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Paul wanted the Galatians to live out the gospel: not focusing on their own efforts and ending up with a fleshly, sour, competitive community, but rather focusing on Christ, walking in step with the Spirit, and ending up with a beautiful, selfless, godly community.
When a Christian sins, do they typically long to go to church, or do they instinctively withdraw from church? A church characterised by fleshly competitiveness will usually be rife with hypocrisy and criticism. Consequently, a sinning believer would rather run away than run to church. But when a church is made up of people living Paul’s type of Christianity, then you will find a community of authentic and loving people – they may be struggling with sin, but they are gripped by the grace of God and ready to support one another!
Sin brings with it a terrible weight. There is the guilt, the shame, the broken relationships, the numerous consequences. When we cannot be real with one another, then this burden is huge. A gospel-gripped community will help carry that burden together (v. 2). Obviously, only the death of Christ can pay for the guilt, and when helping a believer caught in a sin we need to be careful lest we get caught up in it, but the community of Christ’s people can reach out to lovingly restore the repentant believer (v. 1).
In verses 3–5 Paul ends up saying each person should bear his own load. Is this a contradiction? No. Paul is switching to the self-focused version of Christianity offered by the false teachers in Galatia. In their version of the faith, the focus is on myself as I measure myself against my preferred set of laws. I become competitive with others as I compare myself to them. This leads to believers putting legalistic burdens on each other, which is the opposite of a true gospel community. So Paul writes that we are each to carry our own load (the word in verse 5 is like a backpack – the life God gives us), but then look to help one another with their burden (the word in verse 2 refers to a heavy weight).
A gospel-gripped community will be self-giving, rather than self-righteous. Instead of imposing our version of godly standards on those around us, thereby crushing others with our legalism, we will lovingly reach out to support each other.
Reflection
Who can you lovingly support today?
Scripture
About this Plan
Paul wrote the book of Galatians to Christians who were tempted to add good works to the gospel. Although we might not want to admit it, adding to the gospel is a great temptation for us too. So be encouraged as Peter Mead takes us through these devotions, be reminded that Christ is everything, and that the gospel is all we need for our lives now in Jesus.
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