09/11/2022–Galatians 6 (NKJV)–On A Personal Note
(Click on Video Thumbnail Below, to Watch on YouTube)
While reading this chapter(whether in the New King James version linked above, or in ANY version), one should realize who the comments are going TO…it’s “you who are spiritual…” Those who have already accepted the love of Jesus and recognized His grace in and on our lives, are supposed to:
1…restore such a one (a “trespasser”–read Galatians 5 for more input on that) in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to ourselves, so that we, too, will not be tempted.
2…bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ (who ALREADY fulfilled the Old Testament LAW)…
3…not deceive ourselves by thinking more highly about who we are (as in “better than a trespasser” in God’s eyes)…
4…examine our own “works,” in order to have ANY REASON AT ALL FOR BOASTING, in regard to even ourselves alone, let alone in comparison to others…
5…bear only our OWN loads (by picking up THOSE loads and handing them over to God, rather than griping about things that bother us about other people)–this does NOT mean you can’t intercede FOR others (not AGAINST them)…but that’s a different conversation altogether…
6…(being the ones who have been taught the word) share all good things with the one who teaches us (as in giving encouragement and support to the teacher of the good things)…
7…not be deceived (because God is not mocked), remembering that whatever WE sow, this will WE also reap (still talking to those who have “grown up” in the Lord)…
8…NOT be one who sows to his own flesh (because in doing that, we will reap fleshly corruption), but DO be one who sows to the Spirit (because in doing that, we will reap spiritual life)…
9…not lose heart in doing good, because in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (of doing good)…
10…(while we still have opportunities here on Earth) do good to ALL people (including to those who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ–no matter what they may look like, physically–no matter if they haven’t yet grown to a point in the Spirit where they have been able to let go of and get rid of some earthly things they’ve been hanging onto for a long time)…
11…listen carefully to what God is telling our fellow believers who are, themselves, “disciples of Christ”…
12…NOT let those who desire to make a “good showing” in the fleshly world, compel any of us to be “circumcised” (as a way of showing, under the law, that one was a true believer), simply so we will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. (In other words…we are not to get back “under the Law,” that was already FULFILLED by our Perfect Lamb, simply because we are afraid of either worldly OR denominational persecution.)…
13…realize that some of those who are already circumcised (now that they actually DO know what Jesus did to fulfill all of the Law) do not even keep the Law themselves, yet (through wrong-thinking), they want EVERYONE to go back and do the things THEY had to do, so that things will feel more “familiar and right” to them…
14…not boast about ANYTHING except our Lord Jesus Christ–through whom everyone in the entire world (ENTIRE means WHOLE, which means ALL) has also been crucified, raised from the dead, and made heirs with Him (even if a person has not yet ACCEPTED that fact)…
15…realize that neither circumcision NOR non-circumcision (or any other “sign,” “signal,” or “brand”) means anything at all; it is ONLY the acceptance of our RESTORED lives through belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, that means EVERYTHING…
16…remember that all who will walk by THIS ideal, will walk in the peace and mercy of (meaning FROM) the “Israel of God,” because we ALL (Jews AND Gentiles) have received the sonship proclaimed over us by our Lord Jesus Christ…who BECAME one of us, then who BECAME our Perfect Sacrifice Lamb, and then who FULFILLED ALL of the Law, thus becoming–by the New Covenant HE made with us–our ONLY HIGH PRIEST, to whom He presented His very own blood–FOR US)…
NOTE…
In #16, above, the term “Israel of God,” is CORRECT. The peace and mercy God decreed over His Israel, is OURS, as well, as believers in the risen Christ.
17…let no one (not any man, and not any demon) cause trouble for us, for we now all bear in our own bodies, the brand-marks (stripes) of Jesus…
18…remember that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, breathed into us by Holy Spirit (NOT THE LAW, which was written on tablets of STONE), should rule and reign in every word and every action we take toward each other. Amen.
BONUS…
There’s a WONDERFUL sermon (named “WHATEVER”) by Bill Vanderbush) that fits right in the middle between the video about God’s LOVE, and this one (two weeks apart). Bill spoke the message nine months ago, but I JUST saw it on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. SO, SO GOOD!!!