Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Bearing - Galatians 6:1-5

Galatians 6:1-5 ESV 
​Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

At first glance this passage may be confusing. One the one hand we are bear one another's burdens and on the other hand we are told we each will have to bear our own load. Which is it? Answer - it's both. 

The Greek word for burden carries the meaning of heaviness or trouble. We are to help each other as we deal with life, lending our strength to another who is struggling, and receiving help when we need it. 

The Greek word for load has to do with the commandments of Christ, which is summed up in the phrase "faith expressing itself in love." His load,or expectation, is light because He bears us along the way. That is our own load. It is what we drag across the finish line, how we persevere to the end, how we live out our faith which will be rewarded by Christ. 


No comments: