You may recall the name, Robert Courtney. He was a pharmacist out of Kansas City, MO who intentionally diluted cancer medications to make millions of dollars. He was caught and pleaded guilty in 2002. His actions were illegal and immoral. He is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay over ten million dollars in restitution. His actions had horrific consequences on those he served. Similarly, too many times the true gospel gets watered down by messages of try harder or adopt this formula of rules and regulations resulting in a counterfeit gospel that is devoid of power and harmful to human souls.
The true gospel is a gospel of freedom empowering us to live in freedom. Paul writes to believers: “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal 4:7). We have been offered great freedom, and where there is great freedom, there is great responsibility. Faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross brings freedom, and by relying on the Holy Spirit, we can live free bearing the Spirit’s fruit in and through our lives.
The life of freedom we have been offered in Christ we live in partnership with Him as well as in partnership with other believers. Freedom brings with it community. It has been said, “If you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together. Paul’s understanding of gospel partnership is why he paints a picture to the Galatians of the community built by the true gospel of freedom and grace. The simple truth is that gospel convictions bring gospel community.
The gospel of freedom not only empowers us to journey together but as believers, we are responsible for growing together. In Galatians 5:26-6:1 Paul makes it clear that we are responsible to one another. He even declares that we have a responsibility to those caught up in sin. We are to “restore them in the spirit of gentleness” (v. 1). The word used to describe those in sin is the Greek word prolemphthe, which means “overtaken.” The word suggests a certain level of surprise. We discover that without awareness and accountability, we can easily drift and become overtaken by harmful practices. Therefore, we need authentic community with fellow believers and a commitment to walk in reliance on the Spirit. We need to pursue relationships with other believers who are willing to lovingly confront visible and revealed sin in our lives as a means to becoming more like Christ.
Believers also have a responsibility to carry one another’s burdens. When we see someone carrying a burden, we don’t just put him or her on a prayer list, but we stop and help. Sometimes it means we need to humbly ask help of others. It is important to point out that there seems to be a contradiction between Galatians 6:2 and 6:5. Verse two instructs us to carry one another’s burdens, while verse five calls us to carry our own burdens. In verse two Paul uses the Greek word baros for burden. This word speaks of a particularly oppressive experience. It is a burden too heavy for any one person to carry. Whereas, in verse five Paul uses the Greek word phortion that refers to a person’s individual luggage or backpack. In this sense, Paul is telling us to carry our own backpack. There is a significant difference between the two burdens as well as our responsibility. In short, we have freedom and responsibility to help each other with our burdens (I help you, and you help me) as together we grow in Christ.
We also have a responsibility to persevere. In Galatians 6:7-10 we are encouraged to not “grow weary in doing good.” Paul knows how easy it is to grow tired of doing the work of the gospel. Doing good can start out being exciting and fulfilling, but can grow old. In Christ, we have had our burdens taken up, and through the Spirit, we can continue and persevere. You may be in a situation where you can’t see the fruit of your labors. You started out full of hope and enthusiasm. You worked the field of a relationship or addiction or whatever you are working on, but now you don’t see a change in the relationship or deliverance from addiction. You seem to be running in place or even losing ground. Don’t give up, persevere for the time of reaping is still ahead. Trust in the Lord and rely on His Spirit to bring about spiritual fruit from your Christ-partnered workings.
Really when you boil down the whole point of Galatians, it is to encourage believers to keep the main thing the main thing. We are to know God and make Him known. We have been set free to live free. False teachers were diluting the gospel. The Galatians had once understood the true gospel of freedom but had allowed it to get diluted, and they had added things to it. Paul writes to keep centered on Christ: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). This verse is reminiscent of Paul’s words back in chapter two of Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” In other words, just like Jesus was crucified we have died to the stuff of this world. We are united with Christ and His kingdom priorities empowered by His Spirit upon whom we fully rely. We have been set free to live free.
It is an honor to live this life of freedom. I am so grateful to be in partnership with Christ and thankful to be in community with each of you. Let us keep the main thing the main thing as Christ releases us to reach this region and beyond.