For the next three weeks in this “Challenging Concepts” we’re going to look at what the Psalmist says about God in Psalm 36:7-10 “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.”
If I were to say to you, “God is” you might say to me is that a question or is it a statement. If it’s a question then we probably would have a lot of discussion. I don’t have a question as to Who God is. I was taught from a young child about who God is and what He has done for us. But I understand that some have not had the opportunities that I have and they might have a lot of questions. I invite people to ask my about God. In fact, my life’s verse is found in I Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
But on the other hand, what if “God is” is a statement of fact. We read in Deuteronomy 4:35 "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him."
From this perspective, we have to look at this as a statement of fact. God is! The voice of the Psalmist declares "God Is" as a matter of fact. It is trust with no hedging. God Is!
This week we’re going to look at verse 7 “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.” The Psalmist is stating emphatically that GOD IS OUR SAFETY.
I’ve heard people say that there is safety in numbers. I remember a time sometime between 1947-48 while my parents were attending Tennessee Temple Bible School, the forerunner of Tennessee Temple University. At that time we lived in a “trailer camp” owned by the school. It was made up of old WWII trailers with a central community bathhouse. It was low ground and during rainy season, that ran from January through December, there was a lot of mud. There was a lot of talk among the children about a gang of outlaws referred to as “Black Riders.” They were supposed to be in the area. One night we were told that the “Black Riders” were indeed in the vicinity of the camp. All of us kids were curious, but also afraid. My dad said that he would go with us to see if we could get a glimpse of the famed bandits. Unknown to us, my uncle Dempsy and some other men had donned themselves in black attire and were waiting around the corner of the bathhouse. As we got close they jumped out of the darkness and scared us too death. You have never seen a bunch of kids run so fast in all your life. This little fat kid (me) ran through the mud, lost my shoes and never looked back. I think my dad, who was supposed to be our safety, out ran every one of us. There was no safety that night in a man. We had the “Black Riders” out numbered, but there was no safety in numbers.
There is, though, safety in God. We read in Psalms 4:8 "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep.: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety."
Oswald Chambers: "It is not our trust that keeps us, but the God in whom we trust who keeps us."
Psalms 91:1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." You have to be close to God to be in His shadow and share in His sheltering presence. God calls to each of us today to draw near to Him.
Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
People put their trust in many, many things – money, business, bank account, possession, people, etc. In the economy of today, none of those things are secure.
The Government is working quickly to socialize our country and put most of the populous dependent upon it. I’m here to remind you of Russia, and the collapse of that socialist government. We also see many of the socialist governments of Europe on the brink of collapse. There is no safety in government.
There is only one place where we have absolute safety and that is in God. Notice verse 7 again “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, when I was music director at Calvary Baptist in Lakeland, Florida and Tri-City Baptist in Kansas City, my choir would sing a song entitled “Underneath The Shadow Of His Wings.” Every time Bro. Lester Roloff would come to our church he wanted to hear the choir sing that song. He was going through a lot of deep waters and he knew first hand that the only place of safety was in God.
In the times in which we are living, we as believers have that safety. We need to rejoice and take comfort in that undisputable fact. THERE IS SAFETY IN MY GOD.
That’s my view; how about you?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
BEARING FALSE WITNESS
Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
On this past week there has been much news about the states of New Mexico and Pennsylvania using federal money to fund abortions. President Obama said that anyone who makes the claims there would be money from federal dollars going for abortions was “bearing false witness.” (I wonder why all of a sudden he uses biblical terminology? Could it be that he’s speaking directly to us Christians who oppose his pro-abortionist administration?)
When the CNA (Catholic News Agency) heard of the accusation, they contacted the “Pennsylvania Insurance Department to verify the charges, with the department ultimately evading the allegations.”
The CNA reports that “The federal fund is being accused of covering abortions if they are deemed necessary by a physician.” And even though there are some other guidelines, do you want to trust a doctor to make the determination. (Don’t forget Michael Jackson’s physician and his judgment.)
The CNA goes on to say “Although the language of the Pennsylvania insurance plan states that the funding does not cover ‘elective abortions,’ NRLC (National Right to Life Committee) argued that nowhere in the document is the term ‘elective’ defined.”
I guess they want us to allow the abortionist (some would probably want me to use the word “murderers”) to define those words as they see fit.
I’m not going into more about this issue because you can “google” it yourself. The issue I want to deal with here is the words used by President Obama, “bearing false witness.”
So, what is “bearing false witness?” Adam Clark’s Commentary: “. . . whatever is deposed as a truth, which is false in fact.” John Wesley says that it is “. . . speaking falsely in any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive.” In other words it is what politicians do many, many times. This happens on both sides of the aisle – Democrats and Republican.
When I say both sides of the aisle, I’m not trying to take the heat off of our President, because I believe he’s one of the best liars yet. He can look you straight in the eye, or tv cameras and “bear false witness” and seem to have no remorse whatsoever. He even has his lies programmed into his teleprompter. In his own words, “Let me make this clear,” I have come to the place where I don’t believe any politician. This really makes it hard to know how to vote.
This does not just happen in the political realm. It happens in all of our society. How do you know who to believe? I was even told by an employee of a Christian organization that he was told by his boss that if someone asked about the progress of a certain issue to say that you’re working on it even if you’re not. He said that would satisfy them and give you some more time. (I told him I couldn’t work for that kind of person one more day.)
Where have we stooped in our morals and character here in our country? Where is our integrity? Whose word can we trust?
The Word of God has so much to say about truthfulness and lying. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13:6 “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” He also wrote in Epesians 4:25 “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
What we need today is honesty, truthfulness and integrity. We need more individuals like Job of the Old Testament. God’s description of Job is found in Job 2:3 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, . . .”
There are many people with talent and abilities, but we need people of integrity and character. Talent can be inherited but character is developed. Paul challenged in Philippians 2:15 “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” We need Christians who stand out in our world because of their character and integrity.
The wise man Solomon wrote in Proverbs 19:1 “Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.” Again, we read in Proverbs 20:7 “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.”
We know the story of Daniel and his friends who were taken captive and trained to be leaders even in a foreign land. It was not the training of the godless nation that stood out in these men’s lives, but the character of these young men. We read of Daniel’s character in 6:4 “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault forasmuch as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him.”
This is the character and integrity we need today in our lives, homes, government and churches. We need leaders who stand on the principles of the Word of God. Notice the testimony of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 7:1-2 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.”
Can our word be trusted? Are we truthful? We need this in our President, Pastor and in ourselves.
That’s my view; how about you?
On this past week there has been much news about the states of New Mexico and Pennsylvania using federal money to fund abortions. President Obama said that anyone who makes the claims there would be money from federal dollars going for abortions was “bearing false witness.” (I wonder why all of a sudden he uses biblical terminology? Could it be that he’s speaking directly to us Christians who oppose his pro-abortionist administration?)
When the CNA (Catholic News Agency) heard of the accusation, they contacted the “Pennsylvania Insurance Department to verify the charges, with the department ultimately evading the allegations.”
The CNA reports that “The federal fund is being accused of covering abortions if they are deemed necessary by a physician.” And even though there are some other guidelines, do you want to trust a doctor to make the determination. (Don’t forget Michael Jackson’s physician and his judgment.)
The CNA goes on to say “Although the language of the Pennsylvania insurance plan states that the funding does not cover ‘elective abortions,’ NRLC (National Right to Life Committee) argued that nowhere in the document is the term ‘elective’ defined.”
I guess they want us to allow the abortionist (some would probably want me to use the word “murderers”) to define those words as they see fit.
I’m not going into more about this issue because you can “google” it yourself. The issue I want to deal with here is the words used by President Obama, “bearing false witness.”
So, what is “bearing false witness?” Adam Clark’s Commentary: “. . . whatever is deposed as a truth, which is false in fact.” John Wesley says that it is “. . . speaking falsely in any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive.” In other words it is what politicians do many, many times. This happens on both sides of the aisle – Democrats and Republican.
When I say both sides of the aisle, I’m not trying to take the heat off of our President, because I believe he’s one of the best liars yet. He can look you straight in the eye, or tv cameras and “bear false witness” and seem to have no remorse whatsoever. He even has his lies programmed into his teleprompter. In his own words, “Let me make this clear,” I have come to the place where I don’t believe any politician. This really makes it hard to know how to vote.
This does not just happen in the political realm. It happens in all of our society. How do you know who to believe? I was even told by an employee of a Christian organization that he was told by his boss that if someone asked about the progress of a certain issue to say that you’re working on it even if you’re not. He said that would satisfy them and give you some more time. (I told him I couldn’t work for that kind of person one more day.)
Where have we stooped in our morals and character here in our country? Where is our integrity? Whose word can we trust?
The Word of God has so much to say about truthfulness and lying. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13:6 “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” He also wrote in Epesians 4:25 “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
What we need today is honesty, truthfulness and integrity. We need more individuals like Job of the Old Testament. God’s description of Job is found in Job 2:3 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, . . .”
There are many people with talent and abilities, but we need people of integrity and character. Talent can be inherited but character is developed. Paul challenged in Philippians 2:15 “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” We need Christians who stand out in our world because of their character and integrity.
The wise man Solomon wrote in Proverbs 19:1 “Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.” Again, we read in Proverbs 20:7 “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.”
We know the story of Daniel and his friends who were taken captive and trained to be leaders even in a foreign land. It was not the training of the godless nation that stood out in these men’s lives, but the character of these young men. We read of Daniel’s character in 6:4 “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault forasmuch as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him.”
This is the character and integrity we need today in our lives, homes, government and churches. We need leaders who stand on the principles of the Word of God. Notice the testimony of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 7:1-2 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.”
Can our word be trusted? Are we truthful? We need this in our President, Pastor and in ourselves.
That’s my view; how about you?
Monday, July 12, 2010
WHAT ABOUT A CHANGE??
Psalm 121:1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”
In his book Day By Day Charles Swindoll tells about a sign along an Alaskan highway that has an unusual, attention-getting message which reads, “Choose Your Rut Carefully . . . You’ll Be In It For The Next 150 Miles.”
So what is a rut? Being in a rut is a type of boring habitual behavior. (As when the wheels of a buggy travel in the ruts worn into the ground by other buggies making it easiest to go exactly the way all the other buggies have gone before.)
Can we get into a rut? On the website My Success Company by Dave Anderson, he gives some thoughts about being in a rut:
1. You might be in a rut if you can't remember the last time you tried something for the first time.
2. You might be in a rut if you compare yourself to others more than to your former self.
3. You might be in a rut if you've become comfortable living a life filled with goals mostly unrealized.
4. You might be in a rut if find yourself playing the victim.
5. You might be in a rut if you haven't made a big mistake lately.
Have you ever felt your life was in a rut? I think there are many people who feel that way. They get up in the morning, which they don’t necessarily like and go a job they don’t necessarily like, work all day with people they don’t necessarily like, come home to family they sometimes don’t necessarily like, and even on the weekend go to church with people they don’t necessarily like. Their life is in a rut.
Even though we might not be in a rut to that degree, if we were really honest about it, we are or have been in a rut to one degree or another. The sad thing is that many who are in a rut don’t know what to do about it. They might even go on in that rut week after week, month after month, and even year after year. So what should a person do? How can a person get out of a rut?
The first thing a person has to do is recognize that a rut exists. When a person looks at their life, everything might look fairly good. In most cases, their life may revolve around “religious” activities. They go to church, have Christian friends, and may even be involved in some kind of ministry to others. But the rut of religious activity can even bring a numbness to a person’s soul to the place where they need something special from the Lord.
Can you relate to that? If so, you like many others need some help. And from where or who does that help come? Verse 2 of Psalm 121 reads, “My help cometh from the LORD. . .”
In the Treasury Of David comment on this verse we read: “Jehovah who created all things is equal to every emergency. . .” Aren’t you glad of that? There is nothing that can come into your life for which God is not capable of helping. He is the source of our help.
We read in Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say The Lord is my helper, . . .” He is the source of our help and notice the strength of that help in verses 5-6 of Psalm 121 “The LORD is thy keeper the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” “Thy keeper” reveals that God protects against our enemy and the rest of verses 5-6 shows that He protects against the elements. The source of our help is surely great enough to get us out of the rut. We just have to have a personal, daily walk with Him.
And how do we have a personal, daily walk with the Lord? It’s through His Word. When a believer is in a spiritual rut, God has become distant to him. As I often say, it’s easy for us to get to the place where our Christianity is chiefly practice on Sunday when we attend “Baptist Mass.” Christianity is more than a “Sunday Ritual.” It’s a daily walk with the Lord through the pages of His Word.
The Word of God must become “sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Ps 119:103) It must furnish “light. . . lamp” in times of darkness (Ps 119:105). The Bible must become a weapon we depend upon in our warfare with Satan and the flesh (Eph 6:17).
To sum up the importance of God’s Word in our relationship to God, the Apostle Paul wrote in II Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
If a believer is having a personal, daily walk with the Lord through His Word, I believe the rut will be avoided. The child of God will not be going through life routinely. He will be growing and will be experiencing new heights of victory in his life.
To make room for your time with the Lord, you may have to change some of your activities. I’ve heard someone say, “If you’re too busy for God, you’re too busy.” Plan your life around priorities.
Charles Swindoll: “Filter out the essentials from the incidentals and reestablish your walk with Christ.”
That’s the way to avoid getting into a rut. It’s also how to get out of that rut.
That’s my view; how about you?
Monday, July 5, 2010
BURDEN BEARING
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. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
The Salvation Army was once one of the great fundamental group who had a concern for not just the social problems of men and women, but a concern for their souls. As General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, lay on his death bed and was not able to attend the International Convention, he cabled the delegation and left a one word message, “Others.”
The Apostle Paul used the word “others” many time; "pray one for another" (James 5:16), "edify one another" (I Thes. 5:11), “prefer one another: (Rom. 12:10), "use hospitality one to another" (I Peter 4:9), and many other like admonitions.
In our verses this week, Paul adds another phrase: "Bear ye one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2). If you and I are Spirit-led believers, we would think of others and how we could minister to them. Let’s notice what has to say about being a burden bearer.
We are also going to point out the contrast between two groups of people: Spiritual Man and the Legalist.
The legalist is not concerned with bearing burdens. The interest and desire of a legalist is to add to people=s burden.
This is one of the sins of the Pharisees. Luke 11:46 “And he said Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.”
The legalist is always harder on other people than he is on himself, but the believer who is led by the Spirit demands more out of himself than he does others.
To make his point Paul uses the illustration of a fellow believer who is suddenly tripped up and fell into sin. The word “overtaken” means he is surprised. Paul is not talking a deliberate disobedience. He’s talking about falling into sin. Why use this as an illustration? If you want to reveal the wickedness of legalism, a believer falling into sin will do it. Instead of weeping over the sinning brother, they stand on their podium of self-righteousness and condemn him with the utmost of zeal.
John 8 gives us a good example of this. The Pharisees come dragging a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the very act of adultery. Their compassion for this woman did not move them to the place of forgiveness, they wanted to humiliate this woman openly and also try to trap Jesus into conflict with the Law of Moses.
Legalists are not concerned with facts and proof, they only need suspicions and rumors. Their imagination will do the rest. So, in this passage of Scripture, Paul is really making a contrast of the way the legalist would handle the erring brother and the way the spiritual man would handle it.
1. There Is A Difference In Aim
Spiritual Man = Restore; Legalist Man = Exploit – The word “restore” of Galatians 6 means to mend a net or to restore a broken bone. There’s lot of pain in a broken bone. It’s painful to set, but the aim or purpose of setting that broken bone is to restore.
The sinning brother is like a broken bone in the body of Christ and he needs to be restored. The believer who is led by the Spirit of God will seek to help the erring brother through love. The fruit of the Spirit is “Love” – Galatians 5:22 “By love serve one another.”
The Legalist will criticize the sinning brother and also the spiritual man who tries to restore the erring brother. They did Jesus. When He sought to be a physician to the sinful crowd, He was severely criticized. But notice his answer to them in Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Instead of trying to restore the erring brother, the legalist will condemn him and then use the brother to make himself look good. Remember the story of the Pharisee and Publican? The Pharisee said “I’m not like this Publican.” Instead of restoring, he rebukes. Instead of ministering, he mocks. Instead of praying for the man, he prides himself.
The legalist will not only rejoice when a brother falls, but will many times make sure everybody knows about that fall. Why? Because he can then brag about his own goodness and how much better his group is than the group to which the fallen brother belongs.
Notice Galatians 5:26 “Let us (who are walking in the Sprit) not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” Those who walk in the Spirit are not in competition with other believers. They are not trying to see who is the best because they know that any of them can fall at any time.
The legalist lives by competition and comparison. They try to make themselves look good by making others look bad.
2. There Is A Difference In Attitude
The man who is walking in the Spirit and led by the Spirit has an attitude of meekness and love. On the other hand, the legalist has an attitude of pride and condemnation.
Notice again our text verse for this study “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.”
Notice the phrase “consider himself.” The legalist doesn’t need to do this because he would never stoop to the level of committing such a sin as this erring brother.
On the other hand, the believer who is walking in the Spirit understands that he’s nothing more than a sinner saved by the Grace of God and were it not for that Grace could be in the same boat as the fallen brother.
We read in I Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
The Spirit-led man has an attitude of humility because he realizes his own weakness and fleshly tendencies. He understands that he could fail just like anybody else.
Notice verse 2 of our text “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” So, what is the Law of Christ? It’s found in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Is this the first time that the Bible has told us to love people? No! In fact, the Bible is full of this exhortation butI’ll not go into that here. So, what does this mean? Why does Paul say that this is a new law? Paul is talking about the degree of love. We’re to love as Christ did. In chapter 15 Paul had dealt with the “law of love” and now he applies it to an erring brother. The child of God is urged to deal with the sinning brother in love.
If a doctor is setting a broken bone in your body, don’t you want him to use tender loving care? Sure you do. And that’s the care you should use in dealing with an brother or sister who has fallen into sin.
The legalist doesn’t think or act in that manner. He’s either unsaved or walking in the flesh so cannot act as Christ did.
It’s not hard to find someone with which to compare yourself. I could say I know someone who is fatter than me. That’s true but that doesn’t mean that I’m not fat. I could say I know someone who is less healthier than me. That may be true, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a specimen of good health.
The challenge by Paul is to be a burden bearer as the Scriiptures tell us. Are we burden bearers? If we are, thank God He has allowed us to be such, but if we are not a burden bearer, repent and follow the Word of God.
That’s my view: how about you?
The Salvation Army was once one of the great fundamental group who had a concern for not just the social problems of men and women, but a concern for their souls. As General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, lay on his death bed and was not able to attend the International Convention, he cabled the delegation and left a one word message, “Others.”
The Apostle Paul used the word “others” many time; "pray one for another" (James 5:16), "edify one another" (I Thes. 5:11), “prefer one another: (Rom. 12:10), "use hospitality one to another" (I Peter 4:9), and many other like admonitions.
In our verses this week, Paul adds another phrase: "Bear ye one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2). If you and I are Spirit-led believers, we would think of others and how we could minister to them. Let’s notice what has to say about being a burden bearer.
We are also going to point out the contrast between two groups of people: Spiritual Man and the Legalist.
The legalist is not concerned with bearing burdens. The interest and desire of a legalist is to add to people=s burden.
This is one of the sins of the Pharisees. Luke 11:46 “And he said Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.”
The legalist is always harder on other people than he is on himself, but the believer who is led by the Spirit demands more out of himself than he does others.
To make his point Paul uses the illustration of a fellow believer who is suddenly tripped up and fell into sin. The word “overtaken” means he is surprised. Paul is not talking a deliberate disobedience. He’s talking about falling into sin. Why use this as an illustration? If you want to reveal the wickedness of legalism, a believer falling into sin will do it. Instead of weeping over the sinning brother, they stand on their podium of self-righteousness and condemn him with the utmost of zeal.
John 8 gives us a good example of this. The Pharisees come dragging a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the very act of adultery. Their compassion for this woman did not move them to the place of forgiveness, they wanted to humiliate this woman openly and also try to trap Jesus into conflict with the Law of Moses.
Legalists are not concerned with facts and proof, they only need suspicions and rumors. Their imagination will do the rest. So, in this passage of Scripture, Paul is really making a contrast of the way the legalist would handle the erring brother and the way the spiritual man would handle it.
1. There Is A Difference In Aim
Spiritual Man = Restore; Legalist Man = Exploit – The word “restore” of Galatians 6 means to mend a net or to restore a broken bone. There’s lot of pain in a broken bone. It’s painful to set, but the aim or purpose of setting that broken bone is to restore.
The sinning brother is like a broken bone in the body of Christ and he needs to be restored. The believer who is led by the Spirit of God will seek to help the erring brother through love. The fruit of the Spirit is “Love” – Galatians 5:22 “By love serve one another.”
The Legalist will criticize the sinning brother and also the spiritual man who tries to restore the erring brother. They did Jesus. When He sought to be a physician to the sinful crowd, He was severely criticized. But notice his answer to them in Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Instead of trying to restore the erring brother, the legalist will condemn him and then use the brother to make himself look good. Remember the story of the Pharisee and Publican? The Pharisee said “I’m not like this Publican.” Instead of restoring, he rebukes. Instead of ministering, he mocks. Instead of praying for the man, he prides himself.
The legalist will not only rejoice when a brother falls, but will many times make sure everybody knows about that fall. Why? Because he can then brag about his own goodness and how much better his group is than the group to which the fallen brother belongs.
Notice Galatians 5:26 “Let us (who are walking in the Sprit) not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” Those who walk in the Spirit are not in competition with other believers. They are not trying to see who is the best because they know that any of them can fall at any time.
The legalist lives by competition and comparison. They try to make themselves look good by making others look bad.
2. There Is A Difference In Attitude
The man who is walking in the Spirit and led by the Spirit has an attitude of meekness and love. On the other hand, the legalist has an attitude of pride and condemnation.
Notice again our text verse for this study “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.”
Notice the phrase “consider himself.” The legalist doesn’t need to do this because he would never stoop to the level of committing such a sin as this erring brother.
On the other hand, the believer who is walking in the Spirit understands that he’s nothing more than a sinner saved by the Grace of God and were it not for that Grace could be in the same boat as the fallen brother.
We read in I Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
The Spirit-led man has an attitude of humility because he realizes his own weakness and fleshly tendencies. He understands that he could fail just like anybody else.
Notice verse 2 of our text “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” So, what is the Law of Christ? It’s found in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Is this the first time that the Bible has told us to love people? No! In fact, the Bible is full of this exhortation butI’ll not go into that here. So, what does this mean? Why does Paul say that this is a new law? Paul is talking about the degree of love. We’re to love as Christ did. In chapter 15 Paul had dealt with the “law of love” and now he applies it to an erring brother. The child of God is urged to deal with the sinning brother in love.
If a doctor is setting a broken bone in your body, don’t you want him to use tender loving care? Sure you do. And that’s the care you should use in dealing with an brother or sister who has fallen into sin.
The legalist doesn’t think or act in that manner. He’s either unsaved or walking in the flesh so cannot act as Christ did.
It’s not hard to find someone with which to compare yourself. I could say I know someone who is fatter than me. That’s true but that doesn’t mean that I’m not fat. I could say I know someone who is less healthier than me. That may be true, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a specimen of good health.
The challenge by Paul is to be a burden bearer as the Scriiptures tell us. Are we burden bearers? If we are, thank God He has allowed us to be such, but if we are not a burden bearer, repent and follow the Word of God.
That’s my view: how about you?
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