Galatians 6 vs 6-18
Galatians Chapter 6 Verse 6
· You all are welcome to bring and leave good things for me on the stage after the teaching today! HA! Just kidding, I mean, unless you want to… LOL. Yet today no one has paid my house off as many times as I’ve used that as an outstanding illustration for atonement for sin! I mean come on man! HA!
· Paul says if you are taught, share all good things with him who teaches. This is ministry to the minister. Some take this and monetize it… I don’t see that explicitly in the Greek, and yet we know 1 Corinthians 9:14, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” Meaning it is appropriate for a pastor teacher to make a living in preaching the gospel.
· Yes, this verse means that… For sure. The callings of God and the positions of the church, whenever pastor is mentioned, teaching is mentioned also. Ephesians 4:11, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, come evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” 1 Timothy 3:1-2, “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach…” Titus 1:5-9 also…
· A pastor teacher is to protect the flock and feed the flock the good stuff. The Word of God. Heavenly Chik-Fil-A, the Lord’s chicken, and in so doing, the sheep follow the shepherd because he teaches them the Word and they grow and remain healthy. And, there is a protector in him also. From wolves, from cliffs, from pits, from sheep that get all uppity and think they’re something…, ha! This is the role, calling and far more-so the privilege of the pastor teacher…
· So, Paul says if you are taught, share all good things with him who teaches. Far more than speaking only about formal pastor teachers, Paul’s statement is here is broadly addressing those that teach the Word. Which could be a friend, a parent, a wife, a husband, and so on. Sharing in all good things…, what is good? Only One is good…, this simply means to bear the heart of God for them. Because teachers aren’t perfect, just like Paul wasn’t perfect… All good things is one thing and that one thing is love. This is ministry to the minister… Simply to love them… Just as you are loved by God.
Galatians Chapter 6 Verses 7 – 10
· These verses are entirely understandable just by reading them. Essentially, if whatever it is, the thought, action, thing, circumstance, my approach to something, how I choose to see something, any and all of those things, if out of intentional alignment with how God perceives a thing, then God will not be mocked…, He won’t be shown to be inferior in any way or incorrect in any portion, Paul says here, “sowing to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.” Sowing to the flesh does not, cannot produce the things of the Spirit, or in other words, something that is good…
· This word for corruption can also be translated, “subject to corruption.” What is a subject? A subject is a citizen of kingdom. So, choose the flesh, (this is just laying out there the truth of it all), is to bow the knee to the wrong king and invite corruption, decay, perishing into the relationship, situation or moment.
· Flip side of that, he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. I mean this is just simple. What you plant is what’s going to grow. Folks be planting okra (not even sure you plant that but its gross) and then when sweet strawberries don’t show up in their lives they’re all peeved and frustrated with other people and with God. It was you that planted the snot-fruit Old McDonald!
· Let me ask you this for consideration. Is walking in the Spirit and living according to the Spirit is that all a work of the Spirit? Yes and no! Does gasoline make a car run? Yes and no! There’s also the engine, the electrical system, the transmission, the driver, and so on… But you can have this outstanding design and no fuel and you get nowhere!
· God will not be mocked and this is how it plays out 100% of the time. Even when you can’t see it, God is working in your life as you trust in Him. When we began last year, 2024, as a church leadership team, the verse that was repeated to me in my ear by the Spirit that I repeated in the hearing of the staff time and time again was Galatians 6:9. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap IF we do not lose heart! How necessary that verse was then and it still is today. But it speaks of faith!
· Doing good is sowing to the Spirit. It is a behavior. And it represents a wrestling in the heart. Because in the heart my flesh is still opposing. It’s not so much how I feel about a situation that sows into it, it’s WHAT I DO about the situation! And God will not be mocked and I often say to those trusting in the Lord, which means adopting and applying and advancing HIS perspective in your life behaviors personally, that is what trusting in the Lord means…
· And let me tell you, it is only possible when you see things differently! If you see things exactly as He does and you agree with His Word and what He would have you to do then you are just exercising wisdom, not trust… Wisdom is a reward of trust over time…, but trusting in the Lord is only required when you come up against something that you just want to do something else other than what God Himself would do in the same situation… Those that are doing that I like to say and to myself, “God will YET show Himself faithful!” Because He will… You will reap, don’t lose heart!
· Therefore, as we have opportunity let us do good to all, in other words, sow to the Spirit in our interactions and responsibilities, and Paul says, especially to those who are of the house-hold of faith! What does that mean? A ton of things…, perhaps even an entire sermon series…, but essentially press into the Lord in your life, try your best, and when you are at church and around the family of faith…, try harder…
Galatians Chapter 6 Verses 11
· The importance of this region of churches to Paul was such that he himself even took the time to painstakingly write this letter with his own hand giving us a clue that he most likely had some sort of debilitating issue with his eyes…
Galatians Chapter 6 Verses 12 - 13
· Check out the motivation of those that push salvation by works. Fear and pride… It’s just simply not of God. If the cross was effective then anything other than salvation by gift grace has GOT to be wrong! A misunderstanding of the gospel leads to a misapplication of the gospel. If I have to work then so do you and they interact and transact in their relationships in order to gain personally rather than to serve the other person. Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 7 Verses 15-16, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
· Love is to seek the true and good benefit of the other. Love is to place the needs of the other in front of your own. Love is to have the primary approach to all relationships and interactions to serve the other rather than to be served, and get something out of it for yourself. Love is to follow God because Jesus put on display that this is exactly what He is and what He is like. Jesus said if you are with Me, this is how you will yourself to be, you will trust Me, this is what you were designed for, and ultimately this will lead you to wisdom in your life.
· The reverence or fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. A refusal to adopt God’s perspective is a refusal to reverence Him… And subsequently bowing the knee to the kingdom that hurt you so much and made you that way in the first place…
Galatians Chapter 6 Verses 14 – 18
· Paul uses the word “rule” here and that is appropriate however the implication if you look at the actual word is to say, “Anyone who walks according to this basic principle of objective truth.” Think gravitational law…, or something obvious that is hidden to someone with a sensual disability… It’s there, its objective, and yet just as an object is hidden in plain sight to someone who is blind, yet it is in plain sight. Jesus said, let those who ears to hear, hear and eyes to see, see…
· This is how it is, how God is, and someday it will be revealed to absolutely everyone ever…, that the Son of Man, the original and perfect and divine design for the human experience is not to be served but to serve and to give your life a ransom for many… (Matthew 20:28). That through offering your life wholly unto God, you find it holy/wholly (Matthew 16:25), but he who lives for himself and what you can get out of everything, you lose your life and yourself in the process… Plant snot fruit, reap snot fruit…
· This is the rule, man. It’s the law that was shown fulfilled in Jesus and if this isn’t your rule…, are you greater than God? If God dwells within you and yet you reject His rule, how is it He dwells within you? You surely are not greater than He….
· And the reward of walking with Jesus, giving your life unto God, seeking to live for God first and others before yourself, the reward of finding yourself, and finding life, and discovering for yourself in the darkness of this fallen world what is obvious in the light of heaven, Paul says, peace and mercy be upon you… and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.