HEELCATCHER

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, ⁵for each one should carry his own load.

The practical outworking of the fruit of the Spirit is seen in these verses. How should I respond when I see someone “caught in a sin”? Admonish? Rebuke? Gossip? Murmur? Feel good about my own perceived righteousness?

Apparently the Galatian believers, in their abandonment of grace and adherence to legalism, saw the sin of others as an opportunity to feel good about themselves and criticize/attack the one who had sinned. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other (5:15). Legalistic churches are scary places to be. You have to watch your back and protect your image. No one can see a crack in your Christian life. No one is allowed to be broken and vulnerable. The repercussions are too high.

Instead, a Spirit-filled, grace-oriented church acts differently. If someone is caught in a sin… The word “caught” literally means “overtaken.” It describes the person who falls into sin, who gets off track, who struggles with temptation but gives in. It is not describing the person who willfully, rebelliously, and blatantly pursues sin.

You who are spiritual should restore him gently. Who are the “spiritual”? The ones walking in the Spirit and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23). Only those with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control of the Spirit can appropriately and gently enter into the life of someone else struggling with sin. If you are struggling with a sin, overtaken by a temptation, defeated and trapped, who do you want next to you? Someone self-righteous and critical or someone with the grace and compassion of Christ?

But watch yourself… Helping someone struggling with sin can be dangerous to our own spiritual walk. To enter into their world exposes us to their temptation. For instance, helping someone struggling with pornography exposes us to the same temptation. We better be on our guard and aware of our own weaknesses. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corin. 10:12).

Carry each other’s burdens… Helping someone overcome temptation and sin is not easy. It will emotionally and physically drain you. It is entering into the ditch, picking them up, getting under their burden, and helping them carry it. Such ministry fulfills the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).

If anyone thinks he is something… Here is Paul’s stern warning against pride and self-righteousness. Deep down we tend to find a sick sense of satisfaction when we someone else sins. Why do you think the tabloids and Hollywood gossip shows are so popular? The faults and falls of others prop up our own insecure need for validation. “Hey, at least I am not as bad as they are!” Since we all fall short of God’s perfect righteousness, we prefer to compare ourselves to others rather than to the holiness of God. A critical spirit is evidence of an insecure, self-righteous heart.

Each one should test his own actions… In other words, quit comparing yourself to others! If God is working in your own heart and you are seeing progress, then praise God! Rejoice in that. Don’t rejoice because you perceive that you are more spiritual and/or less sinful than those around you.

For each one should carry his own load. We each have our own calling from the Lord. I can’t compare myself to you because God has created, designed, and gifted me differently. As Jesus said to Peter, when Peter was overly concerned about God’s plan for John, “That’s none of your business, Peter. You follow Me.” (loose paraphrase of John 21:22). Stop comparing and start caring.

Lord, give me Your eyes to see the needs and struggles of those around me. May I be Your hands and feet today.

¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

There is a battle in our hearts. Our selfish, sinful nature does not die at salvation. We are to reckon it as dead (Romans 6:11) but it still breathes within us.

Within me, there is a pull toward sin. I am prone to selfishness. I resist God’s will. I struggle with my own thoughts and emotions. I feel impulses that I do not want to feel. I think thoughts I do not want to think. And I deceive myself in the process. Blaming others, God, or my environment for my problems and struggles. As Paul would say, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Paul answers his own question. “I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25)

Galatians picks up on this same theme. How do we defeat the sinful nature that rages within us? We “live by the Spirit.” Is this easy? No way. Our flesh and the Spirit that indwells us are “in conflict with each other.” So is the answer to try harder? Not really. Because of the power of sin, “you do not do what you want.” Martin Luther called this the “bondage of our wills.” We are powerless against the desires of the flesh. Trying harder, in our own strength, only leads to greater frustration, despair, or the exchange of one sin pattern for another. The answer is counter-intuitive. Instead of trying harder in the flesh, we yield more to the Spirit.

What does that mean in everyday life? It means that the key to victory over sin is growing more in love with Jesus Christ. The more I desire Him, the less I desire sin. For instance, on a human level, the best defense against sexual immorality is a healthy, growing love relationship with one’s wife. The more I desire her, the less I desire the temptations of this world. I still must be diligent and vigilant but these things are motivated out of love not duty. The greatest motivation for righteousness is always love. And in Jesus Christ, we have a love that will never change or let us down.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

So each morning, my first responsibility is to connect with my Savior. Yield to Him. Listen to Him. Ask for His strength. Find a reason to rejoice in Him. Allow myself to be loved by Him. Then as I walk through the day, I continue to meditate on His Word, commune with Him in prayer, and experience His peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life.

It is a learning process. It doesn’t happen overnight. But each day we walk in the Spirit, we establish a pattern for the next.

Lord, increase my hunger for You. Thank You for Your unending love toward me. Help me to yield to Your Spirit today.

12I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. 13As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 14Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

You see Paul’s heart in this passage. The Galatian believers have departed from the simplicity of the gospel. They received Jesus Christ in humility and faith but then slowly drifted into self-righteous, legalistic Christianity. Paul is grieved in his heart. The relationship he had once had with the Galatian believers has been strained…not because of personal issues but because of their change in focus, belief, and practice.

I can think in my own life of times that fellowship with another believer was strained over similar differences. Additional beliefs and legalistic practices were added to the simplicity of the gospel. Baptism, speaking in tongues, Bible versions, observance of holidays, music preferences, evangelism styles, etc. All of these things can be elevated to the level of essential doctrine. Soon the cross is lost in a myriad of new regulations, rituals, and requirements. And the beauty of fellowship is turned into a bone of contention.

There is a key phrase that pops out to me in Paul’s words. What has happened to all your joy? That about sums it up. When the joy of our salvation is gone, then something is out of whack. When I start walking around with a sour attitude, a critical spirit, and complaining words, then I can be sure of one thing…I am not walking in the Spirit. I need to stop and check my focus. I need to ask what has replaced God’s grace and the cross of Christ in my life. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14)!

As someone once said, “We need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” I am a sinner. I fall short. I have no room for pride or arrogance. I am saved by grace. I am reconciled through the cross of Christ. I am a child of God through the mercy of God. I can do nothing apart from His strength, His Spirit. I am called to bless others (1 Peter 3:9). And I am an ambassador of good news, telling others in love how they can be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20). That is the simplicity of the gospel.

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit this morning. Correct any critical spirit or negative attitude in me. Deliver me from self-righteousness. Remind me of the beauty of grace. Open my mouth to praise You today. Give me Your joy.

¹⁷“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

On the surface, it is hard to follow Paul’s argument here. I had to read it several times to try to sort it out in my mind. To understand it, you have to know the context. Paul’s words come right after his public rebuke of Peter.

Here’s the story…Peter comes to the church in Antioch where Paul and Barnabas are ministering. He sees all these new Gentile believers. He is excited about how the gospel has impacted so many Gentiles and he freely eats with and fellowships with these new Gentile believers. Then some of Peter’s more conservative Jewish friends arrive in Antioch. These Jewish “believers” are convinced that Gentiles need to become Jews first in order to be truly saved. They are not going to eat with “Gentile sinners” until they become Jewish in nature. Peter feels awkward and embarrassed to hang around the Gentile believers while these Jewish friends are around. He pulls away and reverts back to his conservative, separatist ways. Paul rebukes Peter for his duplicity and his cowardice. “If Gentiles are saved by faith alone, and not by following Jewish laws, then act like it, Peter!”

Ever had something like that happen? Someone is buddy-buddy with you until another set of friends shows up and then they pull away from you to “save face.” It is a cowardly move to begin with…but in this case it was worse because it was also an affront to the gospel of grace. And Peter’s actions, as a leader in the early church, had enormous ramifications.

With that story in mind, in verses 17-21, Paul deals with a big question/objection that is on the conservative Jewish “believers” minds…”If Gentiles can become righteous before God without keeping the law, then it is too easy! If we don’t tell them to keep the law, then they will live like sinners. Christ will actually be encouraging sin!”

It is the perennial objection to the gospel of grace. If a person is saved by faith alone, not by works, then what motivation do they have for living a good life? They could believe in Christ, get their sins covered, and then live like the devil, right? So let’s prevent that by adding some legalistic rules after salvation to keep them in line.

Paul vehemently objects to this thought. Adding rules to the gospel of grace doesn’t decrease sin, it actually increases it. Because once again, we are back to the self-righteous, prideful, I am superior to you mentality.

So what is the motivation to live righteously? It is not the law and more rules. It is a fuller understanding of grace.

Here is the best illustration I can think of…what is the best way to build a good marriage? Is it to design more rules that the husband and wife have to keep? Or is it to encourage the husband and wife to go deeper in their understanding of love for one another? You see, keeping rules is still “all about me.” I did this and this and now I should be able to expect this, this, and this from you. We like this kind of system. Lots of defined rules…with a system of scorekeeping that usually bends in our favor.

But Paul says that the greatest motivation for righteous living is not law-keeping but love. Relationship trumps religion every time.

I am crucified with Christ. Christ died my death. He took my place. He bore my sins. Thus, it was “me” on that cross with Christ.

I no longer live but Christ lives in me. My life is so tied to Christ that I no longer live “my life.” I live with Christ, for Christ, in Christ. And, miracle of miracles, Christ now lives in me, empowering me and directing my actions.

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Jesus Christ loved me and sacrificed everything for me. That kind of love grips me, motivates me, changes me. I don’t live righteously to follow some rules. I live righteously because I am bonded with Christ and want to please Him.

I am not a huge fan of “The Message” which is a paraphrase of the Scriptures written by Eugene Petersen. (Actually I just don’t like paraphrases because they are usually marketed and read by people as if they were “Bible translations” rather than as Bible commentaries.) But in this case, I think Petersen explains Galatians 2:17-21 in a way that makes sense.

^17-18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

^19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Lord, thank You for Your love! Thank You for the freedom of grace! Since You have demonstrated and pledged Your unconditional love to me, may I live a life of unending gratitude and joyful good works for You.

1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

When I first read this passage I was thinking that Paul was talking about Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council. But actually, since it was a private meeting, the reference is to Acts 11:27-30.

27During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Paul and Barnabas, along with Titus, go to Jerusalem to deliver a financial gift from the church at Antioch. That in itself is pretty cool. The Antioch church hears that a famine is coming so their first response is to take up a collection of money for a group of believers who will suffer more than they will. Wow. Our first response is usually to hoard what we have not give to others in need. I am reminded of the ministry of Voice of the Martyrs and their care for believers in suffering. They have an Action Pack ministry that sends needed supplies to persecuted believers around the world. It is a good project to work on with your family (or you can join our senior saints ministry and send some out with us). http://www.persecution.com/actionpacks

When Paul and Barnabas arrive, the issue of circumcision comes up. Titus, a Gentile convert, had never been circumcised. Many Jewish “believers” insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation. This is the main issue in Acts 15 too.

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)

The issue seems a little odd to us today but it was the first serious challenge to the gospel in the early church. What is necessary for salvation in Christ? Faith alone. Or faith plus circumcision. Faith plus anything changes the gospel. Faith plus baptism. Faith plus speaking in tongues. Faith plus the sacraments. Once we add to the gospel, we change it.

Paul lays the issue before the apostles. What is the good news? Is it For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast? Or is it something else?

The apostles agree that it is faith alone in Jesus Christ that makes a person right before God. When a person recognizes their sin, their bankruptcy before God, their powerlessness to save themselves, and calls upon the name of the Lord and receives Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are immediately adopted into the family of God. This is the good news! Salvation is a gift…not a series of pilgrimages and tasks and rituals that I must complete. I am not saved by works but by faith.

Lord, thank You for the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. May I never complicate the simplicity of Your gospel. May I share that good news with someone else today.