The Book of Galatians - 6:1

(Part 25)

Introduction

Everyone is aware of the idiom, “Christians shoot their wounded.” We know that is just a figure of speech, but behind every figure of speech is reality. There are Christians who get caught up in sin or Christians who are said to have fallen from grace or are out of fellowship the Lord. Here’s the problem: If someone sins, many times they are ostracized, gossiped about, punished, and no longer welcome in a church or having fellowship with some believers.  Some Christians demand their proverbial pound of flesh from every “sinner” that has been caught in sin. There was no grace, no love, no path to restoration, just condemnation. In other words, not only do churches and individual Christians “shoot their wounded,” but then they toss their bodies to the street! They throw them under the bus. Is that the approach we as Christians should take? Is that the way God wants us to treat those who have been caught in sin? In today’s lesson Paul gives us directions on how we should deal with those who are caught up in sin. Please remember that the instructions that Paul give for restoring a believer in sin is inspirited Scripture. These are the Lord’s instructions on how to deal those caught up in sin.

After Paul finished listing the fruit of the Holy Spirit at the end of chapter 5, Paul began to give practical ways in which we as believers in Jesus can put the fruit of the Spirit into action in our daily lives. This continued until 6:10. This was no accident.  There were no chapters and verses in the original Greek Text so in reality the directions he gives in verses 1-10 and the fruit of the Spirit are directly related.  The directives he gives in verses 1-10 cannot be accomplished with without the fruit of the Spirit being part of the equation.

1. Believers Have a Responsibility to Come to the Aid of Others (1-5)

a. Believers Have a Responsibility to Spiritually Restore those who have Fallen (1)

1 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 caught is an interesting word because it means to be caught by surprise or as we would say today, “Being caught red handed.” It is hard to deny something when one is caught red handed or by surprise. There are several Greek words that have the idea of sin. Each has a little different nuance. The Greek word translated trespass here means to offend God. It refers to being caught by someone who is offending God in his or her life.

When a believer is caught committing a trespass against God, several believers are to restore the one who is caught. Paul did not say any believer could help restore the guilty believer, but that those who do help restore him must be spiritual believers. In 1 Corinthians 2- 3 Paul gives three different types of people who are related to the spiritual things of God. The first is a natural man who is unsaved because he has never trusted in Christ as Savior and he does not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 describes the natural man this way:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Paul has two designations for the second type. The first designation is a babe in Christ, and this is stressed because they are a new, immature believer who needs the milk of the Word of God and is not ready for the meat of the Word of God. Even though they are saved, they are still greatly influenced by worldly thinking and behavior and the flesh because they are infants in Christ as we see in 1 Corinthians 2:1.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it.

The second designation Paul gives the second type is carnal or fleshly. They are still babes in Christ because they have not spiritually matured, but the destination carnal or fleshly is stressed because they have been saved long enough to have matured but has failed to do so. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 2:2b-3a.

2b Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 a for you are still fleshly.

Paul demonstrates in the last part of verse three why they are still considered carnal Christians in 1 Corinthians 2:3b,  

3b For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

The third type is a spiritual man, one who is a mature believer and is obedient and marching in step with the leading of the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Corinthians 2:15-16.

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Time is certainly a factor for someone to become a spiritually mature believer as we saw in 1 Corinthains. However, becoming a spiritually mature believer  is certainly more than just the amount of time one has been a believer. There are believers who have been saved 30, 40, 50, or 60 that are not spiritually mature and are considered Carnal Christians.

There are two Scriptures that helps define one who is considered spiritually mature. One is 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 that we just looked at. .

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

The word appraise means to judge and evaluate carefully. The spiritually mature believer makes judgments based on careful and detailed information. They are guided by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. A spiritually mature believer usually does not make rash judgments or decisions.

A spiritual believer can be judged only by God (4:3–5), not by unregenerate people (2:15) or by worldly Christians (3:1–3). When one has the mind of Christ, he or she is characterized by the description of a spiritually mature believer found in Hebrews 5:14.

14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

The spiritually mature believers not only knows the Word of God but has had enough practice making life’s decisions from the Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit that his faculties are trained to be able to make judgements concerning what is good and what is evil and.

Considering the history behind individuals and churches throwing one who is caught in sin under the bus, we know why Paul required only spiritually mature believers to try to restore a fallen comrade. Paul knew human nature and he knew that only the spiritually mature would have the patience, gentleness, and skill to help retore someone who had sinned and fallen out of fellowship with God.  

The word restore is a command, not a suggestion. Mature believers are expected to retore those who have fallen. Restore means putting something in a former condition so it will function like it once did. It was used with cleaning and mending nets to bring them to their former condition. It was also used in Greek literature for a doctor who set broken bones.

Those who meet the qualifications of being biblically spiritual have a responsibility, commanded by God Himself, to help a fallen brother or sister in Christ to help them get back in step with the Holy Spirit. This may involve confrontation as seen in Matthew 18:15-20. A process or steps to follow to help restore a believer who has stumbled are found in these verses.

15 “If your brother sins, (you – singular) go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. (Deuteronomy 19:15) 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

This is the process given by the Lord on how to of deal with a brother or sister in Christ has sinned against someone or is living in sin.  Again, it’s not suggestion and should be followed as given by the Lord. Recently I knew a church whose elders decided to ban a couple from the church. None of the steps were followed as outlined by Jesus. The elder board met and decided to ban the couple. At no time did anyone from the church meet with the couple. They received a letter that informed them that they were banned from attending the church. Let’s say hypothetically that the couple had done something wrong. There was no appeal from the church that they should confess and repent. There was no attempt to restore them.  

Instead of attempting to restore a sinning believer, it’s common for churches and believers will turn their backs on believers who have fallen into sin by either expelling them from the church or ostracizing them instead of trying to help them. There is a church in Atlanta who allowed us to use their facilities when we were ministering to the Jews from the former Soviet Union. During that time, they had on staff a minister of music. The church found out that he was visiting massage parlors but not to get a massage. He was going to the Gold Club and was also caught up in other sexual sins. As I said before, many churches would have sent him and his family on the road. This church was obedient to this command to restore a believer who was been caught in a sin. They sent him to a facility for a year and paid for it. During that year the paid his full salary to his wife and did not ostracize his family but treated them as the Christian they were. They did the right thing and have great testimony because of it. A believer who has stumbled must be restored gently, carefully, and cautiously. Jesus restored Peter after he had stumbled terribly. What attitude and actions did Jesus have toward the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery?

Recently we learned that one of the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness, which is the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance. Gentleness, humility, courtesy, considerateness, and meekness is expected from believers who are in the process of restoring a brother or sister in Christ.

Gentleness, like the other eight fruit of the Holy spirit, is supernatural. The church in Atlanta displayed these characteristics in dealing with and restoring the minister of music. What they did could only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the flesh. The Holy Spirit is more powerful than the flesh or the sin nature.

Another important part of this verse is that believers must understand that no one is immune from temptation and sin, and we are all venerable. Paul warns believers not to try to help a stumbled believer with a spirit of self-righteousness. Of course, this is what happens many times. Self-righteousness rules the situation. As we look at this verse, let us note that it revolves around the rehabilitation of a believer, but nothing is said about restoring a fallen leader to his or her position. However, even though Paul does not deal with the restoration of a fallen leader to a leadership position, he certainly left open the possibility to do that.

Questions

1.  What does the idiom 'Christians shoot their wounded' imply in the context of this lesson?

2.  What are three types of individuals Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians 2-3 that relate to the spiritual things of God?

3.  Why is self-righteousness considered a hindrance in restoring someone caught in sin?

4.  According to Paul, who is responsible for restoring a fallen believer in    

      Jesus?

5.  How does the process of restoration outlined in Matthew 18:15–20 relate to Paul's teachings in Galatians 6:1?

6.  How does the sermon emphasize the relationship between the fruit of the Spirit and the process of restoration?