Galatians 6:7-18 REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE The glad service of a believer to bear the great burden of others and not bother others with his own little backpack is the result of one who has learned who he or she is in Christ. It is a blessing that gives us joy when we can assist our brothers and sisters in Christ in their trials. It is an act of appreciation when we support those who minister the Word of God to us. They are our family. These are the people of God we are helping on their way. But those who do the same things out of obligation to meet the terms of the law, are treating the work of Christ with contempt in that they think they are earning God's favor. To serve with "cheerful" giving from the heart is very different. To mock God is to treat Him and what He has done for us with contempt as far as He is concerned. To add in any way to a finished work is a contemptuous attitude.
There are principles to sowing that we do well to remember. What we sow is what we reap. Coming from the seed that we sow is the same kind of seed but a lot more than we sowed. We reap the same thing only more, whether it be good or bad. Where we sow is important as well. To be indiscriminate in sowing may lead to reaping "a whirlwind." To spend all we have on ourselves and the desires of the flesh only begins a time of deterioration that will end in sadness, guilt, misery, and all the things that are found in one's life when sin has its way. There is a proneness to sin in the flesh that we dare not give way to even though it may seem small and comparatively innocent at first. A thought can lead to a look. A look can lead to an act. An act can lead to serious consequences from which one may never recover. So, the principle of sowing and reaping is, we reap when we sow. We reap what we sow. We reap more than we sow.
This same principle holds true to sowing in the Spirit as it does to sowing to the flesh. The flesh brings corruption, indulgence, and increasing evil. One who walks in the Spirit is led by the Spirit, lives in the Spirit, and sows to the Spirit will reap spiritual benefits that are part of our new life that never ends. The fruit of the Spirit is an obvious result of one who has sown to the Spirit. Remember who you are when you are sowing.
There is something more to be considered in this regard. There is labor involved in sowing and reaping. It takes a lot more time to prepare the ground for sowing than it does for reaping. Caring for the plants that produce fruit takes longer than harvesting what has been sown. We should not relax because we are tired of being "peculiar people, zealous of good works." Doing good for others on behalf of others will bring recompense. Usually, there is satisfaction and blessing now as a result of sowing to the Spirit, but the real value will be seen in the future when we see our Lord and "give an account of the things done in the body." If we sow righteousness in order to bring blessing to others, there will definitely be a reaping time. This encourages us to do what we do "as to the Lord," even if there is no recognition or thanks now. This is the sowing season, the "opportunity" to do good which has to do with the results more than the labor and service we might expend.
The Lord's people have a special place in our hearts and lives. These people, "the household of faith," are family. Everyone needs our "work of faith and labor of love." But the family of God is our special responsibility. They need us and we need them as we travel through a hostile world. We may not be aware of a specific need but one who is led by the Spirit is often constrained to do something out of the ordinary without knowing the outcome. The Holy Spirit is in each believer and keeps the body functioning in a way that is most appropriate. Remember who you are - a member of the body. This was of such importance to Paul that he makes reference to his own handwriting as adding to the weight of his teaching.
Avoid those who insist on circumcision but avoid persecution for Christ's sake. Avoid those who demean or casually speak of the cross of Christ. Any who place the works of the law of equal importance to the cross- work of Christ are false brethren. Those who place works above faith are false brethren. Those who emphasize the outward external life of a person above the inward movement of a redeemed soul toward his or her Savior, are false brethren. When people glory in how many "souls they have seen saved," but are careless about the things they have done, or should have done - that is hypocrisy.
Paul gloried in the "cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," because he had experienced deliverance from the bondage and course of a broken law. He said, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live." The only way we can effectively deal with the cultural interests that take our time, or the social life of the world system that attracts us, is to crucify ourselves to it, and reckon that I am "dead to the world, but alive unto God." There is a barrier between a true believer and the world system. By faith, we take our stand with God, draw a line between ourselves and the world, and be courageous enough to stay on our own side with God.
We do not need to be concerned about the external things that some people say we should do, nor should we be too concerned about what they say we should not do. Those things are the opinions of men. Some say to do whatever you want to because you are saved and cannot be lost. Those are the words of one who does not know or love the Lord. By God's grace, we do what we do, or do not do, because we have been made a new creation in Christ. That new life with its new nature is something fresh to us that we did not have before we were saved. "All things become new" when we are a child of God. This rule of grace in our life enables us, empowers us, and compels us to live by faith.
Paul ends this epistle by saying in essence, "Don't bother me anymore with this false teaching. I have had enough pain in my life without you adding to it this soul-grieving pain of putting down the cross-work of Christ by adding law-keeping to it." He began the letter with apostolic authority and ended it with the compassionate term, "brethren." He began with grace and closed with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." He reemphasized grace as a way of reaching their spirit rather than keeping the law. When God's people are influenced by false brethren to go from freedom to bondage, that is a cause for sadness. Freedom in Christ allows us to live for Him, serve Him and bring glory to Him with a glad and free heart. We should never forget, should always remember what a blessing it is to be one of God's people living in the freedom of new life in Christ.
Galatians 6: 9-10. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
WELL DOING. “Well doing”: it is not often done.
“Well doing”: is needed by someone.
“Well doing”: it’s not good enough to know.
“Well doing”: someone has to go.
“Well doing”: why should it have to be me?
“Well doing”: why can’t some other person see?
“Well doing”: the need is near my hand.
“Well doing”: the gift to give is mine to command.
“Well doing”: the time to work is now.
“Well doing”: the season’s here to sow.
“Well doing”: we have the opportunity.
“Well doing”: act now with importunity.
“Well doing”: the older saints are waiting.
“Well doing”: be done now without hesitating.
“Well doing”: the mother’s babe is sick.
“Well doing”: if you’re going to help, be quick.
“Well doing”: the young are under pressure.
“Well doing”: give them your grace, fully without measure.
“Well doing”: the elder needs our prayers.
“Well doing”: let him know you care.
“Well doing”: don’t faint, keep on.
“Well doing”: don’t quit, till the day is done.
“Well doing”: the lost, around us needy.
“Well doing”: for us, “the Call” now heeding.
“Well doing”: the reaping time is coming.
“Well doing”: the summer soon is ending.
“Well doing”: look; the setting of the sun.
“Well doing”: from Him, the Lord, “Well done.”
“O God, who sees every act done or undone: for strength and courage I now ask. Strength to do the tasks
You have for me today. Courage to rise above each obstacle and excuse I might see or make. In the name of the great Master and Evaluator,
Amen.”
What a wonderful blessing for those who were in bondage of sin and conformity to rules and regulations, to be set free forever by God's grace. Our freedom in Christ enables us to live life as He intended - for Him and by Him. It is very strange for those who were set free from prison, to go back into prison again. "Free from the law, O happy condition!"