Life Project Blog

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Galatians 6:1-6

Love is at the very core of this paragraph.  No longer is Paul giving the Galatians “what for.” Now, he is telling them more about this life in the Spirit.  Notice that he begins addressing what should be done if someone sins; they should be restored gently.  How this contrasts with the impulse of some to finish the person off with condemnation and abuse!  He also mentioned that we should be careful in doing this, lest we too should fall into sin; I think it is interesting that Paul dropped that in where he did.  Consider the picture of the one who is helping his brother or sister back into line.  I suppose it might be human nature, but how easy it would be to adopt an air of superiority when working with one who had stumbled, when we ourselves might not have fallen into the trap; maybe that is the kind of temptation Paul had in mind.

The next sentence is a great one, too:  “Carry each other’s burdens…” sounds to me like the opposite of “not getting involved.” Help each other out in any circumstance that arises is Paul’s loving message here. Then he follows up with another injunction that if we think we are something we’re not, we’re self-deceived.  It strikes me how important it is to keep in mind who and what we are in Christ, rather than letting ourselves get carried away with our own good deeds, our own righteousness and our own importance.  No, we are Christ’s humble servants who rejoice in putting the other person ahead of ourselves; we are His disciples who love our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  That’s it. Any glory this might generate is the sole property of God.

Paul says that we should also test our own actions to ensure that we remain on the right path, that we should avoid making comparisons with others.  I think this might be his advice for two reasons:  First, so that we avoid the temptation to think we are better than someone else, and second, to avoid our thinking that we are less than someone else− there is no favoritism in Christ! Of course, if there is no favoritism in Christ, it would also be correct to say that there is also no free lunch; we can carry our own loads, which I think is to say that we can all serve Him to the best of our abilities.

Finally, Paul has a rather cryptic comment: Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.  What an odd thing to say right there! After saying we all should carry our own loads, he throws in “nevertheless” and talks about sharing “all good things” with our instructor if we receive instruction in the Word.  I guess you might be able to come to more than one opinion about what he is referring to here, but my take is that Paul is reminding the people that the elder who also teaches is to receive “double honor,” which is to say that they should be paid. Yes, believe it or not, that is the general view of most scholars on this verse.  I have spent 30 years as an elder who did the teaching, sometimes exclusively.  I never received a dime, but there was also a ministerial staff that cited this as reason they were paid…

Happily, I’m OK with carrying my own load!

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 11

Jude has been giving his readers a strong warning about false teachers in their midst, and in the process of doing so, he has made the case that these teachers are in danger of severe and lasting consequences; destruction, in fact. Here in verse 11, Jude turns up the heat another notch, using three more Biblical examples to illustrate his point.

The word “woe” is used many times in the Old Testament to indicate God’s judgment. In the New Testament, Jesus uses it in the same way in Matthew 11:21; 23:13-32; and Luke 11:42-52. Woe = judgment.

The first example in this verse is that of Cain.  This is particularly interesting in that we don’t usually associate the story of Cain in Genesis 4:1-16 as an example of a false teacher.  It’s hard to say exactly what Jude was thinking, but there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind.  By the first century, there was a strong Jewish rabbinical tradition that identified Cain as the first heretic, as discussed in the writings of Philo (20 B.C. – 50 A.D.). In this tradition, Cain’s way is portrayed as one of selfishness and sensuality.  It is also possible that Jude was thinking of Cain here as an example of one who brought harm to his brother, as he has portrayed the false teachers as men bringing harm to their brethren.  It is important for us to note here that heresy is much more than a sincere error in understanding. As was the case with Cain, it is the willful and deliberate disobedience of God with very harmful consequences to others.

The next example mentioned is Balaam’s error. This comes from Numbers 25:1-3; 31:16. Jude’s false teachers, like Balaam, have claimed to be prophets (“dreamers” v. 8) have led others into sexual immorality (vv. 4, 8)  and out of their own greed have rushed into error, committing idolatry by denying Christ (v. 4).

Finally, he cites Korah’s rebellion from Numbers 16.  Korah and his followers rebelled against Moses and God, and promoting self by resisting authority is a characteristic of false teachers. (cf. Titus 1:10-11; 2 Timothy 3:19; 3 John 9-10)  Korah’s rebellion was destroyed by God with fire, and Jude has certainly made the case that the false teachers he is opposing will be destroyed by God.

Cain, Balaam and Korah are all examples of rebellion against God, and all three caused great harm to their brothers. All three faced destruction, and Jude’s whole point is that false teachers were doing the same thing, with the same consequences in the church.  It’s a worthwhile exercise for us to ask ourselves who brought this judgment upon these people.  Today we sometimes hear people complain that God is way too vengeful, that He is not a loving God because He wants to judge people harshly, they might even say that He is a vengeful and angry God always on the lookout for someone to smite.

Such statements are nothing more than the devil’s lie!  Our God is most definitely a God of love; He IS love!  Did God lead people into rebellion?  Did God not warn that these kinds of things bring problems?  Did He not send prophet after prophet to warn the people in the Old Testament? Did He not send His Son to die for our sins to save us?  Who chose the wrong path, God or the people involved? Who refused to listen to reason, preferring to stick their middle fingers in God’s face in reply to His pleadings that they turn around and come back to His love?

It wasn’t God who chose the path of destruction, that’s for sure; it was the people with their fingers in the air who made all of the choices. Why is Jude going on so about all of this? Is it because he’s oppressive, repressive and intolerant?  Hardly! He was God’s agent bringing God’s warning and pleading with the people to come back to God’s love. Did he succeed?  I don’t know, I’d guess that some responded and others did not.  A more relevant question is this: What will we do?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:22-26

Last time we saw rebellion: The results of living by the flesh and its desires. Now we see redeemed: The fruit the Spirit.  Earlier we saw that all of the actions that people engage in that result from this life by the “flesh” are acts that are self-centered and in rebellion against God.  Now we see the opposite; the results of a life lived for God in humble service to His purpose.

Living our lives in relationship with Jesus are not lives lived in a legalistic quagmire of “do’s and don’ts.” It isn’t a life of “obligation” either holy or otherwise; it is a life of victorious freedom! It is a life of purpose, a purpose greater than any one of us… the greatest purpose in the entire universe, for it is the very Eternal Purpose of God Himself. No, it isn’t the kind of a purpose that will make you a big shot who will be remembered in the annals of human history. It isn’t the kind of purpose that will have streets named after you all over the country. No, it is a purpose that will take you back to the Garden of Eden with a chance to do it all over again, only this time you’ll get it right.

OK, fine, maybe you’re wondering what the heck I mean by that…

You know the story: God created Adam and Eve for fellowship with Him.  They had direct access to God, they spoke with Him and walked through the garden, so we would say there was relationship between Man and God. God also gave them some things to do for Him.  They tended the garden and had “dominion” over the earth.  This “dominion” was a “God function,” kind of like a “mission” to run things as His stewards. Thus, we say that God gave them a purpose. Relationship with purpose is fellowship, God’s reason for creating humans.  You also know that Adam and Eve rebelled against God when they listened to the serpent’s lie that eating the forbidden fruit would make them just like God.

Now, through Jesus Christ, this fellowship has been restored.  First, He took away the sin problem by His death on the cross.  Since sin was out of the way, it became possible to restore relationship between humans and God, and direct access was restored through the indwelling Holy Spirit, so once again we can speak directly with God.  Jesus also gave us a purpose when He gave His commission to the church to “make disciples”.  Relationship and purpose are fellowship, and thus through Christ, God’s original purpose for making humanity in the first place, is restored.  This is what Paul is talking about when he refers to life by the Spirit, and the fruits of that life are what he listed in this text.

Think about how amazing this is:  Why wouldn’t we be filled with joy and peace and all the rest, when we are restored back to the original state for which we were created?  Now, when you reflect on this, it is so much easier to understand why Paul reacted the way he did when he heard what was going on in the Galatian churches.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

Paul has been telling his readers about this whole concept of life in the flesh as contrasted with life in the Spirit, and as we saw last time, life in the flesh is what Paul says to refer to a life that is centered on the physical needs and impulses of the body; of the physical world.  Here, he gives us a list of things that would be a part of this kind of living: It is not an exhaustive list. We know that because he adds “and the like” after it.  Thus, this is a listing of the kinds of things that show what he is referring to.

Take a careful look; think about them.  Don’t think about them in a “legal” sense, look deeper and consider what they tell you about a person who gives these sorts of things a priority in their life.  Take a minute or two to reflect…

OK, if you did this little exercise, you must have noticed that these are things that have something in common; they are all self-centered.  Did you see that?  They are all about ME!

“I can do what I want, I can do whatever feels good and I can use or abuse others in the process if I feel like it.” Now, let’s think some more. More often than not for most of these, a person doing any one of them will not want to admit to just anyone that they did it… at least at first, for they feel a sense of shame.  This may change over time for some, but even so, these aren’t the kinds of things most people would want their grandmother to know about. Why? Is it because of the oppression of the capitalist classes or the military-industrial complex?  No.  It’s because deep down, in their heart of hearts, most people know they shouldn’t act this way, yet they do it anyway.

Why do they do it anyway, even though they know they shouldn’t, and they know that these kinds of behaviors cause no end of trouble?  It’s simple really, because they want to be like the Most High God, knowing both good and evil.  Yes, that sounds familiar, it’s the lie the serpent told Eve way back in the Garden of Eden; it is the original sin.  Of course, the serpent had done the same thing, for before Eden, Lucifer, the most powerful, brilliant, and beautiful of all the angels decided one day that he wanted to be like the Most High God. That, dear reader, is the basic and primary impulse of rebellion against God Himself, it is the Fall of Man all over again, and it is why Paul says that “those who live like that will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 5:16-18

Paul is taking another swing at the Law, but then that’s the whole point of his letter.  He does so here in an interesting way as he points out something so fundamentally obvious to even a brand new Christian that it should be impossible to argue with. 

Living by the flesh is in conflict with living by the Spirit.

Anybody surprised by this revelation?  I didn’t think so. Some time back, I called living by the Spirit “counter-intuitive” and so it is.

I come from a doctrinal background that has traditionally relegated the Holy Spirit to theoretical status. “The Holy Spirit speaks to us in God’s Word” is the policy. Of course, I would never deny that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Word; after all, the Word is the mind of the Spirit, as they say.  But is that it?  Doesn’t the Spirit lead us in other ways? I’m thinking that He does, since Paul just said so.  Oh, wait, what’s that?  That’s the Word that’s saying that?

OK, maybe you got me on that point, but… when Paul wrote that, he couldn’t possibly have intended it to be taken that way, since there was no New Testament at that time.  Did something change?

Yes, dear reader, these are the words that begin the debate…  My doctrinal background, the one that relegated following the Spirit’s leading to an academic exercise ended up debating itself to death, and split up over the style of music more than a hundred years ago; can you imagine anything so silly? I highly doubt that the Spirit was leading anybody to that end, either in or out of the Word!

You might well know some other past errors that you could bring up here.  What I think is important for us to understand is that we can overcome all this foolishness fairly easily.  First, love your neighbor as yourself.  Second, live by the Spirit, follow His leading, yearn for His presence and ask Him to help you discern.  He will not let you down!

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15

At this point in the letter, we see a more conventional Paul than we have thus far. He points out, as if summing up the previous discussion, that our calling as followers of Jesus Christ is a calling of freedom, but there is a warning.  When Paul says “the flesh” in his writings, he is talking about a life that is centered around the needs of the body, things like food, possessions, luxuries, desires, lusts and self-centered wants. He is not talking about the human body itself, the human body is fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image, it is not in and of itself evil or bad.

If we should live our lives as others do, simply filling our days by attending to selfish desires and physical sensations, we are not living in freedom despite what many would suggest.  Freedom in Christ means that we can move far beyond such an empty and shallow existence so that we can do something meaningful and eternally significant, which is to serve one another in love.  Again, he refers to the Law, but this time he does so in the positive, reminding his readers that the entire Law is fulfilled in one command, to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Thus, the requirements of the Law can actually be kept without its condemnation entering into our lives: Love is the answer.

On the other hand, if we fight and squabble amongst ourselves, we will all be devoured.

I am always struck by the fact that for so long we have taken the whole “love” angle as a sort of academic, theoretical, abstract concept, rather than simply putting it into practice.  What is so hard to understand here; ‘love’ is simplicity itself! Yet, at the same time that we have complicated “love your neighbor,” we have spent the greater portion of our time pointing fingers of condemnation at one another: To what purpose, I’d like to know. Has anyone’s life been made better? Has anyone received blessing and reward for their efforts? Not according to Paul!

Love your neighbor as yourself; serve one another in love.  Everybody benefits, the Kingdom is built up, and we can live free of chains.  I don’t know about you, but that’s the path I’m choosing!

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 5-7

Jude isn’t messing around in this letter; he gets right into his indictment of false teachers and frauds.  In this paragraph, he cites three Old Testament examples to make the point that his recipients had best not listen to these people.  There is an underlying premise in all of this that isn’t entirely expressed, at least not for a modern audience. The only “new truth” comes from false teachers. Their new morality is little more than an old immorality (cf. Galatians 1:9; 1 John 2:19-28). If you are like most modern people, your defenses are up and there are warning lights going off in your head, but hang with me for a moment.

Jude mentioned in verses 3-4 that there are people in his readers’ midst who are trying to pervert the gospel message they have been entrusted with, just as John told his readers that they should hold to the gospel teachings they heard in the beginning− Paul also gave to his readers similar warnings.  So, if someone comes up with a different gospel, it can’t be right, for the gospel is “once for all”.   Leaving the gospel behind, along with the teachings of Christ will have certain consequences; Jude begins to make his case here with three examples from the past:

The first example comes from the story of the Exodus. God saved the people from Egypt and delivered the promised land to them, but they were too afraid to enter it.  Only Joshua and Caleb entered the land ultimately, for God led the people through the Wilderness for the next 40 years in punishment for their disobedience. You might recall that this same example was used in Hebrews 3 and 4 to make the same point.

The next example is that of angels who rebelled against God. They fell from their high position and await their doom.

Finally, he uses the example of Sodom and Gomorrah where the people turned their backs on God’s ways and fell into immorality, the result apparently of a “new truth” discovery.  They lost their relationship with God and were consumed by His judgment.

I would like to call to your attention something that might not have occurred to some: In each of these three cases, those involved turned their backs on a relationship with God that they had.  The Israelites refused to accept the promised land, a covenant promise God made to Abraham and his descendants who turned their backs on the covenant when they refused to enter.  The angels mentioned had a high place in heaven, but they turned their backs on this relationship when they decided they would take God’s place.  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had favor with God until they turned their backs on Him and decided that they would decide what is right and what is wrong.

Do you remember how verse 4 ends? Here’s the whole verse, pay special attention to the end:

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord

Jude’s point is that these teachers with their “new truth” are trying to make the people deny Jesus Christ by their actions which would amount to a repudiation of their covenant relationship.  In Scripture, this is always a very big deal: In life, it is the way to destruction.