Galatians 6:1 Commentary

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Galatians 6:1

Comments

If we see someone who has fallen into sin then the first thing we should do according to God’s word is to examine ourselves. We are to make a self-assessment before we put ourselves forward for the task of helping to restore another. Only if we consider ourselves to be spiritual are we fit for such a delicate task. ‘Overtaken in a fault’. The word implies that this is not a sin which can be easily repented of and immediately left behind, but that the person has fallen in a way which means that they cannot easily recover themselves; it has got hold of them and they need assistance from outside. This may take the form of encouragement to leave it behind, reminder of what the consequences will be if they remain in it, assurance of Christ’s willingness to restore them if they turn away from it, and practical advice on how to avoid this particular evil. Hendriksen suggests that the word indicates a less serious meaning for the word trespass than that which would involve a planned and premeditated sin. This then is not the sort of serious sin that might require church discipline. Sin is of course only sin if our consent is given to it, nevertheless the devil may deceive us before our guard is properly in place and, although we consent, we do not scheme and plan this thing with forethought and guile. But we give way and as a result weaken ourselves and the devil pursues his attack, bringing us further and further from the right way.

Application

Biblical church discipline is a duty among the churches, as is the restoration of those who have fallen, but there is a danger that where we are commanded to restore our fellow believers we rush in without proper reflection of our own sins and end up playing the hypocrite. We should come to this work only after we have considered our own ways carefully and repented of any known sins. But to be spiritual here does not mean to be perfect, for we all sin in many ways. To be spiritual is to handle our sins in a biblical way, to confess them to God and where necessary to our fellow Christians, to repent of them and to be humbled by the remembrance of them. This preparation of mind prevents us coming to others who have fallen as if we were spotless, looking down on them from the height of perfection in a lofty or condescending way. This does not mean that we fail to see the gravity of sin or make excuses for the perpetrator, for there are many evils that should not be once named among us and which it is perfectly possible for us to avoid from the moment we are converted.

A spirit of gentleness is always appropriate, even in the case of extreme sins. Our harshness and forcefulness is not going to achieve anything, for if the conscience of the culprit does not to speak to them at the prospect of facing God in discipline, they we will not be humbled by any severity of ours. Joshua dealt meekly with Achan even though his trespass was so serious.

Questions

Who can say that they are spiritual when Paul writing as a believer described himself as ‘carnal, sold under sin’? Is the requirement in this verse that we should never do anything to restore those who fall, each one frankly judging himself to be too unspiritual for the task? Paul has elsewhere dealt with this reaction and corrected it as out of balance: ‘If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?’ (1 Corinthians 6:4-5), and he said this to the Corinthians even though he also assessed them as, ‘carnal and behaving like mere men’.

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Galatians 6:1 Commentary and Bible Study