-pleasing; he will find matter of comfort in knowing that his heart is right with God, and that he has his conversation according to the gospel; and not in another — That is, not in the applause he receives from another, nor in glorying over others, as inferior to himself in gifts or graces, in holiness or usefulness. For every man — In the day of final judgment; shall bear his own burden — Shall give an account of himself to God; shall answer for his own actions only, and not for those of others. Galatians 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Galatians 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. Galatians 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden. Galatians 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Galatians 6:6 . Let him that is taught in the word — Who is instructed in the doctrines and precepts of the gospel; communicate unto him that teacheth — According to the ability that God hath given him; in all good things — All such temporal things as he stands in need of. If, says Macknight, “the teachers, who by spiritual gifts were supernaturally qualified to instruct others, deserved to be liberally maintained, how much more is a liberal maintenance due to those, who, not possessing the [extraordinary] spiritual gifts, are obliged to spend a great deal of time and money in fitting themselves for their office, and who employ themselves assiduously in discharging it!” Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7-8 . Be not deceived — As if he had said, It is an easy thing for interested men to find excuses for the neglect of this and other liberalities, which are required for the support and propagation of the gospel of Christ; but do not delude yourselves in this or any other such matter, by the treachery of your own hearts, which may more fatally impose upon yourselves than upon any others. For God — Who searches all hearts, and observes all external circumstances; is not mocked — Or, to be mocked by such vain pretences, although they attempt to mock him, who think to reap otherwise than they sow. For — As in the natural, so in the moral world; whatsoever a man soweth — Whether it be good or bad, whether he be liberal or sparing in it; that shall he also reap — The return shall be answerable thereto, both with respect to the kind and degree of it. For he that soweth to his flesh — That yields to his unhallowed passions and appetites, and follows the desires of his corrupt nature; or that employs his substance, time, and thoughts, merely or chiefly in gratifying and indulging the flesh, or for the satisfaction of his own bodily necessities, conveniences, or pleasures; shall of the flesh — Out of this very seed; reap corruption — The utter destruction of his soul and body. But he that soweth to the Spirit — That follows the Spirit’s guidance in his dispositions, words, and actions, and, under the influences thereof, employs his abilities of body and mind, his time, talents, and possessions, to promote true religion in himself and in those about him; shall of the Spirit — By his continued assistance and grace, and as the fruit of what is thus sown; reap life everlasting — When he shall leave the world, his immortal spirit shall inherit eternal felicity; and whatsoever his portion may be now, he shall be fully recompensed at the resurrection of the just, ( Luke 14:14 ,) when all the hope of the sinner is perished. Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9-10 . And — Having then such a prospect of felicity before us; let us not be weary — Greek, ?? ????????? , let us not be discouraged, or flag; in well-doing — Or in sowing to the Spirit, whatever labour and fatigue, whatever expense and difficulty, it may be attended with; for in due season — When the harvest is come, or in that proper time which the wisdom and goodness of God hath appointed, and for which it is our duty and interest patiently to wait; we shall reap — Abundant and ample fruit; if we faint not — If we do not suffer our hands to hang down, either through lukewarmness and sloth, or through timidity and fear. As we have, therefore, opportunity — That is, while God continues life to us, and the season of sowing lasts; let us — According to our ability, at whatever time or place, and in whatever manner we can; do good — Of every possible kind, and in every possible degree; unto all men — Neighbours or strangers, good or evil, friends or enemies; but especially unto them who are of the household of faith — Who, being united to us in the bonds of Christian faith and love, are on that account of the family of God, and our brethren and sisters in Christ; and therefore have a peculiar claim to our regard. Observe, reader, the opportunity here spoken of for doing good, generally speaking, is our life-time; but there are also many particular opportunities frequently occurring from time to time. Let us remember Satan is quickened in doing hurt by the shortness of the time; ( Revelation 12:12 ;) by the same consideration let us be quickened in doing good. Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men , especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. Galatians 6:11 . Ye see how large a letter — St. Paul had not yet written a larger to any church; I have written with my own hand — In testimony of my great affection for you, and concern for your spiritual welfare. He generally wrote by an amanuensis. The original expression here used, ???????? ????????? , which we render how large a letter, is, by Whitby, Doddridge, and some others, following Jerome, Chrysostom, and Theophylact, translated, with what kind of, or with what large letters I have written unto you, supposing it to be an apology for the in elegance of the writing. For from the apostle’s making use of an amanuensis in his other letters, they infer that he was not accustomed to write Greek. “The inference, however,” says Macknight, “does not follow. Eminent men, much engaged in affairs, commonly employ others to write for them, notwithstanding they are able to write very well themselves. I therefore prefer the translation in our Bibles, which represents the apostle as informing the Galatians that he wrote this large epistle with his own hand, to show how anxious he was to reclaim them from their errors, and to give them the fullest assurance of the truth of the doctrines contained in it; and that he uniformly preached the same doctrines everywhere.” Galatians 6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Galatians 6:12-13 . The sum of all is this: As many as desire to make a fair show — Or appearance; that is, to preserve a fair character; in the flesh — In external things, or with respect to their observing the Jewish rites and ceremonies; these would constrain you — Gentile converts, both by their example and importunity; to be circumcised — And subject, with them, to the carnal ordinances of the law. The apostle’s meaning is, that the false teachers wished to appear well in the eyes of the Jews, on account of their attachment to the law of Moses, which in other passages he terms the flesh, in opposition to the spiritual dispensation of the gospel. Only lest, &c. — As if he had said, They do not act thus with a single eye to the glory of God, or from a principle of conscience, but only lest they should suffer persecution — From the unbelieving Jews; for the cross of Christ — For maintaining that faith in a crucified Saviour is alone sufficient for justification. It is well known that the Jewish chief priests and elders were great persecutors of the disciples of Christ, and began their persecution very early. See John 9:22 ; John 12:22 ; John 19:38 . Now it seems the mandates of their council were received with implicit submission, even by the synagogues in the Gentile countries, Acts 9:2 . The false teachers, therefore, of whom the apostle speaks, to recommend themselves to these rulers at Jerusalem, who stirred up the unbelieving Jews every where against the Christians, fell upon the scheme of blending Judaism with the gospel; and, as the apostle informs us, urged the Gentiles to receive circumcision, merely that they themselves might not be persecuted for the gospel doctrine of salvation through a crucified Messiah. For neither they themselves — Who are circumcised, and so are solemnly obliged to observe the whole of it; keep the law — Namely, in other points of greater importance; so far are they from a real zeal for it, or from acting uprightly and conscientiously in this matter; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh — May boast of you as their proselytes, and make a merit of this with the other Jews. Galatians 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14 . But God forbid that I should be actuated by any such selfish or worldly views, or should glory — Should boast of any thing I have, or am, or do, or rely on any thing for my acceptance with God; save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ — In what Christ hath done and suffered for me; by whom — Or, as the words may be understood, by which cross; the world is crucified to me — All the things and persons in it are to me as dead things, and therefore as nothing; and I unto the world — I am dead to all worldly pursuits, cares, desires, and enjoyments. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the clause, By the reliance which I have for justification on Christ’s sufferings and death, and by the believing views I have thereof, I am made indifferent to all things here below; “so that I view the world, as little impressed by all its charms, as a spectator would be by any thing which had been graceful in the countenance of a crucified person, when he beholds it blackened in the agonies of death; and am no more affected by the objects round me, than one who is expiring would be struck with any of those prospects which his dying eyes might view from the cross on which he was suspended.” Or, more concisely, the world is crucified to believers, in that, by the firm expectation of eternal life, grounded on Christ’s cross, that is, on his death and resurrection, the world, like the dead carcass of a crucified malefactor, is stripped to them of all its vain allurements. And they are crucified to the world by Christ’s cross, in that “it inspires them with such principles, and leads them to such a course of life, as renders them, in the eyes of the world, as contemptible, and as unfit for their purposes, as if they were dead carcasses. All believers, therefore, after the apostle’s example, justly glory in the crucifixion of their Master, not only as it is the foundation of that assured hope of pardon which they entertain, but as it is an effectual principle of their sanctification.” — Macknight. Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Galatians 6:15-16 . For in Christ Jesus — (See on Galatians 5:6 ,) neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision — To prove that we are accepted of God, and possessed of genuine religion; but a new creature — Or, a new creation, described 2 Corinthians 5:17 , where see the note, as also on Galatians 5:6 ; where the same true and vital religion is termed, faith which worketh by love, implying the renovation of the whole man, by the power of the Divine Spirit, and producing universal, constant, and persevering obedience to God, or the keeping his commandments; which ( 1 Corinthians 7:19 ) is opposed to circumcision and uncircumcision, as here a new creation, and Galatians 5:6 , faith working by love, is opposed to these things. Compare these passages, and the notes on them, with each other. As many as walk according to this rule — 1st, Glorying only in the cross of Christ; 2d, Being crucified to the world; 3d, Created anew; peace be on them — That peace, which is the fruit of justification and a new creation, Romans 5:1 . And mercy — The source of that peace, and of every blessing enjoyed by fallen and sinful man, temporal or spiritual; and upon the Israel of God — That is, the church of God, which consists of those, and only those, of every nation and kindred, tongue and people, who walk by this rule. Galatians 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Galatians 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Galatians 6:17-18 . Henceforth let no man trouble me — By calling my commission, my doctrine, or my faithfulness in question; or with contentions against my office, quarrels and disputes on account of my renouncing circumcision and the ceremonies of the Mosaic law; for I bear (and affliction ought not to be added to the afflicted!) in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus — That is, of my being his persecuted servant; marks of far more importance, and which I think much more honourable, than circumcision; even the scars which I have received by stripes, blows, bruises, and chains, endured in his service, which ought to endear me to all who have a due regard to him. Because the word ???????? denotes marks made by burning, some suppose that the apostle had in his eye those servants in the heathen temples on whose foreheads the name of the god to whom they belonged was in that way imprinted, and under the immediate protection of which god such servants were supposed to be. Hence the worshippers of the beast ( Revelation 13:16 ) are represented as having a mark on their right hands, or on their foreheads, whereby they were known to be its worshippers. In like manner the servants of God are said to have his name on their foreheads, Revelation 22:4 . In allusion to these customs, it is thought that the apostle calls the scars of the wounds which he received in Christ’s service, the marks of the Lord Jesus. For besides his having been stoned and left for dead in the streets of Lystra, as he was five times scourged by the Jews, and thrice beaten with rods by the Romans, ( 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 ,) it is probable he had suffered some of these punishments before this epistle was written, and that they had left scars in his body, by which he was distinguished as the servant of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace — The unmerited favour, and the enlightening, quickening, sanctifying, and comforting influences of his Spirit; be with your spirit — To guide, animate, renew, purify, and comfort you in the ways of truth and peace, of wisdom, piety, and virtue. Thus, although the apostle’s rebukes in the former part of this epistle were sharp and cutting, and although he seems to have treated the Galatians with some severity; yet having expressed his persuasion, that after reading what he had written they would not think differently from him in the principal articles of the Christian doctrine, (chap. Galatians 5:10 ,) he here shows his love Galatians 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Chapter 26 OUR BROTHER’S BURDEN AND OUR OWN. Galatians 6:1-5 THE division of the chapters at this point is almost as unfortunate as that between chaps. 4 and 5. The introductory "Brethren" is not a form of transition to a new topic; it calls in the brotherly love of the Galatians to put an end to the bickerings and recriminations which the Apostle has censured in the preceding verses. How unseemly for brethren to be "vainglorious" towards each other, to be "provoking and envying one another!" If they are spiritual men, they should look more considerately on the faults of their neighbours, more seriously on their own responsibilities. The Galatic temperament, as we have seen, was prone to the mischievous vanity which the Apostle here reproves. Those who had, or fancied they had, some superiority over others in talent or in character, prided themselves upon it. Even spiritual gifts were made matter of ostentation; and display on the part of the more gifted excited the jealousy of inferior brethren. The same disposition which manifests itself in arrogance on the one side, on the other takes the form of discontent and envy. The heart burnings and the social tension which this state of things creates, make every chance collision a danger; and the slightest wound is inflamed into a rankling sore. The stumbling brother is pushed on into a fall; and the fallen man, who might have been helped to his feet, is left to lie there, the object of unpitying reproach. Indeed, the lapse of his neighbour is to the vainglorious man a cause of satisfaction rather than of sorrow. The other’s weakness serves for a foil to his strength. Instead of stooping down to restore "such a one," he holds stiffly aloof in the eminence of conscious virtue; and bears himself more proudly in the lustre added to his piety by his fellow’s disgrace. "God, I thank Thee," he seems to say, "that I am not as other men, -nor even as this wretched back-slider!" The compellation "Brethren" is itself a rebuke to such heartless pride. There are two reflections which should instantly correct the spirit of vainglory. The Apostle appeals in the first place to brotherly love, to the claims that an erring fellow-Christian has upon our sympathy, to the meekness and forbearance which the Spirit of grace inspires, in fine to Christ’s law which makes compassion our duty. At the same time he points out to us our own infirmity and exposure to temptation. He reminds us of the weight of our individual responsibility and the final account awaiting us. A proper sense at once of the rights of others and of our own obligations will make this shallow vanity impossible. This double-edged exhortation takes shape in two leading sentences, sharply clashing with each other in the style of paradox in which the Apostle loves to contrast the opposite sides of truth: "Bear ye one another’s burdens" ( Galatians 6:2 ); and yet "Every man shall bear his own burden" ( Galatians 6:5 ). 1. What then are the considerations that commend the burdens of others for our bearing? The burden the Apostle has in view is that of a brother’s trespass: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in some trespass." Here the question arises as to whether Paul means overtaken by the temptation, or by the discovery of his sin-surprised into committing, or in committing the trespass. Winer, Lightfoot, and some other interpreters, read the words in the latter sense: "surprised, detected in the act of committing any sin, so that his guilt is placed beyond a doubt" (Lightfoot). We are persuaded, notwithstanding, that the common view of the text is the correct one. The manner of the offender’s detection has little to do with the way in which he should be treated; but the circumstances of his fall have everything to do with it. The suddenness, the surprise of his temptation is both a reason for more lenient judgment, and a ground for hope of his restoration. The preposition "in" (ejn), it is urged, stands in the way of this interpretation. We might have expected to read "(surprised) by, " or perhaps "into (any sin)." But the word is "trespass," not "sin." It points not to the cause of the man’s fall, but to the condition in which it has placed him. The Greek preposition (according to a well-known idiom of verbs of motion) indicates the result of the unexpected assault to which the man has been subject. A gust of temptation has caught him unawares; and we now see him lying overthrown and prostrate, involved "in some trespass." The Apostle is supposing an instance-possibly an actual case-in which the sin committed was due to weakness and surprise, rather than deliberate intention; like that of Eve, when "the woman being beguiled fell into transgression." Such a fall deserves commiseration. The attack was unlooked for; the man was off his guard. The Gallic nature is heedless and impulsive. Men of this temperament should make allowance for each other. An offence committed in a rash moment, under provocation, must not be visited with implacable severity, nor magnified until it become a fatal barrier between the evil-doer and society. And Paul says expressly, "If a man be overtaken"-a delicate reminder of our human infirmity and common danger. {comp. 1 Corinthians 10:13 } Let us remember that it is a man who has erred, of like passions with ourselves; and his trespass will excite pity for him and apprehension for ourselves. Such an effect the occurrence should have upon "the spiritual," on the men of love and peace, who "walk in the Spirit." The Apostle’s appeal is qualified by this definition. Vain and self-seeking men, the irritable, the resentful, are otherwise affected by a neighbour’s trespass. They will be angry with him, lavish in virtuous scorn; but it is not in them to "restore such a one." They are more likely to aggravate than heal the wound, to push the weak man down when he tries to rise, than to help him to his feet. The work of restoration needs a knowledge of the human heart, a self-restraint and patient skill, quite beyond their capability. The restoration here signified denotes not only, or not so much, the man’s inward, spiritual renewal, as his recovery for the Church, the mending of the rent caused by his removal. In 1 Corinthians 1:10 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:10 , where, as in other places, the English verb "perfect" enters into the rendering of ????????? , it gives the idea of readjustment, the right fitting of part to part, member to member, in some larger whole. Writing to the Corinthian Church at this time respecting a flagrant trespass committed there, for which the transgressor was now penitent, the Apostle bids its members "confirm their love" to him. { 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 } So here "the spiritual" amongst the Galatians are urged to make it their business to set right the lapsed brother, to bring him back as soon and safely as might be to the fold of Christ. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, meekness is most required for this office of restoration, the meekness of Christ the Good Shepherd-of Paul who was "gentle as a nurse" amongst his children, and even against the worst offenders preferred to "come in love and a spirit of meekness," rather than "with a rod". { 1 Thessalonians 2:7 ; 1 Corinthians 4:21 } To reprove without pride or acrimony, to stoop to the fallen without the air of condescension, requires the "spirit of meekness" in a singular degree. Such a bearing lends peculiar grace to compassion. This "gentleness of Christ" is one of the finest and rarest marks of the spiritual man. The moroseness sometimes associated with religious zeal, the disposition to judge hardly the failings of weaker men is anything but according to Christ. It is written of Him, "A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench". { Isaiah 42:3 ; Matthew 12:20 } Meekness becomes sinful men dealing with fellow-sinners. "Considering thyself, " says the Apostle, "lest thou also be tempted." It is a noticeable thing that men morally weak in any given direction are apt to be the severest judges of those who err in the same respect, just as people who have risen out of poverty are often the harshest towards the poor. They wish to forget their own past, and hate to be reminded of a condition from which they have suffered. Or is the judge in sentencing a kindred offender, seeking to reinforce his own conscience and to give a warning to himself? One is inclined sometimes to think so. But reflection on our own infirmities should counteract, instead of fostering censoriousness. Every man knows enough of himself to make him chary of denouncing others. "Look to thyself, " cries the Apostle. "Thou hast considered thy brother’s faults Now turn thine eye inward, and contemplate thine own. Hast thou never aforetime committed the offence with which he stands charged; or haply yielded to the like temptation in a less degree? Or if not even that, it may be thou art guilty of sins of another kind, though hidden from human sight, in the eyes of God no less heinous." "Judge not," said the Judge of all the earth, "lest ye be judged. With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you". { Matthew 7:1-5 } This exhortation begins in general terms; but in the latter clause of Galatians 6:1 it passes into the individualising singular-"looking to thyself, lest even thou be tempted." The disaster befalling one reveals the common peril; it is the signal for every member of the Church to take heed to himself. The scrutiny which it calls for belongs to each man’s private conscience. And the faithfulness and integrity required in those who approach the wrongdoer with a view to his recovery, must be chastened by personal solicitude. The fall of a Christian brother should be in any case the occasion of heart-searching and profound humiliation. Feelings of indifference towards him, much more of contempt, will prove the prelude of a worse overthrow for ourselves. The burden of a brother’s trespass is the most painful that can devolve upon a Christian man. But this is not the only burden we bring upon each other. There are burdens of anxiety and sorrow, of personal infirmity, of family difficulty, of business embarrassment, infinite varieties and complications of trial in which the resources of brotherly sympathy are taxed. The injunction of the Apostle has an unlimited range. That which burdens my friend and brother cannot be otherwise than a solicitude to me. Whatever it be that cripples him and hinders his running the race set before him, I am bound, according to the best of my judgment and ability, to assist him to overcome it. If I leave him to stagger on alone, to sink under his load when my shoulder might have eased it for him, the reproach will be mine. This is no work of supererogation, no matter of mere liking and choice. I am not at liberty to refuse to share the burdens of the brotherhood. "Bear ye one another’s burdens," Paul says, "and so fulfil the law of Christ." This law the Apostle has already cited and enforced against the contentions and jealousies rife in Galatia. { Galatians 5:14-15 } But it has a further application. Christ’s law of love not only says, "Thou shalt not bite and devour; thou shalt not provoke and envy thy brother"; but also, "Thou shalt help and comfort him, and regard his burden as thine own." This law makes of the Church one body, with a solidarity of interests and obligations. It finds employment and discipline for the energy of Christian freedom, in yoking it to the service of the over-burdened. It reveals the dignity and privilege of moral strength, which consist not in the enjoyment of its own superiority, but in its power to bear "the infirmities of the weak." This was the glory of Christ, who "pleased not Himself" { Romans 15:1-4 } The Giver of the law is its great Example. "Being in the form of God," He "took the form of a servant," that in love He might serve mankind; He "became obedient, unto the death of the cross." { Php 2:1-8 } Justly is the inference drawn, "We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren". { 1 John 3:16 } There is no limit to the service which the redeemed brotherhood of Christ may expect from its members. Only this law must not be abused by the indolent and the overreaching, by the men who are ready to throw their burdens on others and make every generous neighbour the victim of their dishonesty. It is the need, not the demand, of our brother which claims our help. We are bound to take care that it is his necessity to which we minister, not his imposture or his slothfulness. The warning that "each man shall bear his own burden" is addressed to those who receive, as well as to those who render aid in the common burden-bearing of the Church. 2. The adjustment of social and individual duty is often far from easy, and requires the nicest discernment and moral tact. Both are brought into view in this paragraph, in its latter as well as in its former section. But in Galatians 6:1-2 the need of others, in Galatians 6:3-5 our personal responsibility, forms the leading consideration. We see on the one hand, that a true self-regard teaches us to identify ourselves with the moral interests of others: while, on the other hand, a false regard to others is excluded ( Galatians 6:4 ) which disturbs the judgment to be formed respecting ourselves. The thought of his own burden to be borne by each man now comes to the front of the exhortation. Galatians 6:3 stands between the two counterpoised estimates. It is another shaft directed against Galatian vainglory, and pointed with Paul’s keenest irony. "For if a man thinketh he is something, being nothing, he deceiveth himself." This truth is very evident. But what is its bearing on the matter in hand? The maxim is advanced to support the foregoing admonition. It was their self-conceit that led some of the Apostle’s readers to treat with contempt the brother who had trespassed; he tells them that this opinion of theirs is a delusion, a kind of mental hallucination ( ????????? ?????? ). It betrays a melancholy ignorance. The "spiritual" man who "thinks himself to be something," says to you, "I am quite above these weak brethren, as you see. Their habits of life, their temptations are not mine. Their sympathy would be useless to me. And I shall not burden myself with their feebleness, nor vex myself with their ignorance and rudeness." If any man separates himself from the Christian commonalty and breaks the ties of religious fellowship on grounds of this sort, and yet imagines he is following Christ, he "deceives himself." Others will see how little his affected eminence is worth. Some will humour his vanity; many will ridicule or pity it; few will be deceived by it. The fact of a man’s "thinking himself to be something" goes far to prove that he "is nothing." "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." Real knowledge is humble; it knows its nothingness. Socrates, when the oracle pronounced him the wisest man in Greece, at last discovered that the response was right, inasmuch as he alone was aware that he knew nothing, while other men were confident of their knowledge. And a greater than Socrates, our All-wise, All-holy Saviour, says to us, "Learn of Me. for I am meek and lowly in heart." It is in humility and dependence, in self-forgetting that true wisdom begins. Who are we, although the most refined or highest in place, that we should despise plain, uncultured members of the Church, those who bear life’s heavier burdens and amongst whom our Saviour spent His days on earth, and treat them as unfit for our company, unworthy of fellowship with us in Christ? They are themselves the greatest losers who neglect to fulfil Christ’s law. Such men might learn from their humbler brethren, accustomed to the trials and temptations of a working life and a rough world, how to bear more worthily their own burdens. How foolish of "the eye to say to the hand" or "foot, I have no need of thee"! "God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith." There are truths of which they are our best teachers-priceless lessons of the power of Divine grace and the deep things of Christian experience. This isolation robs the poorer members of the Church in their turn of the manifold help due to them from communion with those more happily circumstanced. How many of the evils around us would be ameliorated, how many of our difficulties would vanish, if we could bring about a truer Christian fraternisation, if caste-feeling in our English Church-life were once destroyed, if men would lay aside their stiffness and social hauteur, and cease to think that they "are something" on grounds of worldly distinction and wealth which in Christ are absolutely nothing. The vain conceit of their superiority indulged in by some of his readers, the Apostle further corrects by reminding the self-deceivers of their own responsibility. The irony of Galatians 6:3 passes into a sterner tone of warning in Galatians 6:4-5 . "Let each man try his own work," he cries. "Judge yourselves, instead of judging one another. Mind your own duty, rather than your neighbours’ faults. Do not think of your worth or talents in comparison with theirs; but see to it that your work is right." The question for each of us is not, What do others fail to do? but, What am I myself really doing? What will my life’s work amount to, when measured by that which God expects from me? This question shuts each man up within his own conscience. It anticipates the final judgment-day. "Every one of us must give account of himself to God" Romans 14:12 . Reference to the conduct of others is here out of place. The petty comparisons which feed our vanity and our class-prejudices are of no avail at the bar of God. I may be able for every fault of my own to find some one else more faulty. But this makes me no whit better. It is the intrinsic, not the comparative worth of character and daily work of which God takes account. If we study our brother’s work, it should be with a view to enable him to do it better, or to learn to improve our own by his example; not in order to find excuses for ourselves in his shortcomings. "And then"-if our work abide the test we shall have our glorying in ourselves alone, not in regard to our neighbour." Not his flaws and failures, but my own honest work will be the ground of my satisfaction. This was Paul’s "glorying" in face of the slanders by which he was incessantly pursued. It lay in the testimony of his conscience. He lived under the severest self-scrutiny. He knew himself as the man only can who "knows the fear of the Lord," who places-himself every day before the dread tribunal of Christ Jesus. He is "made manifest unto God"; and in the light of, that searching Presence he can affirm that he knows nothing against himself." { 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ; 2 Corinthians 1:12 ; 2 Corinthians 5:10-12 } But this boast makes him humble. "By the grace of God" he is enabled to "have his conversation in the world in holiness and sincerity coming of God." If he had seemed to claim any credit for himself, he at once corrects the thought: "Yet not I," he says, "but God’s grace that was with me. I have my glorying in Christ Jesus in the things’ pertaining to God, in that which Christ hath wrought in me". { 1 Corinthians 15:10 ; Romans 15:16-19 } So that this boast of the Apostle, in which he invites the vainglorious Galatians to secure a share, resolves itself after all into his one boast, "in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( Galatians 6:14 ). If his work on trial should prove to be gold, "abiding" amongst the world’s imperishable treasures and fixed foundations of truth, { 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 } Christ only was to be praised for this. Paul’s glorying is the opposite of the Legalist’s, who presumes on his "works" as his own achievements, commending him for righteous before God. "Justified by works," such a man hath "whereof to glory, but not toward God". { Romans 4:2 } His boasting redounds to himself. Whatever glory belongs to the work of the Christian must be referred to God. Such work furnishes no ground for magnifying the man at the expense of his fellows. If we praise the stream, it is to commend the fountain. If we admire the lives of the saints and celebrate the deeds of the heroes of faith, it is ad majorem Dei gloriam - "that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ". { 1 Peter 4:11 } "For each will bear his own load." Here ‘is the ultimate reason for the self-examination to which the Apostle has been urging his readers, in order to restrain their vanity. The emphatic repetition of the words each man in Galatians 6:4-5 brings out impressively the personal character of the account to be rendered. At the same time, the deeper sense of our own burdens thus awakened will help to stir in us sympathy for the loads under which our fellows labour. So that this warning indirectly furthers the appeal for sympathy with which the chapter began. Faithful scrutiny of our work may give us reasons for satisfaction and gratitude towards God. But it will yield matter of another kind. It will call to remembrance old sins and follies, lost opportunities, wasted powers, with their burden of regret and humiliation. It will set before us the array of our obligations, the manifold tasks committed to us by our heavenly Master, compelling us to say, "Who is sufficient for these things?" And besides the reproofs of the past and the stern demands of the present, there sounds in the soul’s ear the message of the future, the summons to our final reckoning. Each of us has his own life-load, made up of this triple burden. A thousand varying circumstances and individual experiences go to constitute the ever-growing load which we bear with us from youth to age, like the wayfarer his bundle, like the soldier his knapsack and accoutrements-the individual lot, the peculiar un-transferable vocation and responsibility fastened by the hand of God upon our shoulders. This burden we shall have to carry up to Christ’s judgment-seat. He is our Master; He alone can give us our discharge. His lips must pronounce the final "Well done"-or, "Thou wicked and slothful servant!" In this sentence the Apostle employs a different word from that used in Galatians 6:2 . There he was thinking of the weight, the burdensomeness of our brother’s troubles, which we haply may lighten for him, and which is so far common property. But the second word, ??????? (applied for instance to a ship’s lading), indicates that which is proper to each in the burdens of life. There are duties that we have no power to devolve, cares and griefs that we must bear in secret, problems that we must work out severally and for ourselves. To consider them aright, to weigh well the sum of our duty will dash our self-complacency; it will surely make us serious and humble. Let us wake up from dreams of self-pleasing to an earnest, manly apprehension of life’s demands-"while," like the Apostle, "we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen and eternal". { 2 Corinthians 4:18 } After all, it is the men who have the highest standard for themselves that as a rule are most considerate in their estimate of others. The holiest are the most pitiful. They know best how to enter into the struggles of a weaker brother. They can appreciate his unsuccessful resistance to temptation; they can discern where and how he has failed, and how much of genuine sorrow there is in his remorse. From the fulness of their own experience they can interpret a possibility of better things in what excites contempt in those who judge by appearance and by conventional rules. He who has learned faithfully to "consider himself" and meekly to "bear his own burden," is most fit to do the work of Christ, and to shepherd His tempted and straying sheep. Strict with ourselves, we shall grow wise and gentle in our care for others. In the Christian conscience the sense of personal and that of social responsibility serve each to stimulate and guard the other. Duty and sympathy, love and law are fused into one. For Christ is all in all; and these two hemispheres of life unite in Him. Galatians 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Chapter 27 SOWING AND REAPING. Galatians 6:6-10 EACH shall bear his own burden ( Galatians 6:5 )-but let there be communion of disciple with teacher in all that is good. The latter sentence is clearly intended to balance the former. The transition turns upon the same antithesis between social and individual responsibility that occupied us in the foregoing chapter. But it is now presented on another side. In the previous passage it concerned the conduct of "the spiritual" toward erring brethren whom they were tempted to despise; here, their behaviour toward teachers whom they were disposed to neglect. There it is inferiors, here superiors that are in view. The Galatian "vainglory" manifested itself alike in provocation toward the former, and in envy toward the latter. { Galatians 5:26 } In both ways it bred disaffection, and threatened to break up the Church’s unity. The two effects are perfectly consistent. Those who are harsh in their dealings with the weak, are commonly rude and insubordinate toward their betters, where they dare to be so. Self-conceit and self-sufficiency engender in the one direction a cold contempt, in the other a jealous independence. The former error is corrected by a due sense of our own infirmities; the latter by the consideration of our responsibility to God. We are compelled to feel for the burdens of others when we realise the weight of our own. We learn to respect the claims of those placed over us, when we remember what we owe to God through them. Personal responsibility is the last word of the former paragraph; social responsibility is the first word of this. Such is the contrast marked by the transitional But. From this point of view Galatians 6:6 gains a very comprehensive sense. "All good things" cannot surely be limited to the "carnal things" of 1 Corinthians 9:11 . As Meyer and Beet amongst recent commentators clearly show, the context gives to this phrase a larger scope. At the same time, there is no necessity to exclude the thought of temporal good. The Apostle designedly makes his appeal as wide as possible. The reasoning of the corresponding passage in the Corinthian letter is a deduction from the general principle laid down here. But it is spiritual fellowship that the Apostle chiefly desiderates. The true minister of Christ counts this vastly more sacred, and has this interest far more at heart than his own temporalities. He labours for the unity of the Church; he strives to secure the mutual sympathy and co-operation of all orders and ranks-teachers and taught, officers and private members-"in every good word and work." He must have the heart of his people with him in his work, or his joy will be faint and his success scant indeed. Christian teaching is designed to awaken this sympathetic response. And it will take expression in the rendering of whatever kind of help the gifts and means of the hearer and the needs of the occasion call for. Paul requires every member of the Body of Christ to make her wants and toils his own. We have no right to leave the burdens of the Church’s work to her leaders, to expect her battles to be fought and won by the officers alone. This neglect has been the parent of innumerable mischiefs. Indolence in the laity fosters sacerdotalism in the clergy. But when, on the contrary, an active, sympathetic union is maintained between "him that is taught" and "him that teacheth," that other matter of the temporal support of the Christian ministry, to which this text is so often exclusively referred, comes in as a necessary detail, to be generously and prudently arranged, but which will not be felt on either side as a burden or a difficulty. Everything depends on the fellowship of spirit, on the strength of the bond of love that knits together the members of the Body of Christ. Here, in Galatia, that bond had been grievously weakened. In a Church so disturbed, the fellowship of teachers and taught was inevitably strained. Such communion the Apostle craves from his children in the faith with an intense yearning. This is the one fruit of God’s grace in them which he covets to reap for himself, and feels he has a right to expect. "Be ye as I am," he cries-"do not desert me, my children, for whom I travail in birth. Let me not have to toil for you in vain". { Galatians 4:12-19 } So again, writing to the Corinthians: "It was I that begat you in Christ Jesus; I beseech you then, be followers of me. Let me remind you of my ways in the Lord…O ye Corinthians, to you our mouth is open, our heart enlarged. Pay me back in kind (you are my children), and be ye too enlarged". { 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 ; 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 } He "thanks God" for the Philippians "on every remembrance of them," and "makes his supplication" for them "with joy, because of their fellowship in regard to the gospel from the first day until now". { Php 1:3-7 } Such is the fellowship which Paul wished to see restored in the Galatian Churches. In Galatians 6:10 he extends his appeal to embrace in it all the kindly offices of life. For the love inspired by the Church, the service rendered to her, should quicken all our human sympathies and make us readier to meet every claim of pity or affection. While our sympathies, like those of a loving family, will be concerned "especially" with "the household of faith," and within that circle more especially with our pastors and teachers in Christ, they have no limit but that of "opportunity"; they should "work that which is good toward all men." True zeal for the Church widens, instead of narrowing, our charities. Household affection is the nursery, not the rival, of love to our fatherland and to humanity. Now the Apostle is extremely urgent in this matter of communion between teachers and taught. It concerns the very life of the Christian community. The welfare of the Church and the progress of the kingdom of God depend on the degree to which its individual members accept their responsibility in its affairs. Ill-will towards Christian teachers is paralysing in its effects on the Church’s life. Greatly are they to blame, if their conduct gives rise to discontent. Only less severe is the condemnation of those in lower place who harbour in themselves and foster in the minds of others sentiments of disloyalty. To cherish this mistrust, to withhold our sympathy from him who serves us in spiritual things, this, the Apostle declares, is not merely a wrong done to the man, it is an affront to God Himself. If it be God’s Word that His servant teaches, then God expects some fitting return to be made for the gift He has bestowed. Of that return the pecuniary contribution, the meed of "carnal things" with which so many seem to think their debt discharged, is often the least and easiest part. How far have men a right to be hearers-profited and believing hearers-in the Christian congregation, and yet decline the duties of Church fellowship? They eat the Church’s bread, but will not do her work. They expect like children to be fed and nursed and waited on; they think that if they pay their minister tolerably well, they have "communicated with" him quite sufficiently. This apathy has much the same effect as the Galatian bickerings and jealousies. It robs the Church of the help of the children whom she has nourished and brought up. Those who act thus are trying in reality to "mock God." They expect Him to sow his bounties upon them, but will not let Him reap. They refuse Him the return that He most requires for His choicest benefits. Now, the Apostle says, God is not to be defrauded in this way. Men may wrong each other; they may grieve and affront His ministers. But no man is clever enough to cheat God. It is not Him, it is themselves they will prove to have deceived. Vain and selfish men who take the best that God and man can do for them as though it were a tribute to their greatness, envious and restless men who break the Church’s fellowship of peace, will reap at last even as they sow. The mischief and the loss may fall on others now; but in its full ripeness it will come in the end upon themselves. The final reckoning awaits us in another world. And as we act by God and by His Church now, in our day, so He will act hereafter