Fulfilling the Law of Christ

The Burden of Restoring a Brother in Gentleness

The word of the Lord says brothers even if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness each of you looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted.

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work. And then he will have a reason for boasting in regard to himself alone and not in regard to another.

For each one will bear his own load.

I was told when my grandson came in that he brought his Bible today and that his plans were to come up and preach with me.

So.

Again, I I love having our children participate with with the church and that this becomes a place for them and that I can be a pastor to them and the Holy Spirit can work in their lives even at a young age to communicate the truths of the gospel and so We see those in little small ways and it's just a beautiful thing for me because it's kind of an act of faith, right?

It's like hey, shouldn't we have a children's ministry? Shouldn't we like start them off to to do something else apart from us and Hannah says no. But you know you kind of wonder you know, well it's gonna get kind of crazy in here.

But we have this we have this hope we have this faith in God that he is Working and he's communicating to them as they participate with us. Anyway, so that's all that I'll get into the scriptures now as this is a interesting text.

It is not easy to interpret. It seems Contradictory, especially when it says bear one another's burdens and then then in the next breath It says for each must bear his own load. What does that mean Paul?

Come on help us out here and so I'll just start with with telling you something that I'm that I'm experiencing as this week as I'm studying this on my property I'm finding that there is a an invasive species of plants called the Japanese honeysuckle.

Is it called kudzu? Is that the same thing? Or is that a different thing? They're different. Okay, that's what Kristen said. But we have the Japanese honeysuckle and it seems to be just.

Devouring.

My landscape so the battles on in in Washington. It was blackberries here. It's Japanese honeysuckle. So every chance I get I you know yesterday I went to check the mail just brought my little chainsaw down there.

It was an electric chainsaw to my shame. I mean, it's not manly enough, you know, it's kind of. But I don't you know, anyway, I go down there and I cut on these these vines and I'm trying to loose the trees.

From this bondage that they're in and it's really hard work I mean I worked I worked quite a bit yesterday and then I looked at it this morning. I was like I didn't get much done. So if you know what this stuff is, okay.

And I'm sure you do because I'm new here and you've lived here probably for a long time. The trees are have been covered on my property with it for some time and now and it's literally Bending the trees over and I'm finding as I cut it loose that some of these branches big branches are like snapped.

They're completely snapped and broken over. Some of the trees are growing sideways because of it and the picture that as I'm studying this text and I'm working on this is this picture of being entangled being captured and choked out and This is the picture that Paul talks about in Galatians 6 1 when he says brothers if anyone is caught in a transition Transgression, they're caught.

They're captured. They're snared. They've lost the freedom of movement. Their walk has been hindered. Remember he said that previously in Galatians. What hindered you you were running? So well, what hindered you right?

And so now he's talking about it again, or he's pointing to that now. This is the application part of Galatians. When I spoke two weeks ago, we talked about one of the applications which is walk in the spirit.

Speaking to individuals. This is what you're supposed to do now. This is what I'm commanding you to do to walk in the spirit. It's like I said, it's not informational. Paul expects them to do it and here is a corporate Kind of for the whole church for the body instruction and that is that they would Restore their brothers and carry one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

So I'm calling this This message this morning fulfilling the law of Christ. This this is I'm gonna break this up into two parts here. The first part is the command in verses 1 2 that fulfills the law of Christ and verses 3 through 5 are a rebuke.

Okay, so you need to see these as two separate things here. Otherwise, it becomes confusing. So let's look at verse 1. Brothers, if anyone is caught in a transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourselves. Lest you to be tempted now as we move into this text. It's always important to look at context because context helps us rightly Interpret the Bible. Okay now as I've and I often do as I'm studying the week I'm I'm dialing up other people's sermons.

I'm listening to what they have to say about the text and What I find is that a lot of this text here is not Interpreted correctly for this simple reason they do not use the context. So we're gonna try and stay really close to the context and in fact, it it's so pervasive that it happened to me.

Okay, so as I was working through this this passage, you know. And I'm writing my sermon out and I'm getting it all ready and I'm feeling good about it on Saturday Saturday morning as I sit down drinking my coffee.

I Bring out my iPad. I'm looking through my notes and something just didn't sit right with me and I was like Something's wrong and I and I went to Luther and Luther set me straight. Okay, as he often does and so I was like do I do I need to rewrite my whole sermon now?

Because I got it wrong and Instead, I'm just gonna let it stay as an example. Okay, and so let's use the context to understand what is happening. So if we're gonna use the context we need to go back to what Josh preached last week Galatians chapter 5 in verse 26.

This is a transition verse and he has many transition verses in here. But going from one topic to the next so he went from fruits of the Spirit and then he started. He mentions this in 26. He says let us not become conceited provoking one another and Envying one another.

Okay. So this is the context of which he's about to give this command that we read in verse 1 of chapter 6. He's saying don't be conceited and that word is vain glory or self glory. Don't provoke one another or irritate one another and then also don't have envy or jealousy within within yourselves.

And he's talking to the church here. And this is classic 13 year old behavior, isn't it? Right if you ever done worked with Junior hires, this is what they do. They try to be the center of attention they try and draw the attention away from others and on themselves even to the to the point where they would make someone else look Bad so that they would look better, right?

And and I I've always said this Is as a counselor bad attention is still attention, right? And so as we go through this passage, remember, he just said Paul just said pride Bad, okay pride bad. The Galatians have been deceived and this is what happens and How we get caught in transgression, okay.

Remember the he has said before who has bewitched you. Who's tricked you right who has deceived you and if we look to James chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 you're probably familiar with this verse that says but each person is Tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.

Then desire when it has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. So he's saying he said this is how you were caught you were tricked you were deceived it's kind of like throwing that bait out there and just waiting for that fish to Ignore the hook and see the bait and just take it and then they go.

Oh, no. Oh.

No.

I've been tricked. So what is the transgression that the Galatians have been deceived to desire because that's gonna help us to understand What this transgression is that he's talking about here. What is it?

What did they do? What did they believe? They believed in a works-based relationship with God. They had they had they stopped believing the gospel that they received from Paul and this is this is Something that I I heard at the conference that I was at and this is why I go to conferences.

I Heard this I heard the epistemological sin of the heart and I was like, oh, that's so good Epistemology epistemal. I can't even say it Epistemological sin of the heart. What does that mean? Epistemology is this study of how we Come to understand things and it focuses on how do we come to understand the gospel?

How do we come to understand who God is right and that's this that's that part of the study in theology epistemology, so this is a Epistemological sin of the heart. So what does that mean? Romans 1 18 Says this for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

Why? Who by their unrighteousness? Suppress the truth and if. For although they knew God they did not honor him or give him thanks. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened 22 claiming to be wise they became fools.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. That was their sin. That's what they did. That's that's what's wrong brothers if anyone is caught in any sin and I've been talking to you about this sin. You who are spiritual should restore him now think about it.

This makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? It makes sense that at the end of the letter to the Galatians that Paul would say to them if anyone has fallen into this trap. Restore him gently restore. He doesn't say shame them severely he doesn't say label them and make sure they never have a significant place in ministry in the church.

The point is restoration. Right in line with what Jesus says in Matthew 18 if your brother sins against you go tell him his fault. Between you and him alone if he listens to you. You've gained a brother.

You've gained a brother. You've gained a brother. That's the point. The word in the Greek here for restore means to mend or to set up a broken bone or a fracture. Another thing that I heard at this conference that I went to was this account in Luke 9 54.

I'm just gonna go there. And it hit me in two ways. This is this is the account of The sons of thunder, right, you know these two guys. Luke 9 54, where is it? Okay, so I'll read from 51 when it when the days drew near for him to be taken up.

He said his face to go to Jerusalem. This is speaking out at Jesus and he sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make Preparations for them, but the people did not receive him because his face was set towards Jerusalem.

And when his disciples James and John saw it they said Lord Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? But he turned and rebuked them. Now. Here's here's the interesting thing at the conference.

I Think it was Doug Wilson who said this he. He said he read that he said but he turned and rebuked them and said You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. And I went wait a second. I don't remember that in my ESV.

Because it's not in my ESV. So I went back to the Greek and I went oh here it is. It is here now the LSB the legacy standard Bible has this in there but he turned and rebuked them and said you do not know what kind of spirit you are of and That just hit me.

I was like Whoa, I think sometimes we don't know what kind of spirit we are of. That's a good question. What kind of spirit are we of. What a great question to ask yourself as you go through the day? Because just just two weeks ago.

He was saying here are the works of the flesh. Here are the fruits of the spirit. What kind of spirit are you of? He says we should restore in a spirit of gentleness in line with the spirit. He's saying here's a perfect opportunity to let the fruits of the spirit become evident in your life.

Right. It is a spirit of gentleness that uses the Authority of appeals to step into the brother's life to present the truth and appeal to the Holy Spirit within him. Okay, now this is a new concept that I.

We were in Seattle and somebody said this that they were reading a book and they said. They kind of brought this distinction. I've been thinking about I've been chewing on it ever since. And I'll say that again a spirit of gentleness uses the authority of appeal to step into the brother's life.

To present the truth and appeal to the Holy Spirit within him. Okay. Remember he said if a brother one another son of God. One in whom the Holy Spirit dwells if if he is caught in a sin restore him gently and.

And I in a spirit of gentleness. Now the authority as you do this resides in the Word of God. It is God himself correcting and reproving. The appeal is to the very spirit that is within this brother that is warring against their flesh.

Yes, they're caught but they're warring against the flesh and some misunderstand their authority. They use the authority of command instead. To bully to control to use their title or their office to intimidate.

But they have no functional authority when they do that.

Matthew.

20 verses 20 through 25. Jesus calls its disciples together and he says, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and They're great ones exercise authority over them. And then he says this it shall not be so among you.

It's not your way. But whoever wants to be great among you must be a servant. So as we come and we we entreat as we appeal to our brother caught in a sin, we're trying to serve them. We're trying to be a servant to them.

Now.

Gentleness and meekness often are things that make men recoil. Okay, I think I think this is sometimes why the church doesn't seem manly. As we talk about gentleness we talk about meekness. But this is not niceness or passivity.

Exercising lordship as a man as someone who has a position in the church as an elder or a deacon is Not using your authority like a club to beat people into submission. This is what the world does. What kind of spirit are we of?

Now men. Don't recoil. Because this is not a call to be effeminate, but it's a call to have courage. It's a call to be bold. And if you've ever done this if you've ever stepped into somebody's life to to try and restore them.

It takes a lot of boldness. It's so easy just to just. Not my problem. Man, this is how you lead your homes your children and your wife in the strength that is clothed in gentle service. We see this in Jesus.

We see this in Paul as he's dealing with the Galatians. Paul is very clear with the Galatians. He's very Stern, he's very serious. He's fighting and he's working towards their restoration. So this morning this first verse is a call to gentleness and meekness.

But we also see this call and it's very similar to a different call that we have that is given as we communicate the gospel to others as. We defend the faith and the hope that we have to non-believers.

So this works not just within the church, but this works outside the church as well. What is that? What is that? What is that verse? It's first Peter 3 15, right? In your hearts honor Christ as Lord. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asked you for the for a reason for the hope that you have in.

You yet do this with gentleness and respect. This is the spirit that we are of Josh and I as elders in this church. We have authority To to exercise church discipline. To have someone expelled from the body even to turn them over to Satan but this process should always be done in a spirit of gentleness and sorrow and Appealing and pleading with someone to return to the faith.

The goal is restoration. He says at the end keep watch on yourself lest you to be tempted. Now sin is infectious. But I don't believe we're being warned that you're gonna get it on you. Although There are two ways I think that the context tells us that to be to be wary to keep watch on ourselves.

The first one is that we would restore not in a spirit of gentleness and The temptation is to just instead of restoring just cut them off amputate rather than mend. Because it's so easy to get angry to get frustrated.

I mean parents with kids. You know, this is true, right? So easy to let to try and control their actions rather than to be gentle and patient. The second reason I think Deception if it is left unchallenged will grow and you might also be deceived.

I think about wokeness and how it has has just Snuck in and consumed our Western Evangelical Church. How did it get in? Well, someone was deceived and then no one said anything and Then soon others were deceived and it just grew and grew until well, I guess this is just what we're doing.

I Think that that could be why Paul is saying be careful. Or you might also be tempted. The next verse bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Okay, my questions here. What are these burdens and when I go to the Greek and do my word study?

The word in Greek is bar a which means heavy loads. Which doesn't help me at all. So I look and I go. Well, let's look at what the word says. It could be these burdens are what Christ is talking about in First Peter 5 7 when he says cast all your cares upon me because I care for you.

So the cares would be their health concerns financial concerns man salvation for my family members my struggles with sin. My struggles with anxiety or depression or whatever is going on in your life right now circumstantial.

It could be that that would be one to. It could be what Christ calls each person to do as as they follow Christ when he says take up your cross and follow Me, right? It's not but he also says and Josh preached on this last week.

He says my birth. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. But it's still a burden. Maybe that's what it is. Okay, that would be two three would be just sin the burden of sin. I'm reading to bow every night the story of Christian in pilgrims progress and if you're familiar with that story he Christian leaves the town the city of destruction and he's on this journey to the celestial city.

But at the beginning he has this burden on his back and it's so heavy and it's so hard for him to walk. And he gets tired often and he just can't he just he hates this burden that is slowing him down.

And.

As he enters the narrow way One of the first things he finds is this cross upon a hill and at the cross the burden falls away. All right, so that could be that could be the burden, right? Well, I believe.

One and two rightly can describe the burden but that's not using the context and. This is what? Luther hit me with on Sunday because that's a great sermon. And I could preach that sermon and you'd say man.

That was a great sermon. How's the good sir? And I've heard a lot of people say that bear one another's burdens, you know. Whatever care that they have this should be a place where we care for one another.

Great sermon. Not what Paul was talking about here. Three we're going to talk about later in the text, but I think. What is the burden? The burden is what you talked about in verse one. The burden is it's a heavy load.

To confront your brother and to restore him when he's caught in sin. That is a heavy burden.

Now.

He says if you do this you will fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? I Believe that Paul is referring back to John 13 34 through 35 where Jesus says a new commandment I give you. Jesus is saying to his disciples.

I'm giving you a new command. Here's the new command. This is the command of Christ. This is the law of Christ that you would love one another just as I have loved you. Okay, you couldn't have this this command before because you didn't know me.

You didn't know how I loved you. You're gonna see how I loved you and I want you to love one another in that same way and by this all people will Know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another.

Now that puts all the responsibility on our shoulders to do this bear one another's burdens. From other passages and I could build the case and I did this is the this is the sermon that I repent of but I Cuz it works it does work that we're to care for one another.

Right and we see that in first Corinthians 12 12 is when Paul is talking about the body for just as the body is one. It has many members all the members of the body though. Many are one body so it is with Christ and you jump down to 26 if one member suffers all suffer together for if One member is honored all rejoice together.

It makes sense if somebody here in here at CBC is suffering in some respect. We all suffer. He's trying to teach us that now. We know this to be true in our body. I scratched my cornea early on in my life and like only had one eye for a while.

That messes you up like I was bumping into things and stuff. You know, you don't realize how your peripheral vision matters until you lose an eye, right? And so yeah, my whole body was affected. I have tennis elbow.

It's like when I want to scratch something I'm like I can't do that. No, this one doesn't work either. And so then I have to find a tree or something, you know. Your whole body is affected. The well-being of the body is affected by the well-being of all the parts.

The other reason that I think that that that is a good sermon. Although it's not this sermon is that man caring for one another is a beautiful benefit to being among God's people. It's a blessing to be among God's people because you don't have to suffer alone.

That's powerful.

That'll preach and Often God uses mediating agents secondary causes to accomplish his will. God is caring for individuals in the church. It through you through me and so in my sermon that I've repented of and then it's not this sermon I asked the question.

How is the church doing with that? How are we doing? I mean, it's a valid question today. And what would the church look like if we actually obeyed that? We actually cared for one of them loved one another and what's preventing us from doing that?

But then if we look at it in context, then we have to ask this question. If the church is a place where we bear one another's burdens. Which is restoring us when we're caught in sin. Do we really want to be a part of the church?

Do you really want to invite that into your life? I think you should if it's done in the spirit of gentleness. What spirit are we of? So you keep asking that question. Verse 3 it begins the Paul's second part, which is the rebuke.

He says if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself. Remember verse 26 don't be conceited. Don't provoke one another don't envy one another. But this is the definition of being conceited right pridefully thinking that you're something more than you actually are.

Here's why he commanded this last week. I Think one of the reasons also in context is he's saying you've had bad examples. People who've wormed their way into your church to deceive you and you need to understand who they really are.

So you don't keep following them. It says he deceives himself. He's doing the work of sin. I Mean if sin is crouching at the door. Waiting to deceive us. What happens when he opens the door and goes? Oh, you're already deceived.

Thanks.

Good job. Now you can take this section in two ways or perhaps they apply to two different groups. One Paul is anticipating a response and brings rebuke to that way of thinking. So someone who is caught in a sin their brother is trying to restore them gently.

He may be speaking now to that person caught in a sin. You think you're something when you're nothing you're deceived. Paul anticipates a prideful response and maybe we do too. Maybe this is what keeps us from.

Actually jumping in and being responsible for our brother's burden is because we goes. Oh, man, it's gonna. You know as soon as I bring it up, they're gonna say well, yeah, but you now when we hear someone say act conceited, maybe they say something like You don't know me, but I'm kind of a big deal around here.

You kind of think in your head you're like man that guy's that guy's prideful. Bit of a windbag maybe braggart blowhard or Maybe just insecure. But what happens when the person who is saying that is you in your own head?

I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm a pretty big deal around here. I Think that our reaction is a little bit different. Sometimes we go. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. I feel justified in my greatness now.

Maybe give a little yeah, Paul says bear one another's burdens and our pride says I don't need anyone's help. I don't need their sympathy. I don't need their pity. They're just gonna gossip about me. Anyway, I don't trust them to not judge me.

They don't understand I'm independent. I can take care of this myself. I'm responsible. I'm manly blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And it's just pride it's all pride. If you don't think you need your brother.

You think you can go it alone if you're too busy to care about your brother's distress. There's another one. Then you don't understand that the love of God. You don't understand the love of God. You don't understand his command that binds us together.

Again, we're responsible for one another. This is the deception that will lead you to sin it will lead you to disobey the law of Christ. The other way to understand this section is to see this rebuke directed towards the teachers of the law who have rejected Christ and are Promoting false salvation in perfecting the law.

They think there's something they think they're self-righteous. They're they're influential. They're important. They're above reproach these Judaizers they don't think that they need correction and They have a fleshly need for people to need them and to listen to them they're puffed up.

They're blinded by their own opinion and yet Paul says you are nothing. Paul says that without love first Corinthians 13. No, man, no matter how many miracles you do you're nothing. Jesus says abide in me because if you don't.

Believe it or not. You can do nothing. Paul is outing the opposition. Revealing the truth of who they are. He's instructing the Galatians because of these legalistic teachers. They're they're deceiving them.

They're putting them on a destructive prideful path and We see that today in the church. It is common for church church leaders political leaders even to present a public persona that is very different from who they really are and it's hard to.

Even though it's hard to keep up the charade and keep people, you know on that side of the curtain. It becomes an exhausting task the longer you're around people to keep up the farce. But I believe that that that just brings destruction.

Because we start to believe that deception these leaders start to believe that deception and they start to justify who they are. And say no, I'm right.

And.

They they're they're okay with the dissonance in their life. Verse four he speaks directly to that prideful Superiority that that spirit that is says I'm better than others that they're holier than thou.

He says but let each one test his own work and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. Okay. So what is this about boasting now? I thought he was like Duncan on pride, right?

He's like he's actually telling them that they need that will have a reason to boast. Well this word here It refers more to glad exaltation rather than self-promotion. Listen to what Calvin says. He said it often happens that we compare ourselves with others and from the low opinion that we form of them we set a high price on ourselves and It is not what we gain from detracting from others.

But what we have without any comparison that is truly praiseworthy. So what he's saying there is you want you want to find something praiseworthy in your life? You're gonna find it when you stop comparing yourself to other people.

He says if a person is valued for his own worth and not for the low Lowness of others the praise is just and substantial. Test yourself test yourself on your own merit. That's what he's saying here because you can rejoice in that and that actually has some value.

But he you could say.

You.

Could say it this way you must test and truly see your work or your ministry without comparing yourself to others or In what others say about you? So and and we do this all the time, but I noticed this in some podcasters that I listen to.

They'll receive some some critique and then they'll have a podcast where they kind of open up their podcast going. Can you believe what this person said about me? And I think they're just watching the chat going.

No, that's totally terrible. You you're so right I can't believe they said that about you and they're just kind of building themselves up and feeling good about themselves, you know as they Take their platform and use it to kind of justify themselves.

Of course, it's totally one-sided, right? Totally one-sided, but I do that too. I Don't have a podcast but when conflict happens, there are people that I go to who will tell me the same thing. I avoid the person who's gonna say Challenge me or say yeah.

Probably should think about that a little bit more. I go straight to the people who go you go girl. So right. This they're so bad. Paul is saying let every man scrutinize his own conduct and then he will find out.

Not with reference to another but with reference to himself what he has to boast of he's saying do this see if you've got anything to boast about or Discover if you are poisoned by vain glory seeking self-justification in the praise of people.

The last verse. For each one will have to bear his own load again load is a different word from burden and The the word here kind of refers to a soldier Shouldering his own pack. What he's saying here is that every man shall bear his own judgment.

The burden of sin that Christian bore. And the sin that every one of us bears before a holy God is the judgment that is coming for deeds done in the body. Luther says this this phrase should terrify everyone who pursues fate our praise from other people should terrify them.

Because judgment is coming when each one of us will be held accountable. None of your followers on Twitter will stand by you on that day. So you've got two options either you believe in faith that Jesus alone pays the penalty for your sin and allow Jesus to carry your responsibility before the that the God before God Almighty.

Or You can stand in your pride and be responsible for yourself. That's what Paul is saying there.

Now.

Sons of God. This is this kind of big picture here as we as we move into kind of application. What does this mean for us? What is God asking us to do the big picture is that sons of God? transformed by grace are now enabled to demonstrate grace to one another and We must we must operate in grace in order to be obedient to Christ and display that we are his.

Let me say it again Sons of God transformed by grace are now because of Christ because of the cross are now enabled because of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us are now and able to demonstrate grace to one another and We must operate in grace in order to be obedient to Christ and display that we are his.

Grace is a family trait of Of blood-bought sons of God. What spirit are you of? What spirit are you are you of and what is God asking of us? I? Think one as the body of Christ. We do need to carry one another's burdens Including and specifically this morning the the the burden the heavy burden of Trying to restore a brother who is deceived who is caught in sin just like that tree just bound up entangled.

Their life is being pulled out of them. They're being twisted and.