Gospel-shaped Relationships: Am I my brother's keeper? - Galatians 5:25-6:5

Gospel-Shaped Relationships: Am I my brother’s keeper?

Galatians 5:25-6:5

Introduction: The well-known question from the sub-title of today’s message came from the familiar story of the first sons of Adam, Cain and Abel. Cain became jealous when God accepted his brother’s offering but not his own. Cain ignored God’s warning and failed to steel himself against the flesh, and a wrong heart blossomed into violence… Seeking to hide his sin, he asked God in denial, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Relationships. When fallen humans interact with one another, there will be problems. But something happens when God intervenes. Believers, having experienced the grace of God, knowing the love that is demonstrated toward us in the Gospel, can reflect a measure of that love to others. And so, in 5:13,14 of this epistle we read,

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

We can do that because the Gospel is the foundation and the fuel of the Christian life. And so I call this study, “Gospel-shaped Relationships.” In Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians he said,

The truth of the Gospel is also the principle article of all Christian doctrine wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists. Most necessary it is therefore that we should know this Gospel well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually…

If you feel like you are getting a bit of a headache after 4 months or so studying Galatians together, I won’t apologize! As Paul said in Romans 1:16,17…

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."  

We live by faith, believing God, trusting Him, allowing His Word to dwell richly within us. As we do that, we are led by the Spirit of God, walking by the Spirit.

The Maine* Idea: As we walk in the Spirit, we will find joy in the Christian life as we gently help others who are struggling on the way.

I. The Prerequisite to serving others: Walking in the Spirit (5:25,26)! Only in a right relationship with God will be find the perspective and the empowerment we need to have healthy relationships with the people around us.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

       Paul reminds us of the context in v.25. If we live by the Spirit, and we do, that is our reality, our experience of New Life in Christ, then let us also walk by the Spirit… The Spirit is the presence of God in the life of believers, the One by whom we have been regenerated, baptized, and sealed. In the light of that reality, we are to walk in conscious dependence, trusting His empowerment and leading, as we allow the Word of Christ to dwell richly within us.

       What does that look like in our relationships? Paul lays the groundwork for the opening verses of chapter 6 in 5:26… “Let us not become conceited…” The word translated “conceited” occurs only here in the New Testament. Tim Keller calls our attention to the meaning of the word “conceit,” a compound Greek word, literally “vain-glorious,” or “empty of glory,” in this context. He says,

…conceit is a deep insecurity, a perceived absence of honor and glory, leading to a need to prove our worth to ourselves and others. This in turn fixates our mind on comparing ourselves with others. When we seem better than someone else in some trait, our “honor-hunger” puffs us up and makes us feel great. When we seem to be inferior to someone else, we are devastated for the same reason. In addition, “honor-hunger” can make us very competitive. This describes the natural state of our heart without the gospel. If we are conceited, we will be “provoking and envying each other” (v 26)… (Galatians for You, Kindle locations 2082-2087).

       Keller argues that we were created to bring glory to God, and so more than anything, we long to hear His affirmation, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” But if we don’t know Him, or we’re not walking with Him, that longing in our hearts is unrequited, and so we seek to fill it in other ways. Principally, in comparing ourselves to others. So when Paul says “let us not become conceited…” he is urging his readers to be spiritually and emotionally healthy, to see themselves rightly as they really are in the light of the Gospel: a human created in God’s image, but a fallen human, deserving of judgement, desperately needing grace, and now saved by grace! So, when we see a struggling brother or sister, we know the truth: there I go, but for the grace of God! The two actions described in v.26 are ways that we react to others if we lose sight of the Gospel truth…

       First, the phrase “…provoking one another…” speaks to that person who feels himself “superior,” looking down on others, a kind of superiority complex. This is another hapax legomena found only in this verse in the New Testament. The word has the idea of competitiveness, someone who is always challenging others, always needing to win the debate or to be proven right.

       The second phrase, “…envying one another…” has the opposite idea, the person who looks at others and sees their giftedness or their abilities, or their standing in life and thinks, “I could never measure up to that, that’s not fair!” He has a kind of “inferiority complex,” that effectively leads him to despise others, or even to question God’s character who made such a flawed creature as himself!  These seem like such opposite ideas, can they both be examples of vainglory, or conceit? Tim Keller says yes, that…

…though provoking and envying seem like exact opposites, they are both forms of conceit. As C.S. Lewis pointed out, humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is thinking of yourself less. Self-flagellation and low self-esteem are not marks of gospel humility. They are just as much a rejection of the gospel as are pride and self-confidence! So both the superiority complex and the inferiority complex are, at root, born of insecurity and inferiority. They are just two different outworkings of our desire to gain glory for ourselves, to feel worthwhile as people.

When our heart is right, when we are walking in the Spirit and centered on the Gospel, we’ll see ourselves more clearly, with a proper humility, a sinner saved only by the grace of God, but also, because of Christ, loved and honored in the eyes of the only One who really matters! Then we’ll be in a position to serve one another in the love of Christ. That’s the Maine idea in these verses, as we walk in the Spirit, we will find joy in the Christian life as we gently help others who are struggling on the way.

II. The Purpose of confronting sin: Restoration (6:1).

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

       Don’t miss the way Paul addresses his dear Galatians, addressing them once again as “brothers.” This has been a stern, confrontational letter to be sure. But Paul’s heart is exactly the attitude he is urging the Galatians to adopt when confronting a brother who is struggling. Motivated by love, his goal is not condemnation, but rather restoration.

      First of all, notice what Paul is urging the Galatians, and us to do: “If anyone is overtaken in a trespass… restore him…” I don’t think Paul is talking specifically about situations like John 8, and the woman caught in adultery—in the very act. It seems Paul is saying the person has been “overtaken” by some transgression. As I thought about this, the Lord’s warning to Cain came to my mind from Gen 4:6-7,  

⁶ The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?  ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."  

We all know what happened next. Cain met his brother in the field, and killed him. God warned him, using powerful language, picturing sin as a demon crouching at the door, ready to pounce. I think we should take that warning to heart. Most believers who fall into a sinful practice or a sinful relationship are caught up in it, caught off guard. That might be what the Proverb is getting at that says “above all things guard your heart…” (Prov 4:23). So, when we see a person is struggling in some area of life, what do we do? Shun them? Ignore the problem? Talk to someone about him or her? Write an accusatory Facebook post? Remembering God’s grace toward us, we come alongside, and seek to restore them, getting them back in step with the Spirit.

       What we are to do is to seek to restore. But who is to do it? Paul tells us, “…you who are spiritual…” You might think, “Well good, that leaves me out! I never liked confrontation anyway!” Don’t you know that you are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Paul says in Rom 8:9 that “…Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” “Spiritual” is not talking about someone who is a super-saint. It means someone indwelt by the Spirit, and in this context, walking in the Spirit. That is what we all desire to be if we are in Christ, and so it means that we are all responsible for one another. I am my brother’s keeper! Have you noticed how many commands in the Bible use the phrase “one another”? We’re told to love one another, to be kind to one another, to forgive one another, to serve one another, to encourage one another, to show hospitality to one another, to pray for one another, to build each other up… You get the idea? God created the church, and he designed us to be mutually inter-dependent. Who is to seek to restore? We are, if we belong to Christ. If you see a brother or sister overtaken in some trespass, some sin, seek to restore them.

       How it is to be done is indispensable: “…in a spirit of gentleness… watching yourself, lest you too be tempted.…” A few verses back gentleness was listed among the fruit of the Spirit. And this is the kind of situation where we need a special portion of it. We don’t come to someone judgmentally or pridefully. We don’t come like the Pharisee that Jesus spoke of in one of his parables, who prayed, “Lord I thank you that I am not a sinner like that guy!” (at least that is more or less the sense of what he said!). With love in our heart, gently, remembering the grace of God in our own life, understanding that but for God’s grace that could easily be us, we come… And notice the follow-up admonition, “…watching yourself, lest you too be tempted…” Don’t ever think, “That could never happen to me!” We are all vulnerable, and the moment you think it could never happen to you is the moment you are most vulnerable. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall! We need to walk in the Spirit, and as we do, we will find joy in the Christian life as we gently help others who are struggling on the way.

III. The Possibility of sharing, and bearing, our burdens (2-5). This highlights one of the beautiful “one another” statements of the New Testament… and also presents a counter-point, we need to take responsibility for our own struggle against sin! “Bear one another’s burdens… each will have to bear his own load…”

² Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  ⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.  ⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.

       Constrained by the love of Christ, bear one another’s burdens (2).  Though “love” is not specifically mentioned in this verse, “the law of Christ” drives us back to 5:14, and should invite us to think of passages like John 13:34 where Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” How, in this context in Galatians, are we to fulfill that command? Specifically, by bearing one another’s burdens (2). Sometimes the issue might be clear, but often times there is more going on than we realize. This week I came across a reportedly true story of a boy who was being bullied, and when he was knocked down by a bully, another boy came to his aid, and not only stopped the bullying, but helped him pick up his books. Long story short they became friends, and the boy who had been knocked down, his life changed. In fact, years later he was asked to give a speech at graduation…

…In the speech he shocked everyone, especially his friend, by saying that the day he was being bullied he actually had cleared out his locker of all his books, and was going home planning to take his own life! Only his new friend was there, coming to help him, not only carry his books but also his burden, he found hope, and it changed the direction of his life…

The context here in Galatians is talking first of all about someone overtaken in a transgression. Is that a burden do you think? When a Christian is overtaken in a sin, they can be the most burdened, most miserable person in the world. Sometimes exactly what they need is not someone judging them, but caring enough to gently tell them the truth, and even to help them along the way. Love one another, encourage one another, bear each other’s burdens… We were made not to be an isolated lone-ranger Christian. We were made to be a member of the body of Christ, so that we could help others along the way, and so that they can help us.

       Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought (3; cf. Rom 12:3). “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself…” This statement is deliberately strong, I would say hyperbolic, language. The point is that we should not think too highly of ourselves, we have to see the truth about ourselves, recognizing we have no righteousness of our own, that our only standing is in the grace of God. Do you remember how Paul needed to confront the Corinthians, who, though they had been overtaken in various trespasses, rather than mourning about it they had become prideful. At one point he is confronting them for their arrogance and asks, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (I Cor 4:7). We should care enough to confront, but gently, with proper humility.

       Take responsibility for yourself in the battle against sin (5)! Paul says in v. 4, “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor…” The conceit that was mentioned back in 5:26 comes to mind – comparing ourselves to others. No need – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… there is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:23; 3:10). That is why I called this study “Gospel-centered relationships.” Every person has value, we are all created in God’s image. Every person needs grace. That realization frees us to serve one another in the love of Christ. In fact…

What is God saying to me in this passage? As we walk in the Spirit, we will find joy in the Christian life as we gently help others who are struggling on the way.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? How are you doing in terms of keeping in step with the Spirit? Are you available for God to use to help others along the way? When you “get out of step,” do you more easily tend to avoid confrontation, thinking you’ve got nothing to offer someone who is struggling, or the other extreme do you tend to fall into pride and chastise someone out of a sense of superiority? Maybe like me you can vacillate between those extremes when you are not walking with God. Guard your heart, watch yourself lest you too fall into temptation, and then pray for wisdom, and for a godly boldness, with gentleness, and care enough to get involved, to be available for God to use. Am I my brother’s keeper? By God’s design, we have been entrusted with that privilege. The words of Paul in 2 Cor 5:20 come to mind, “…we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  May we be found faithful.  AMEN.