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  Long Island Abundant Life Church 長島豐盛生命教會

Galatians 6

10/5/2012

 
Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

Paul's Conclusion
Don't just skip over the last few verses of today's passage!  This is more than just "Sincerely" or "Cordially Yours" from Paul.  His conclusion in this letter is very important because he repeats his main points from the letter to drive home what the Galatians should be taking away from it.  Take some time to read the last few verses and make sure that you understand them and have been tracking with the rest of the letter.

Other than that, just a quick issue to address on verse 11.  What is Paul talking about?  Since we read printed copies, not the original letter, it can be a little confusing.  The answer is relatively simple if you understand some historical background:

"Up to this point, Paul had probably dictated the letter to a scribe. Then he took the pen into his own hand to write his final, personal greetings. Paul did this in other letters as well, to add emphasis to his words and to validate that the letter was genuine (see 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17). Paul pointed this out, perhaps because the contrast in the original letter was obvious. Paul’s scribe, if trained in writing, would have written in well-formed Greek characters. Paul, a preacher and not a scribe, had a less precise writing style. Another theory is that Paul wrote in large letters due to poor eyesight (see 4:13–15). Most likely, however, Paul wrote in large letters for emphasis, as these last verses reiterate the main points of this epistle. They were his signature. If these “large letters” were printed in our Bibles in all capital or boldface letters, we would understand the effect of Paul’s style and why he mentioned it." [1]

There you go - pretty simple answer!  I personally hold to the "poor eyesight" theory myself, as I think it explains some comments scattered throughout Paul's letters, but it's impossible to know for sure and it's definitely not a vital issue of the faith.

Questions?  Comments?

[1] Bruce B. Barton, Galatians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1994), 213.
Andrei
10/5/2012 08:46:19 pm

Question about 'Bearing One Another's Burdens' in verses 1-5. I guess it means to encourage and admonish our brothers/sisters in love? Verse 4 says that one should 'test his own work' so that 'his reason to boast will be in himself alone.' I guess in the context of these verses, this isn't a statement that would conflict with the idea of only boasting in Christ right? Hope I'm understanding it the right way...?

greg
10/6/2012 02:53:24 am

Yeah, it is a little confusing because in verse 2 it says "Bear one another's burdens" but in verse 5 it says "Each will have to bear his own load." So which one is it? Here's the thought for verse 2: "Paul is here addressing those who are restoring, and so we must envision the restorer as a person who undertakes not only to point out problems and sins, but also to carry the responsibility of helping that person become free of that entanglement. Here we find Paul’s theme of mutual accountability. The Christian, when seeing a sister stumbling into sin, does not go to the other side of the road in the way the Levite and Pharisee did in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). Rather, like the Samaritan, the Christian approaches the sister “in the Spirit of gentleness,” does whatever he or she can, and so works through the problem with that sister until she learns to live “in the Spirit.”
The principle, then, of restoration is loving one another. Christians are responsible for one another and, because of the love of God that comes to them through the Spirit, they carry one another’s burdens when those burdens are too difficult for one person to carry." [1]

Here's for the second part: "Our only comment here is addressed to the tension between carrying each other’s burden and carrying one’s own burden. The issue is not contradictory but two sides of one coin. Christians need to help one another in the struggles of life, but each Christian will also have to answer to God individually. Part of that individual responsibility is carrying the burdens of others. Before God one cannot look around at others and thereby find grounds for justifying oneself. That Christians will be judged by God for their works, their actions, and their motives is taught elsewhere in Paul’s letters (cf. Rom. 2:6–16; 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; 4:1–5; 2 Cor. 5:10)." [2]

As for the "boasting": "As mentioned above, the problem that occupies Paul’s attention while addressing restoration is pride on the part of the restorer. Pride is wrong (v. 3), and each restorer should check himself or herself out (v. 4a) and not find personal status by comparison with others, especially with sinning brothers and sisters (v. 4b). In the final analysis, each person is responsible before God for what he or she has done (v. 5)." [3]

Basically it all means this: we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters to not only point out their sins, but "bear burdens" as well by helping them to overcome their sins. But be careful! Don' think that you'll be justified by comparing yourself to another person! Each person is judged by their own actions before God alone (bear their own load). As for the "boasting" issue, we've seen before that Paul "boasts" occasionally about things, but I think the word choice here is purposefully ironic. Paul is warning people not to boast "I'm better than this sinning person" and so when he says it, he suggests that we don't compare with another, but would need to "boast" before God - something that would clearly be ridiculous. He uses the word to show how ridiculous it would be to try to compare to someone else when the standard is God (see Romans 4:2).
-----------------
[1] Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 285.
[2] Ibid, 286.
[3] Ibid, 285.


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