Humility and Restoration; Gal. 6:1-2
In
Galatians
Paul is not saying not to get
involved in other people’s lives and not to try and correct somebody or
encourage somebody, he is saying not to do it from a conceited, arrogant frame
of reference based on legalism where the way in which we do it is immediately
like slapping somebody in the face and challenging them so that the first thing
that happens in incitement to anger and resentment and to promote an
antagonistic relationship. That is the point. The point is not to tear people
down and tell them where they are failing, the point, Paul will saying in 6:1,
is to restore them. So if we can’t do it in the right attitude, don’t do it at
all.
The second verb that is used
here is the Greek word phthoneo [fqonew]. It means to experience a feeling of ill will due to
real or presumed advantage experienced by someone else. It means to move
someone to jealousy or envy, to bear ill will or malice towards them. So Paul
says, don’t become conceited and thus be challenging one another and provoking
one another to anger, and don’t be coming from a position of malice or envy
where we are adopting a position of superiority towards the other person.
Then Paul gives the positive
mandate. Galatians 6:1 NASB “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in
any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of
gentleness; {each one} looking to yourself, so that you too will not be
tempted.” The word “if” is a third class condition, if and it might or might
not be true or happen. Here it has the idea that this is fairly likely, it is
probably going to happen in your life many times. The word “anyone” [any man]
is the Greek anthropos [a)nqrwpoj] which is not male as man but really just any human
being, the generic terms for any member of the human race. The word for “trespass”
truly means a sin but we have to look at what this verb means. The Greek is prolombano [prolombanw] and there is a lot of discussion in the literature
about the exact meaning of this word simply because it is not used very much in
either secular literature or the Bible. It seems to have a wide range of
meaning. It means to anticipate something on the one hand, to be caught or
discovered in an act, and in other cases it seems to simply suggest that
somebody has been overtaken and surprised. It does not mean to detect or to
discover. So Paul is not talking about going around looking in somebody’s life,
violating their privacy and trying to find out what sins might be going on in
their life. It has the idea of sometimes being overtaken, being surprised, perhaps
being caught off-guard in a sin. It is more the idea of portraying sin as a
trap. James uses that imagery over in James 1, that sin is like bait in a trap
and we have the temptation as the bait in the trap. It is only when we take it
by the exercise of our volition that all of a sudden we are in that snare; we
have been caught by sin. Paul’s approach is that none of us are above any
particular sin. That is why grace and forgiveness are stressed so much is the
Scripture.
“…you who are spiritual…” The
word “spiritual” is the pronoun pneumatikos
[pneumatikoj] and in context here it is talking about those who
are walking by means of the Spirit, what he has just described in vv. 16-25 of
chapter 5. It refers to someone who is filled with the Spirit but also walking
and progressing in the spiritual life. The word “restore”
means to knit together, it is a word that was used of mending fishing nets. So just as you would mend those nets to repair them so that
they were now in a functional order, spiritually the idea is to restore this
person, to get them back together. They have fallen, they have failed, they are
out of fellowship, so don’t jump up and down and tell them what a loser they
are, etc. If their attitude is growth let us figure out how to solve the
problem and move forward under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, and now you
can help. Remind them simply of the problem-solving devices. It may involve
more than that but it really depends upon the level of intimacy in the relationship.
“…restore such a one in a
spirit of gentleness…” Here we have the word “spirit,” pneuma [pneuma], a very important word in
the Scripture and it has a lot of different meanings. It is the same word as
used on the Holy Spirit and it is also used for the human spirit; but it can
refer to wind or breath, also a mental attitude or a
disposition. When it says here to restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness
it is not talking about the Holy Spirit, the human spirit or wind, it is
talking about having a certain mental attitude that should characterise the
process of restoration. It is in contrast to that mental attitude of conceit found
back in
The whole orientation of this
paragraph is not on the importance or even necessity of straightening someone
out, but on the attitude that you have to have when that comes into your life—the
focus of grace orientation and of forgiveness.
There always seem to be those
who are concerned about how other people dress, what they do, where they go,
what kind of activities they are in, and the Scriptures call those people
busybodies. 2 Thessalonians 3:11, 12 NASB “For we hear that some
among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting
like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus
Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” In other words, mind their own business.
We need to realise that
people have a right to privacy and to respect that privacy and maintain it and
not talk about whatever failures there might be; though not necessarily covering
it up. If they want to continue is sin and don’t want to straighten up then it
may have to be dealt with in a different manner. But we are talking about restoration
in a positive situation.
Galatians
6:2 NASB “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” What is the
law of Christ? It is mentioned back in
We cannot assume
responsibility for somebody else’s sins in their life. When Paul says in v. 2 “Bear
one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of
Christ,” he is talking about the fact that we can encourage others. That is the
way we do it. It is a reminder of doctrine within the proper framework, not
necessarily beating them over the head with it, but if it is somebody with whom
we have established trust and have a framework for saying something.