1 This morning we are finishing up Galatians. The letter to the Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul to the churches in Galatia which he had helped start. These churches were made up of Gentile Christians who were being influenced by Judaizers trying to convince them that they needed to become Jewish as well as believe in Jesus in order to be saved. This morning we ll be looking at Galatians 6:7-18: Galatians 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 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. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. 11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God. 17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. There are some really important summary lines in the last section, but first I want to highlight verses 7-9, which I skipped last week, and look at what Paul says about the law of sowing and reaping. I want to highlight three things about this law that we learn from this passage. 1) There is an objective moral order Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. You can not put one over on God. You can not trick him. Whatever you sow, you will reap. Let s take a moment to understand the metaphor. Everybody understands that there are objective principles in physical nature. There are laws like the law of gravity, that even if you don t believe in it, you can t escape the law. If you jump, you will fall, whether or not you believe it is true. You have to adapt to the laws; they will not change for you.
2 Paul uses a farming metaphor to make a point. In agriculture, you reap what you sow. If you want to reap corn, you have to sow corn seed. If you want to reap a lot of corn, you have to sow a lot of corn. Doesn t matter if you really want it to become carrots if you sow corn, you will reap corn. Similarly, Paul is saying that there is an objective moral order as well. God s law. If you go against God s law, you will reap destruction. If you sow to please the Spirit, you will reap eternal life life to the full. Eternal life is not after death; he is not contradicting himself, saying that you earn heaven by your good works. John 17:3 - Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent Understand that while most people believe in the objective principles in the physical world, it is not so with regards to the moral universe. How many times have you heard someone say If it works for you that s great but it s not for me. Most people don t believe in objective morality, instead believing that that is a subjective and not an objective realm. But it s impossible to truly live like that. If morality were truly subjective, then who is to say that rape is wrong? Or murder? What if I believe it is right for me? No, without some objective moral standard, we would have chaos. Even if we don t believe in objective morality, many of us still live as if it were true in many respects. There is a moral order to the universe, laws that were set up by God, and when you violate them, you are violating your own nature and design, and you will reap the consequences. Whether it is lying, stealing, not taking rest, not worshiping, not being generous, or something else, you will reap what you sow. 2) It is an organic moral order 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. By organic I mean that you reap what you sow in a natural way. When Paul says what he says, he is not saying if you sin, God will get you. It s not if you have
3 sex outside of marriage, God is going to give you a disability. No consequences are organically connected to the sin. Again, he uses an agricultural metaphor if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. There is a natural, organic judgment that comes when you break God s law, when you go against His design. Just like if you eat fatty food, you will have health problems. If you never change the oil in your car, it will break down. You are going against the design of your body or your car. We don t need people going around saying how can I punish people who don t change their oil? If you will not forgive, you will reap the consequences of bitterness, broken relationships. If you have sex outside of marriage, you will reap the consequences of brokenness and mistrust in your marriage. If you don t give away your money, you will reap the consequences of becoming enslaved by it. The law of sowing and reaping is an organic law. 3) Results don t always happen right away Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Again, note the agricultural metaphor the harvest does not happen right after you sow, but takes awhile. The seed does not become a plant overnight. You don t reap what you sow right away. What this means is that, when you go against God, you may think that you ve put one over on God because you are not experiencing destruction, but God can not be mocked. You will reap what you sow. You are going to sow destruction. It may feel good to badmouth someone. But you will reap the bitterness later. The drugs may feel great at first, but you will reap the consequences later. You may not know why something is forbidden but you can know the general reason it is for your joy. Whatever you sow against the will of God is also against the fabric of your being. Sin is that which moves against your design. The Bible is like an owners manual to your heart. Just like you read the car s owners manual in order to know how to care for you car, you can do the same with the Bible. Sin is going against your design and purpose.
4 This is why Paul tells us to sow to please the Spirit, not the sinful nature. We will reap what we sow. Again, it is important to note that Paul has said all along that good works do not save us from sin. But that does not mean they are unimportant. They are evidence of salvation, of a changed heart. And they bring life to the full to you and to the world, because that is what you were designed to experience a relationship with God. Going on: 11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Verse 11 may either refer to large writing due to Paul s eye disease, or that he is emphasizing the next lines as of supreme importance. This is a reminder of what is at stake. The Judaizers want the Galatians to be circumcised and become Jewish Christians. But Paul tells them that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts what counts is a new creation. We will not boast in our performance or anything of this world, only in the cross. What counts is not your obedience to the law, but that you are a new creation. That you have been born again, that your heart has been regenerated. If you come out of a sermon like this thinking okay, I need to try harder you re missing the point. The point all along has been that you need the Spirit, and once you have the Spirit, you have a changed heart, and then you start to live in line with the spirit. Remember Paul & Peter in Galatians 2:14 - When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? Jonathan Edwards had a lot to say on this in his book on True and Common Virtue.
5 Common virtue is when you resist sin by restraining your heart. This is the majority of moral behavior in the world we resist doing evil because we are afraid of the consequences, or out of pride we don t want people to think less of us. True virtue, however, is when we resist sin because our heart has been changed. This is what happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. He gives us a new heart, and we desire to do God s will out of a heart that has been changed to desire Him. This does not mean of course that we will no longer sin, because Paul has said that the Spirit will battle against our sinful nature. But we no longer resist sin and follow God out of fear and pride but because it is our desire. Paul calls us in Galatians to not just moral reformation but spiritual transformation. Not just restraining sin but a changed heart. Wherever you boast is where you find your identity, your pride. Boast in the cross. The cross means that you are so sinful that the son of God had to die for you, but you are so loved that he chose to willingly die for you. This gives us, at the same time, great humility and great confidence. May we never boast in anything but the cross.