Series on Galatians
III The Apostolic Applications
F The Yield of Righteousness
Text: 6:7-10
Introduction
There is no doubt that multitudes are deceived by false religions, false philosophies, and false ideas of their own goodness. The deception here is connected to the Judaizers in the Galatian churches who were committed to establishing their own righteousness by keeping the Old Testament laws and ordinances. The laws that they kept were not the ten commandments, but circumcision, dietary laws, festivals and feasts, and rabbinical additions to the law of God. Yet they deemed themselves righteous through this effort and condemned those who did not do as they said. We know they were deceived because Jesus said that He was the only way. His atoning death on the cross is the only indispensable thing for our salvation. The problem was not that the Judaizers believed in works. The problem was that they believed n the wrong kind of works. Their idea of works was keeping the Jewish ordinances in order to be saved instead of works that flowed out of a love for God and gratitude for His saving grace. Doing good is good when we are doing it out of gratitude and not to earn our salvation. So Paul points out that their evil teaching was actually preventing people from doing the kind of good God approves, sowing in righteousness. We already know that the Apostle is deeply concerned for the Galatian believers. Here in this passage he brings us face to face with the awful consequences of the false teachings of the Judaizers. This is no mere theological dispute. This is a life and death situation. As Dale Davis comments, “The difference between grace and works is the difference between worship and idolatry.” Calvin wrote, “Only one haven of salvation is left for our souls, and that is the mercy of God in Christ. We are saved by grace — not by our merits, not by our works.” “But for Grace, my soul had perished, Withered as the desert sand; Gone to shadows, and tormented, But for Grace’s perfect plan!” So Paul warns us, don’t be fooled, don’t be fearful, and don’t be fatigued.
I Don’t be Fooled
The initial warning is in verse 7, Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The Greek word translated “deceived” is used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament in use in the first century, for transgression of the revealed will of God and more specifically for instigation to idolatry. There is responsibility to God for this transgression, bringing down punishment. Thus Paul would find the activity of the Judaizers tantamount to inciting idolatry. As idols mock the true and living God, so do these false teachers. The word for mocking is used by Jesus when he describes a man who set out to build a tower and did not count the cost, so he could not finish it. The reaction of the viewers was to laugh him to scorn. What a terrible thing to do to God, yet that was the end product of the false teaching. Yet all the time they were “scoffing” at God they were essentially doing nothing because in reality God cannot be mocked. God is in charge. It has been said that we do not so much break God’s law as much as we break ourselves on God’s law. The principle stands. Believer or unbeliever, we reap what we sow. Sin always runs its course. Now the principle that Paul sets forth is invariable, but it might not be what the Judaizers expected. After all they were the ones saying that we need to keep the ordinances in order to be saved and Paul was saying that we do not. They would have said that Paul and those who follow him were not sowing good seed. However, because the Jewish ordinances have nothing to do with our salvation which is through faith, they were the ones who were not sowing good seed. Their works were prideful and selfish because they did not proceed from gratitude and love of God. The good seed could only be sowed by those doing the will of God, and we read in John 6:29, Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” To believe in anything else is to be deceived.
II Don’t be Fearful
In verse 8 we learn that if we sow in grace we have no need to fear, The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. When it comes to ultimate destiny the outcome is guaranteed. From God’s standpoint our election, our being chosen and called and justified assures our glorification. From our standpoint we can live in hope because as believers we know that God is just, and persistence in doing His will, shall be rewarded. Paul uses an agricultural principle of reaping what is sown. The old proverb is true: “Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” Our destiny is determined by our decision: shall we sow to the sinful nature or to the Spirit? The two results are “corruption” and “life everlasting” and have a double sense: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitatively both last on and on and on. The results are eternal and they seal our destiny forever. This does not mean that our ultimate destiny rests on our works, but rather, that our ultimate destiny by grace determines what kind of works we do. Thus it answers to the Scripture, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Qualitatively, those who have sown to the flesh will awaken unto shame and everlasting contempt. By contrast, the future of those who have sown in the Spirit is to shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever, and to be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory, to be like Christ, and see Him even as He is. And not only is our destiny fixed, but life is qualitatively different now. For those pleasing the sinful nature there are are destroyed relationships with others, and there is biting, devouring, provoking and envy. For those sowing to please the Spirit there is serving one another in love, restoring others, carrying the burdens of others, and giving generously. Which lifestyle is likely to engender happiness? Which lifestyle will bless and which will curse. So there is a harvest now as well as later.
III Don’t be Fatigued
Given the Scriptural principle that Paul has elucidated an exhortation is appropriate so that we may ultimately reap a good harvest and therefore Paul writes in verses 9 and 10, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Let us clarify at the outset that when the Apostle exhorts us to do good, he does not say that we should be good only to Christian brothers. There are some people who wish to confine their diaconal work, their charity, only to believers. This is not the message of the Old or New Testaments or of Jesus Himself. We do need to be especially careful to minister to fellow believers in the Church but we are not to limit our kindness to them. Now, in line with the Greek view of men and things the word for good here is also the word for beautiful. It suggests a a life of order with everything in the right place including our service to others. As Paul has already told us to bear one an other’s burdens. here he tells us to keep on doing it and don’t tire or give up. Since the root of the word translated “become weary” is actually a word used for evil, I suggest that the force of the words don’t become weary is, do not quit, and do not morally fail in your duty to keep doing good. In the end you will be blessed, you will be rewarded both now and in the future, but in God’s time. The “proper” time (at the proper time we will reap a harvest) is a word which is used elsewhere to designate the “fullness of time” as when Christ came into the world in the fullness of time. We might translate it “on schedule” as long as we realize that it is God’s schedule and doing good does not necessarily yield immediate rewards. In fact it may at times bring present hardship, but ultimately it brings blessing. The same Greek word is used for opportunity in verse 10 (as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people). It means at the appropriate time, or on schedule. I would suggest to you that doing good and showing mercy and helping out are things that we often neglect and then regret. Others move, or leave or die and many times their family or friends have regrets that they did not do something they ought to have done when the person was available. This passage says, do not let that happen. Do not give up and use the opportunities when the time is ripe. As John Greenleaf Whittier wrote in the nineteenth century, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been’.”
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