At first glance, this section appears to be a paradox or contradiction. In verse 2, God tells us to carry one another’s burdens and in verse 5 he tells every man to carry his own burden.

Transition

As we examine the three commands in this section, the seeming paradox will be resolved.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens” Ga 6:2

What is a burden?

  1. The word translated “burden” in Ga 6:2 refers to a heavy burden. It describes heavy loads that are difficult to lift and to carry. The word translated “burden” in Ga 6:5 is different from the word in Ga 6:1. The latter refers to a light burden, a normal burden of responsibility. It “describes that individual load which each one carries, and which no one can bear for him.” Eadie We will look at that burden in a few minutes.
    1. In context, this heavy burden (v.2) likely refers to the difficulty of getting back up after a fall into sin (v.1). This burden is especially heavy when the believer has tripped more than once.
    2. It may also refer to persistent temptations. The writer of Hebrews mentions such temptations.
      Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
  2. Whether the burden is getting back up after a fall or resisting a powerful temptation, both can be very heavy burdens to carry. Temptation is real and powerful.
    Someone has said, there are two equally damning lies Satan wants us to believe: 1) Just once won’t hurt. 2) Now that you have ruined your life, you are beyond God’s use, and might as well enjoy sinning.

How must we bear one another’s burdens?

  1. The Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmist to urge us to cast our burdens on the Lord. Peter also reminded us that the Lord is our greatest burden-bearer.
    Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
    1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
  2. Often God chooses to use spiritual people to help ease the burdens of others. This is why Christians are commanded to help carry one another’s burdens. This is not an option but a command.
    Romans 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

    1. We are to forgive one another, encourage one another, edify one another, hold each other accountable, and pray for one another.
    2. We are to work as a team. Put away the sin of gossip. Become an encourager. Your phone call, email note, or visit can help to carry a heavy burden – if you are the spiritual person, you ought to be.
    3. Remember, it could be YOU that was weighed down with the heavy burden caused by sin.
  3. If you are the burdened person, you must accept help to carry your load and ease your burden. One author put it this way, “It is not spirituality but pride that makes a person want to ‘go it alone.’” MacArthur

 “Fulfil the law of Christ” Ga 6:2

What is the law of Christ?

  1. The law of Christ refers to our duty to love others. Jesus left this law with his disciples before he returned to heaven.
    John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
  2. It may also refer to the second great commandment.
    Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
  3. Jesus loves us so much that he left heaven, took on a human body, died as our substitute to save us from hell, and rose to life again to justify us and provide eternal life. There is no greater love.
    Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
    Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
  4. This kind of love is the self-sacrificing giving of ourselves to meet the needs of another expecting nothing in return.

How does bearing another’s burden fulfil this law?

  1. Love demands that we help others.
  2. When we help a fellow-Christian carry his burden of restoration or temptation, we are showing him true love.

Albert Barnes comments, “The law of Christ would not allow us to reproach the offender, or to taunt him, or to rejoice in his fall. We should help him to take up his load of infirmities, and sustain him by our counsels, our exhortations, and our prayers.”

“Let every man prove his own work” Ga 6:4

Do not let pride keep you from helping (v.3).

  1. Many Christians refuse to bear one another’s burdens because they have too high of estimation of themselves.
    1. They think themselves to be something great – a super saint. They think they do not trip and fall like other weak Christians. They think they resist temptation with firmness.
    2.  In reality, pride lowers such a person to nothing in God’s eyes. This person deceives himself.
      James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
  2. Pride is a terrible enemy that often attacks “good” people.
    Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
    Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
  3. Any time we look down on someone and think “I would not be foolish enough to do the sin they did”, we are being proud.

Prove your own work (v.4).

  1. God commands every Christian to prove their own work – their attitudes and actions.
    1. The word “prove” means to examine, prove, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not). Thayer
    2. We must examine our attitudes and actions honestly. We must not think of ourselves more highly than we should.
      Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
  2. Our rejoicing or boasting must be based on our true character as God sees us, not on how much better we are than others. Kenneth Wuest reminds us that the one who “sees his own failings, he will have no inclination to compare himself with others.”

Bear your own burden (v.5).

  1. This burden is our daily spiritual self-examination and walking close to God. My spirituality is not based on how I compare with others, but on how close I am to God.
    True self-examination is not merely taking one’s spiritual pulse beat on a regular basis but rather submitting one’s thoughts, attitudes, and actions to the will of God and the mind of Christ revealed in Holy Scripture. Quote in Constable’s Notes
  2. The burden of daily self-examination and drawing near to God is light compared to the burden of one who has been defeated by sin.

Conclusion

If you are a Christian, God expects you to bear one another’s burdens caused by sin. Hurting Christians need help. God expects you to do this to fulfil his command to love one another. God also expect you to examine yourself truthfully and defeat pride so that you are willing and able to help carry the burden of those defeated by sin.

If you are carrying a burden of sin today, you need help. First, you need to give your burden to the Lord. If you are not saved, you need God’s salvation. If you are saved, you need his cleansing. Then, you need godly friends to help lighten your burden.

Song: Burdens Are Lifted – 218

Carrying Burdens

17 February 2013 AM – Galatians 6:2-5 – Scott Childs