Galatians 6
Bear One Another's Burdens 1–5
The Law of Sowing and Reaping 6–10
Paul's Final Appeal and Benediction 11–18
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Galatians 6
Verse 1
restore such an one — Katartizo, ‘to mend, set in order’, is the word for ‘mending their nets’ (Matt 4:21). It is done by those who are ‘spiritual’ (pneumatikos), the ones who walk by the Spirit (5:16, 25), ‘in the spirit of meekness’ (praotes, a fruit named in 5:23). ‘Fault’ is paraptoma, a false step; the restorer is to consider ‘lest thou also be tempted’.
Verse 2
one another’s burdens — Baros, a weight, is the word of Acts 15:28, ‘no greater burden than these necessary things’. ‘The law of Christ’ is love, the law’s sum in 5:14 and Christ’s ‘new commandment… That ye love one another’ (John 13:34). The verb ‘bear’ (bastazo) returns in v.5, where the load is a different word.
Verse 5
his own burden — Phortion, the load a person carries (Matt 11:30, ‘my burden is light’), not the baros of v.2. Verse 4 asks each to ‘prove his own work’, and each stands for himself before God: ‘every one of us shall give account of himself to God’ (Rom 14:12). Shared weights and a personal load sit side by side.
Verse 6
him that is taught… communicate — Katecheo, to instruct by word of mouth, is used of both the learner and the teacher. Koinoneo, ‘to share’, is the verb of Phil 4:15, ‘no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only’. The principle is in 1 Cor 9:14, ‘they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel’.
Verse 7
God is not mocked — Mykterizo, literally ‘to turn up the nose’ at, occurs only here. Sowing and reaping is the old figure of consequence: ‘He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity’ (Prov 22:8), ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy’ (Hos 10:12). ‘Be not deceived’ is planao, to lead astray, as in 1 Cor 6:9.
Verse 8
soweth to the Spirit — The ground is either the flesh or the Spirit, and the seed yields its own crop. ‘Corruption’ is phthora, decay, the word of 1 Cor 15:42, ‘It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption’. ‘Life everlasting’ answers it, as in Rom 6:23, ‘the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’.
Verse 9
be weary in well doing — Enkakeo, ‘to lose heart’, is used again in 2 Thess 3:13, ‘be not weary in well doing’, and 2 Cor 4:1, ‘we faint not’. ‘Faint’ (ekluo) is to be loosed or unstrung, as the crowd might ‘faint in the way’ (Matt 15:32). The reaping comes ‘in due season’ (kairos), at its own appointed time.
Verse 11
how large a letter — Pelikos, ‘how large’, occurs only here and Heb 7:4, ‘how great this man was’. ‘Letter’ is gramma, written characters, so the verse is read either of the size of the letters or the length of the epistle. ‘With mine own hand’ marks Paul’s own writing, as in 1 Cor 16:21, ‘The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand’.
Verse 12
make a fair shew in the flesh — Euprosopeo, ‘to make a fair face’, occurs only here. ‘Constrain’ is anankazo, the verb of 2:3, where Titus was not ‘compelled to be circumcised’, and of 2:14. The motive is stated as avoiding ‘persecution for the cross of Christ’, the cost Paul accepts in 5:11.
Verse 14
God forbid that I should glory — Me genoito, as in 2:17 and 3:21, here against any boast but ‘the cross’, named in 5:11 as the offence and in 6:12 as the cause of persecution. The boast was always to be in the LORD: ‘let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me’ (Jer 9:24). ‘Crucified’ (stauroo) repeats 5:24, and 2:20 has the same verb with ‘with’ added.
Verse 15
a new creature — Kaine ktisis, ‘a new creation’, is the phrase of 2 Cor 5:17, ‘if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature’. The first half repeats 5:6, ‘neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision’. What counts is a new creation, ‘the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness’ (Eph 4:24).
Verse 16
the Israel of God — ‘Rule’ is kanon, a measure, as in 2 Cor 10:13, ‘the measure of the rule which God hath distributed’; it is the standard of the new creation in v.15. The phrase ‘Israel of God’ occurs only here. It is read of all who are Abraham’s seed in Christ (3:29; Rom 9:6–8) and of believing Israel in particular; peace and mercy rest on those who walk by the rule.
Verse 17
the marks of the Lord Jesus — Stigma, a mark pricked or branded in, occurs only here. Paul bears them ‘in my body’, with the verb (bastazo) of vv.2 and 5: the beatings and the stoning he lists in 2 Cor 11:23–25. They stand against the mark of circumcision, in whose ‘flesh’ others make a show (vv.12–13).
Verse 18
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ — The letter opened with ‘Grace be to you and peace’ (1:3) and closes on the same word, the one it defended in 2:21, ‘I do not frustrate the grace of God’, and 5:4. ‘Be with your spirit’ is also the close of Philemon 25. ‘Amen’ (amen) is the Hebrew ‘so be it’.