FBC Morning Light – June 14, 2022

A good Tuesday morning to you. I hope your week got off to a good start yesterday. Here we are in the middle of June already, just about 14th day of June.

The days are going by quickly, the year is going by quickly. Today we're in Galatians chapter 6, and this first verse has some pretty interesting and important dynamics to pay attention to.

Let's note the verse and then talk about it. It says, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Wow. There's a lot in that verse, and I have seen it, I've seen people to start off with say, it tells me here

I need to restore this person who's been caught in a trespass.

What they have been overcome by in this so -called trespass is not really a trespass against God, but a violation of the other person's conviction or personal preference.

The first dynamic that's important to keep in mind in this verse is that a brother in Christ is caught, this is what that word overtaken means, he's caught in a trespass, in some transgression.

What's happened to him is that he has yielded to some temptation to sin, it has caught him.

What has caught him is something that violates God's word, clearly revealed word.

It's a transgression against God, he's trespassed against what God has had to say.

I think that's important because I've seen people apply this to things like their own personal dress standards, or any area of personal standards that we develop in our lives to help us personally grow in Christ.

They can be very helpful to us and needful for us, but they're not dictated by God's word.

God doesn't dictate in detail what you watch on TV, how much you watch on TV, all that kind of stuff.

He doesn't dictate how much you use the Internet, he doesn't dictate the specific kinds of clothing to wear and all that kind of stuff.

There are principles that apply in all those things, I understand that. But those principles and their application are not the same thing as thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not commit adultery, and so forth, thou shalt not steal.

Those are clearly revealed commands in God's word. What Paul is talking about here is some very clear violation of the revealed

Word of God, the will of God. It's a trespass against God. It's not a transgression against my personal preferences.

That's the first dynamic. The second thing, he says, you who are spiritual, restore such one.

This is tricky, because there are people who have been caught by the sin of spiritual pride and think themselves to be quite spiritual giants, when in reality they are spiritually weak and spiritual pygmies.

The problem is, because of their spiritual pride, they take it upon themselves to go around and correct everybody else, and tell everybody else their faults.

That's not what he means when he's talking about the one who is spiritual. He's talking here, the one who is spiritual is not a practically perfect person.

In fact, he's one who probably realizes how far from perfection he is. One who is spiritual is one who has been tuned in to the

Spirit enough, and sensitive enough to the Spirit, to see the error, the transgression of that brother.

Maybe nobody else has seen it yet. Maybe nobody else has been tuned in to how this guy's been caught in his trespass, but this one has.

He hasn't fallen to that sin, and he sees that his brother has, and he's sensitive to it, and he realizes that he has the ability to help him in this thing.

That's the one who is spiritual. The goal of his interaction with that brother is restoration, not condemnation.

He's not coming to him to tear him down, and to destroy him. I've seen this abused as well.

I've heard of an individual who goes to a brother, and he says,

I think you can help me in this area. There's a need here. Would you pray with me about this?

The brother who needs to be helping, instead, goes and blabs around this person's problem and issue, and it ends up getting him castigated, and destroyed, ruined.

No, no, no, no. The goal is not destruction. The goal is not condemnation.

The goal is restoration, to help deliver the person out of his transgression that he's caught in, and restore him to fellowship with God and God's people.

That's another dynamic here. A fourth dynamic is the fact that the power of sin is palpable.

He says, you need to consider yourself lest you're also tempted. We need to be very well aware that even in the attempt to help someone overcome the sin that has caught them, we too can be vulnerable to sin.

Maybe that sin that has captured them may be the sin of spiritual pride that says,

I'm really spiritual because I can help this guy. I must be quite the pious prude. No.

You need to be careful that Satan doesn't trip you up in this thing.

Finally, a fifth dynamic has to do with the manner in which this is all carried out. He says, do it in a spirit of gentleness, of gentleness, not harshness.

Why that? Because that's Christ's manner. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11, 28, 29?

He says, come unto me all you who labor under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He's talking to people who are caught in transgression and trespass, who are weighed down with sin and efforts to deal with it.

He says, come to me. Then he says this, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

We need to deal with people with gentleness, not with harshness and cruelty.

With gentleness, regardless of the trespass that they've been caught in. Again, I've seen people who claim to be spiritual, godly people, who demonstrate the fact that they're not.

By the way they treat other people who've been caught in sin, they treat them with harshness, cruelty, anger, brutality, anything but gentleness.

Galatians 6, 1 is an important verse, but it's important that it's understood well, and that it's applied appropriately.

Let's be sure we do that. Our Father, now God, help us to be sensitive to the power of sin, and help us to be helpful to those who are trapped in it.

Let us be helped when we ourselves are trapped. Oh Lord, may your people have the heart of Christ to deal with gentleness, we pray.

We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, have a good Tuesday.