Galatians 6 - St Paul and the Three Bears

Wow. That is immensely cheesy. It was even kind of embarrassing to type. But I can't lie. That's how I remember Paul's train of thought in Galatians 6.

Paul says that if there is a brother in Christ caught in a deliberate sin, those who are living according to the Spirit should restore him [6.1].

BEAR one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ [6.2].

But there is also a warning attached to this restoration process. If those doing the restoring aren't careful, they might slip in temptation [6.2]. Paul says that if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself [6.3]. He says that everyone must test their own work [6.4] because

Each must BEAR his own load [6.5].

Then Paul humbly says that he will not even boast, except in Jesus [6.14]. Bad boasting and deception and pride are not part of the new creation that we are now apart of [6.13-16]. The false teachers in Galatia have caused him trouble. He could be boasting because he is preaching the true gospel [1.6-10]. Instead, he accepts the persecution of the gospel to attest to its glorious veracity.

I BEAR on my body the marks of Jesus [6.17].

These Three Bears are all the same in Greek [βαστάζω]. In this, he leaves the Galatians with something tangible. It was in bearing that they boasted in Jesus [6.14] and experienced peace and mercy [6.16]. May it be the same for us.

Galatians 5 - Am I as spiritual as the Galatians were told to be?

Paul is really ticked off in his letter to his friends in Galatia. They are starting to give in to another gospel that's really not the gospel [1.6-10]. After personal testimony, calling out the false teachers, and some poignant questions, Paul goes on to describe what faithful Christian living looks like.

Paul lists characteristics of what this life is like. For example, it is about freedom [5.1, 5.13]. It is about hope [5.5]. It is about faith working through love [5.6]. It is about serving one another [5.13-15]. It is NOT about a huge list of things in 5.19-21.

But what makes all of the above things make sense?

The source of all of these things for Paul is living by the Spirit. The way that the real gospel is really lived out is by the individual believer and the corporate community of faith living according to the Spirit's lead.

Paul even uses four different and powerful Greek verbs to depict how the Spirit should be our Guide and we should be His dependents.

In 5.16, Paul says we must WALK by/in/with the Spirit. This verb is περιπατέω.

In 5.18, Paul says that we must be LED by the Spirit. This verb is ἄγω.

In 5.25, Paul says that we LIVE by the Spirit. This verb is ζάω.

In 5.25, Paul says that we must KEEP IN STEP with the Spirit. This verb is στοιχέω.

Paul desires his friends in Galatia to have such a relationship with the Spirit of God that the Spirit's power and presence are lucid to all. He hints at this further in 3.2-5 and in 5.22-23.

So, is my life being lived by/in/with the Spirit in such a manner that it can be described as such? Am I merely giving the Holy Spirit a theoretical and theological head nod? How is this kind of living done? Does anyone live this way? Can I get their number?

this might not make any sense. it just came out of the keyboard. it's not my fault.

In a sense, works justify justification. They are also inseperably linked to it, follow it, and flow forth from it.

Also, since when did good works get a bad rap?

Probably since we deduced from the Protestant Reformation that Judaism and Catholicism are both merely morality-based expressions and attempts at a relationship with the God of the Bible.

Or, probably since we have set the post-Enlightenment human psyche as the goal and end of all thinking. When this happens, human motives behind works take a seat on the throne.

But all of this - works, motives, justification, sanctification, salvation, etc - all of this takes its proper order and place when our focus is correct. Our focus is God Himself [2 Cor 3.17-18]. This means we must "hear with faith" [Gal 3] and walk by the Spirit [Gal 5, Rom 5-8] as we have our eyes perpetually fixed on what God has done in Jesus.

the Johannine word of the day

Well boys and girls, the word of the day is PARAKLETOS.

This word is only used 5x in the NT and each time it is used by John [Jn 14.16, 14.26, 15.26, 16.7, and 1 Jn 2.1]. In John's gospel, it always refers to the Holy Spirit. In 1 John, it refers to Jesus. Some translate it "Helper" [NASB and ESV], "Counselor" [NIV], "Advocate" [NLT and NEB], and/or "Comforter" [KJV]. If there was one word that could encapsulate all of these translations, that would be the best one to use. This is why you might hear the Holy Spirit referred to as the Paraclete.

Greek generally uses two words that mean "another" ["allos" and "heteros"]. "Allos" means another of the same kind; "heteros" means another of a different kind. This is where we get the word "heterosexual" from. For example, in Gal 1.6-7 Paul is perplexed that the Galatians are leaving the gospel for a "heteros" gospel. He says that because it is a "heteros" gospel, it is really no gospel at all.

So, knowing that Jesus is our PARAKLETOS in 1 Jn 2.1, Jn 14.16 says that the Holy Spirit is an "allos" PARAKLETOS. This means that it is not merely a job description of the Holy Spirit to comfort and help us, but it is part of the character of the whole Godhead to be with and beside His own.

romans 8, SONSHiP, and [imago Dei]

If we were created in God’s image and somehow fallen man still maintains some of that image [see Js 3.9], then what part of the image of God was lost by our fleshly father Adam in the Garden? He wasn’t conceived by normal, fallen, human means and neither was Jesus. So, I think that what was lost in the Garden has something to do with humanity’s sonship to God.

In whatever way we fell in Adam, one thing is sure, Jesus is complete in that way. This is the backdrop to what Paul says in Rom 5.12-21. Perhaps this must also be in view to rightly understand Rom 8.29. Here, Paul says that all those whom God predestined, He did so for them to be conformed to the image of Jesus. He says this because it exalts Jesus’ Sonship and makes those who were not God’s sons into His sons by adoption [Rom 8.15, 23]!

So, I think Paul supports the fact that in the fall, man’s sonship with God was lost. James appears to be on board with this. He says that with the tongue “we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God” [Js 3.9]. See the implication. Additionally, in losing sonship, somehow we also lost moral uprightness. I’ve yet to ponder how the two are connected. “When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” [Gal 4.4-5].

no other gospel

Please go listen to the gospel. This is Charlie Boyd from Southside Fellowship on Galatians 1.6-12. Brothers and sisters, grace is free and unmerited.