Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
I sat down to have my quiet time with Jesus. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, I read Galatians 6:1-10, 14:
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, 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 he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load…My Understanding: As I read through this passage of scripture, and took notes on its content, and prayed concerning the approach the Lord would have me take with this passage of scripture today, I realized that, to understand chapter 6, I need to examine this chapter in light of this main principle from the previous chapter:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers… May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:24-25).Chapter 6, thus, must be understood in this context. This is speaking about those who belong to Jesus Christ, who have crucified the sinful nature, who are living by the Spirit and who are keeping step with the Spirit, and chapter 6 describes how practically to do that.
Someone caught in a sin
This is addressed to those who are in Christ Jesus, and is an instruction to us as to what our response should be to someone who is caught in a sin. Presumably the person caught is a fellow believer in Jesus Christ, though for the non-believer, the sin is one of unbelief. First of all, the person to be restored must be “caught,” and second of all it must clearly be a “sin” by Biblical standards in which they are caught. So, this excludes, in this context, making judgments about people based without knowledge, i.e. without some evidence that sin actually exists. Then, it must clearly be something defined as sin in the Bible, and not some man-made requirement trying to be enforced as though from God when in fact it is not from God.
Next, we learn that the people being called upon here to take some kind of action are those who are “spiritual.” This refers back to the previous chapter where we learned that a person who lives by the Spirit does not actively gratify the desires of the sinful nature, for the sinful nature and the Spirit are in conflict with each other. Those who belong to Christ Jesus, thus, have crucified (put to death) the sinful nature with its passions and desires. In other words, we cannot help another to be restored if we are living to gratify the desires of the flesh. That is why the passage continues by asking that we watch ourselves so that we are not tempted, that we test and examine ourselves, and that we not have a “better than thou” attitude which thinks we have somehow arrived or that we are better, but rather that takes a realistic look at our own lives, and that recognizes where we would be “were it not for grace.” Then, and only then, can we go about the task of “restoring” one caught in sin.
To restore someone or something means to reinstate, return back, renovate, repair, recondition and/or to rebuild; to mend what has been broken (as in setting a fractured bone); and to make one what he or she ought to be. Sometimes this can be a painful process, so that is why it must be done gently (calmly; tenderly; peacefully). We don’t ignore the “fracture” nor do we placate (pacify or appease) it, i.e. to treat it as though it is not serious by just putting a Band-Aid over top of it to cover it up. We also do not condemn the sinner, i.e. we do not write the person off as hopeless or to treat him or her with contempt, as though we are somehow superior or better than him or her. We also are not to go around gossiping about the person, telling other people about that person’s sin. We are to go to the person quietly, privately (unless this is a public sin), and gently help that person to turn from his or her sin, to turn to faith in Jesus Christ for the situation of his or her life that contributed to the sin, and to help the person to be who he or she ought to be.
Carry each other’s burdens
Following this instruction about how to deal with a fellow believer caught in a sin, we are taught that we should carry each other’s burdens, and in this way we will fulfill the law of Christ. The “law of Christ” is love, and the way he loved us was to give himself up for us on the cross in dying for our sins and in being resurrected back to life in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, so that we could go free from the penalty of sin and the control of sin. So, this means we should love other people the same way Jesus loved us, which means we should be willing to give up of ourselves – our time, energies, reputations, emotions – in order to help our fellow believers in Jesus Christ, or non-believers, be free from the penalty of and bondage to sin. So, to carry the burdens of others, in this context, is not to pacify or to ignore their sin, but rather it is to care so much about them that we are willing to have them hate us, reject us, spit on us, and make fun of us (how they treated Jesus) in order to tell them how they can have their eyes opened to the truth of God’s word, and how they can be turned from the darkness of sin to the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they can receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified (purified) in Christ Jesus (See Acts 26:16-18).
Reap what you sow
One of the many reasons why we should care enough about other people to help them to turn from their sin and to turn to faith and obedience to God/Jesus is that we will all reap what we sow, which is why this section of the passage begins with “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked.” If we are deceived (misled, misinformed or hoodwinked) into thinking that we can live however we want in this life and that we will not suffer the consequences of our sin, thus mocking God and Jesus Christ, scorning the price he paid on the cross for our sins so that we could go free, then we have another thing coming – we will reap what we sow. If we sow to please ourselves, i.e. our sinful nature, without regard for God or for Jesus Christ, from that sinful nature we will reap destruction of our lives and possibly the lives of others, too, who we have led astray by our false concepts of who God truly is.
Yet, if we sow to please the Spirit of God who dwells within the lives and hearts of true believers in Jesus Christ, from that Spirit we will reap eternal life, not just beginning when we die and go to heaven, though, but true life in Christ Jesus beginning right now and affecting our day-to-day walk with Jesus. And, that is lived out daily in how we respond to God and to his word, and in how we treat other people. Are we truly loving others as Jesus loved us in giving ourselves to them so that they can be free from sin? Or are we loving ourselves more and so we withhold the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ from our friends so that they will like us more? So many people interpret love as making people feel good about themselves, but Jesus loved us by showing us who we really are and who we can be in HIM when we submit to his will for our lives, when we surrender all to Jesus, when we take up our cross daily and follow him, when we turn from our sin in humility and repentance, and when we make him Lord (Master) of our lives and us as his slaves.
V. 14 says: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”When we come to Jesus in faith, we come to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which means we come to be crucified to our flesh (worldly appetites) and the world (sinful desires) crucified (dead) to us. What this means is that we choose to die to our old way of life where we are in charge and where we do whatever we want and desire, and instead we yield reign, control, rule and authority of our lives over to our creator and God, Jesus Christ, and we no longer live for ourselves but we live for God to please him as a slave would live to please his master, not in fear, but out of love and a heart’s desire to please God in every way. If we truly see ourselves as slaves to Jesus and slaves to righteousness, and we understand that means true freedom because we are no longer slaves to sin, then we can truly comprehend the meaning of God’s grace in what he did in dying for us so that we could go free.
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
Full Lyrics - Were it Not for Grace - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkASXisY9hQ
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