Galatians 6:1-2
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ," Galatians 6:1-2. For the last few weeks, we have been using this verse as a launching point to Matthew 18:15-22. We have learned much about church discipline. If we practice the first two parts of church discipline, then having to practice the last two parts are greatly reduced. By being faithful to the Scriptures, we save ourselves a lot of stress, embarrassment, and turmoil. God's way is always the best way.
One thing that we have learned from our study through Galatians is that we will sin every day. This is a battle that we will fight until we die (Romans 7). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," I John 1:8. "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us," I John 1:10. Romans 7 and I John 1:8-10 is referring to the Christian. To say that we have not, nor do we sin is to affirm that the truth, His word, is not in us. For someone to say the Christian never sins after the Lord saves him is to go against what the bible teaches. That would also mean Jesus Christ wasted His time in teaching about church discipline. To deny what the bible teaches in one area will affect us in other areas. To be sinless means to be sinless in thought, word, and deed. Jesus Christ is the only One who accomplished that. If no one sinned after the Lord saved them, then most of the New Testament is written in vain. We read over and over again what the Christian is to do, not to do, and what to do when we do what we are not to do. Aren't you thankful the Scripture is clear on these things? Let us get into Galatians 6:1-2.
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted," Galatians 6:1. Notice the first word in this verse is the word "Brethren". It means one of the same faith, a fellow Christian. Even though the churches of Galatia had been influenced by false teachers, Paul still considered them brethren. This letter was written to call them to repentance, and to instruct them further in the Scriptures. What do you do when someone is overtaken in a fault? If they are not instructed by the Scriptures, they will do what seems right in their own eyes, or they will do what they have seen other people do. It is good to find people to pattern our selves after, but we better make sure they are biblical. We do not want to deal with people the way the pharisees dealt with people. The pharisees did not view themselves as being sinners, so they looked down on everyone else, especially those in open sins. Turn to John 8:1-11. People like the pharisees kick others while they are down.
To be overtaken in a fault is to be overtaken by a transgression committed out of ignorance or carelessness. We may want to pull the "I did not know" card here, but no one gets a free pass. The law of God has been written on our hearts, and our conscience is influenced by the law of God. We may sin in the heat of the moment, but we know it is sin. For some reason we compartmentalize sins. We automatically run to the "bad" sins here such as sexual sins, drunkenness, murders, etc., but we tend to overlook the other sins listed in Galatians 5:19-21. I do want to clarify that if these sins characterize someone's lifestyle, then according to the bible that person is not saved. There are times a Christian will be out of character, and in being out of character will commit some of these sins, but this is not the Christians lifestyle (David, Peter, etc.).
So, the question comes up, what do you do when one of the same faith, a fellow Christian, is overtaken in a fault? We show them how much we love them by going to them and confronting them about their sin. This is one of the things the church is supposed to be doing. Being part of a church is who you are, not just something you do. Church is a way of life, and that way of life is caring for one another by combatting, confronting, and confessing sin in our lives. We are not in the battle alone, and we need to remind ourselves and our fellow church members of these truths by our actions. We should be concerned with the sin in all of us, not just ourselves. We can get super spiritual and talk about how bad this sin loving world has become, but we need to examine our own lives and deal with our own sins, and the sins of the brethren (I Corinthians 5:9-13; I Peter 4:17).
Those who are spiritual are to go to the brother or sister in sin. Those who are spiritual are first of all those whom the Lord has saved, and they are enjoying the influences, graces, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are those who are constantly dealing with the sin that dwells in themselves, which qualifies them to deal with the sins of others. Turn to Ephesians 5:1-20. The rest of Ephesians chapter 5 and half of chapter 6 are evidences if we are filled with the Spirit or not. Again, this is a constant battle because we are covered with this sin loving flesh. "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men," Acts 24:16. "Exercise" in this verse means to train, strive. We cannot help others with their sins if we are not fighting with our own sins. How much effort do we put into waring with our own sins?
As we have learned the last few weeks, we go to the person in sin because we love them. We go with the sole purpose to restore them. "Restore" in this verse is spoken figuratively of a person in error, to restore, set right. To refit, repair, mend that which is broken. Our hearts hurt for them, and we want them right with the Lord. This is another reason we go in the spirit of meekness. "Spirit" in this verse means the rational spirit, mind, element of life. As referring to the disposition, feeling, temper of mind; e.g., the spirit of gentleness. "Meekness" means gentleness. Knowing what kind of people we are, and knowing we are capable of falling just like our fellow Christian, should compel us to be gentle with others. It is also important that people who are truly spiritual go, not those who think they are spiritual, but are not. We don't want those who are in the flesh confronting those who are in the flesh because that produces fights and feuds. This can spread through a church.
Those who are spiritual truly examine themselves in light of the Scriptures. "Considering" in this verse means to look, to watch, to look at or upon, to behold, to regard. This is the Greek word "skopeo". We look at ourselves through the scope of Scripture. We intently and up-close look at ourselves, again, in the light of Scripture. We do this lest we also be tempted. This means to try one's virtue, tempt, solicit to sin. We can fall into their sin, but we can also become sinful in how we are dealing with them.
It is so important that we constantly examine ourselves according to the Scriptures. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting," Psalm 139:23-24. Lord help us to love others, as You have loved us. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
