galatians
galatians 6:1-6:5

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.
2. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
5. For each one will bear his own load.

overview: help your brothers and sisters deal with their sin

this is a bit of a constant idea in the bible.
from the beginning, the idea that there is 'corporate responsibility' is part of the bible's discussion of community.
 

basically...tolerating sin is a problem for the person sinning, and also for the community tolerating them.

aachan's sin:
you remember that story?
judges...
the israelites were supposed to be conquering the 'promised land'. they'd just beat jericho.
they go to a small village named ai...and get pretty soundly beaten. evidentally it was a 'rebuilding' year.
turns out that one of the israelites, a guy we'll forever hear about as a warning, had gotten...greedy.
go ahead...note that the big sin you've got here was greed. not something that violated sexual ethics, no idolatry...greed.
until they purged the sin they had, they were ... guilty.
skip ahead to...
1 cor 5:1-6
1Cr 5:1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife.
1Cr 5:2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
1Cr 5:3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
1Cr 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
1Cr 5:5 {I have decided} to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Cr 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump {of dough?}

so...biblically, this is kind of a normal responsibility for god's people.


keep the family clean...with the goal of purity for the body and health for the individual.
 
galatians has a bit of a different angle though - more on some of the attitudes behind things than on the 'steps to take'

1. sin is a problem to be helped

yeah, surprised to hear that in a church.
but...the tone of the thing is the nice bit here, and paul says some great stuff about it.

a. notice the wording in v1, "caught in any trespass"

this is not in the sense of, "oh you caught me."
this is in the sense that you are entrapped by sin. like a mouse in a trap.
 
that is a huge piece to start this off.
it's not, when you catch the punk, trap the the perp, or anything like this.
instead, it's more like, "when you see your sister drowning..."
it starts out by reminding you that you should see this as a family member, a human as close as they can get, with a need.

b. the goal is restoration. v1, what are we supposed to do? "restore such a one"

the goal in addressing sin isn't to make people feel bad.
it's not to highlight the fact that we aren't like that.
the goal is to bring the brother/sister away from the sin.
note that they need to be restored...
this might be a reference to restoring them to fellowship after they have been removed (a la matt 18 and 1 cor 5), but it might just be a reference to restoring them to health.
honestly...the idea of restoring them to health is the goal either way.
the bible teaches that sin is dangerous - primarily because god hates it and it separates us from him, but also because it has personal effects.

c. the method for restoration is gentleness. v1, "restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness"

so...again, as we are looking for restoration and the health of our sibling...we are to act in gentleness.

d. any trespass?

so...here's the tough question.
what type of sin are we looking at? at what point are we 'entrapped' by sin?
on one hand, we have the generic sin of failing to be perfect - failing to love completely, failing to be patient perfectly, etc.
on the other hand, we have things like violence, unbiblical sexuality, theft, and the like.
what are we talking about here?
short answer is that the bible never specifies this very clearly - i think it's one of those areas that is supposed to be reasonably clear in the moment.

summary: help your famiy fight with sin, and restore them to spiritual health.

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.
sin is dangerous, and we should seek to help our brothers and sisters be fight against it.
unfortunately...dealing with sin can quickly take on a bit of a witch hunt feel.
we've made a comparison between the galaian heretics and the pharisees in this book...
the pharisees were definitely rather interested in pointing out the sinful points in other people, but not because they were concerned with helping them.
that's an easy trap to fall into, given our human predelections or self-righteousness and pride.
please take a note to guard against that.

2. you are commanded to help

a. v2, "bear one another's burdens";

that's an order folks, you need to bear one another's burdens.
the context makes this pretty clear what he's talking about...
in case matthew 18 and 1 cor 5 weren't clear, you get the repitition here too.

b. specifically, v1 speaks of "those who are spiritual"...

this is a bit of common sense here.
if you are struggling with some serious sin issues yourself...you may not be the most able to help others.
 
so...how spiritual do you need to be?
well... spiritual enough.
enough to not be entrapped yourself? enough to have the desire to help?

c. this presumes that there will be some who are able to help. some who are spiritual.

strangl...you may intereact with some churches at some point that make a big deal about accepting sinners, but who then go on to normalize sin.
galatians does push the idea that everyone is guilty and incapable of earning salvation.
galatians does not push the idea that all sin is normal for the christian.
 
also...notice the way in which he uses the word 'spiritual' here.
chapter 5 talked about the evidence of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit in our lives.
this carries that a bit further. those who are spiritual are those showing the fruit of the spirit, not the deeds of the flesh.
in both cases the people are believers, but these are more spiritual, mature, like the spirit...

d. notice that he references the law of christ?

well...we're not 100% certain what that is.
its possible that it's a generic reference to the teachings of christ about...helping others and stuff.
but lots of folks (most? dunno.) think it's sort of a reference to the golden rule type of "do unto others".
also, some people think it might be a bit of a kick on the bad interpretation of the OT law they've been rolling with.
either way...clear yes? jesus wants you to care for the moral health of your brothers and sisters.

summary: seek to help your siblings escape sin when they are entrapped.


3. notes to the helper. 3 verses thick.

3. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
5. For each one will bear his own load.

a. v3, "if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself"

man, paul goes all proverbs style on you.
there's a pretty good chance that this is actually an idiom / cliche from the day.
the language is a bit weird, including the word for deceived, which paul never uses anywhere else, and which no jewish writer ever uses anywhere.
so...it's a bit like paul quotes, "pride goeth before a fall", except...one not from the bible.
 
you could try to parse this out, and say that we all are nothing (all good is from god), or that some of us are nothing (spiritually immature), but paul doesn't give many details to make this that-type-of-specific.
basically, this is a warning. you go to help someone out in their sin...don't think you're so awesome and spiritual.
v4 keeps the trend going...

b. v4, but each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.

- boasting? well...the idea here is a bit softer than 'bragging', especially as paul makes it clear that this is in reference to yourself.
the idea is pretty basic though - don't get all haughty because your brother or sister was trapped by a sin.
- that says nothing about you.
- pride is sin itself
- seeking to be like the spirit is your goal; our standard is not man, but god ('be perfect as i am perfect')
basically, this is a much better version of the old "compete with yourself" advice, but compete is swapped for examine/compare, and yourself is swapped with god.
 

c. v5, each one will bear his own load

a nice inversion of the idea in v2.
there, we were told to bear one anothers burdens.
here, we're told to bear our own burdens.
so...we should look to our own selves, staying humble and christlike, while helping each other out as there is need.
what are we not supposed to do?
seek to have other people carry our load.

summary: watch yourself

don't become arrogant as you help others with their morality.

gameday recap:

1. you need to feel a strong moral interest in your brothers and sisters

bear one anothers burdens!
how?
pray for them.
make a habit of this - do it regularly.
you know...the majority of the prayer requests you see in the bible are for people's spiritual health.
if you are spending time doing so yourself, you're in pretty good company (with jesus, paul, and...some others)

communicate with them.
yup, sorry folks.
to bear one another's burdens you may actually have to talk to people.
you need to connect with people well enough to communicate both your interest in them morally, as well as humility that you concerned not cocky if something comes up.
&nbps;
think for a moment about what kind of person you would want to have help you with sin in your life.
how would they react when you told them you had were struggling with a sin?
that's your goal. ask god to help you become that.

2. humility. oh man oh man this is the key.

so. there is a huge focus on how we need to be non-arrogant.
and the whole book of galatians reeks of a culture, fueled by bad beliefs/theology, that favored pharisaical arrogance.
note that paul here burns several verses talking about being humble and helpful.
at core, our attitude towards sin shouldn't be "well...I WOULD NEVER" when we help.
instead...seek to restore.
remember your own guilt, and that your spirituality is *** the result of god's work within you ***
 
also...1 cor 10:12,13
12. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
13. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
that's a nice parallel to this section about humility, and about looking after yourself.
- you think you are secure in your morality? take heed, that you don't fall. (always).
- but also - god has given you the power, through the spirit to put this into galatians context, to escape and overcome.

3. finally, for those entrapped by sin. ask for some help

- first - consider yourself entrapped

recognize that you are trapped by sin, and that the help and encouragement of your family will be useful.
it is hard to break from sin. i mean, come on, it's hard enough to get up on time in the morning, and that's much milder stuff than sin.

- second - look for those with the spiritual maturity to help, and ask for it

these people exist. the elders here are here to help. others are mature enough to help too, see matt 18.
receive such help. turn to it.

- note - recognize the obstacles

shame is a normal feeling. everyone understands it.
culturally...we really want to normalize the need for help.
you might be surprised what types of things we have helped others with - your sin may be to a lesser or greater degree from others, but it's all reasonably similar.

an appeal:

i want to end with an appeal:
if you have sin that is encumbering you, that you would like to be free of, please ask for help from the elders or from someone spiritual enough to help.
help is available, and i hope that you at least take that away from this passage.
and since it's easy to imagine that help is going to take a terrible form of condescension, anger, and humiliation, i hope that this passage gives you a different idea about how the church deals with sin.