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?