Lesson 81
December 15, 2002
Gal.
6:7 Deception related to Sowing and
Reaping
Do not be deceived, God is not
mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
To
claim that one accepts the whole counsel of God as found in His Word and then
to act in contradiction to what the Word commands so clearly is to treat God
with contempt, to mock Him.
for whatever a man sows, this he
will also reap.
- This a
principle which relates results to causes.
Here
Paul states the basic principle of sowing and reaping to lay the groundwork for
the spiritual principles to come in the next verse.
Summary
1. We must
learn that God is not going to conform His thinking or change His immutable
laws to conform to or accept man's standards.
2. Yet this
is precisely what the legalist or the works oriented religious type who is just
going through the motions is attempting to do,
that is fool God into accepting what he thinks.
3. The
fruit or result of this sowing is being deceived that is producing from the
flesh and therefore will not result in the contentment or what they expect.
4. In the
context the self deception and attempts to mock God result from failure to
produce divine good, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in a number of areas:
a. failure to forgive the one caught in a
trespass who desires restoration
6:1.
b. failure
to help another believer with a heavy burden when it was possible to do so 6:2.
c. failure
in self examination by the right standard the Word not another's works 6:4.
d. failure
to orient within one's own niche, bearing one's own load 6:5.
e. failure
to support the local assembly when able to do so.
Gal.
6:8 Principle of Sowing and Reaping
related to the Spiritual life - application.
For the one
who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption,
This sowing to the flesh and reaping corruption is
parallel to not inheriting back in 5:21.
Now the
contrast
but the one who sows to the
Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Couple
of basics:
1. Eternal
life is fundamentally a quality of life in relationship with God.
2. E.L.
given at salvation is by faith alone; in a sense is static, your possession
from the moment you believe in Him all the way through eternity.
3. E.L.
that is related to what we do in time is dynamic and related to faith and
obedience,
4. This use
of E.L. is not unusual at all. Of the 41 times eternal life is found in
Scripture, 11 of them do not refer to a free gift as a result of faith but they
refer as our passage does to something earned, earned from walking by the
Spirit manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
- Examples:
Rom. 2:7; John 12:25-26; 1 Tim. 6:12
Summary 6:8
1. Two
important factors from the context give us clues as to the primary
interpretation.
#1. The
immediate context down through vs:10 deals with money, giving, meeting material
logistical needs.
#2. Paul is
dealing here with the character of the believer, that is what is the sphere of rulership of
the believer's life, the flesh or the
Spirit.
Sowing
from one or the other.
2. Sowing
to the flesh/sin nature indicates that the overt production in the life is
always corruption, what is decaying from God's
viewpoint.
3. The only
harvest that this kind of sowing reaps is a harvest of divine discipline, no
rewards, no inheritance as we noted in 5:21.
4. On the
other hand sowing to (eivj) the Spirit, living our life empowered by the
Spirit and therefore walking by the Spirit.
This results in benefits in our life now as well as an inheritance for
eternity.
5. These
rewards from the DGP in time, the 'fruit of the Spirit' will be received at the Judgement seat of
Christ, the Bema Seat. 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Cor 3:12-15; Rom 14:10, 12
6. What
Paul is trying to get across to us is this:
The believer who takes all his assets and sets his priorities and sows
to please his sin nature, that one will reap a harvest that will fade into
oblivion, be worthless, have no value.
7. On the
other hand the believer who sets his priorities and values to pursue his life
in Christ to the maximum will produce much DGP (divine good production) and
will reap a harvest that will not fade
away and result in a reward, an eternal inheritance.
6:9 Encouragement not to loose heart
And let us not lose heart in
doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
And let us not lose heart in
doing good evgkake,w speaks of
growing weary; to give up, become discouraged, to lose heart
for in due time we shall reap if
we do not grow weary.
- The
reference to time here has to refer to God's timing, not always ours, idea is
that of due or proper time.
Summary
6:9
1. We are
never to give up and quit doing good, what is right and honorable before the
Lord even when our doing is not
producing the results we would like to immediately see. 2 Ths. 3:13
2. We
should always look to the example of Jesus Christ and not become fatigued so
that we stop producing DGP in our lives Heb. 12:2-3
3. The only
way to prevent this potential hazard is through the consistent consumption of
spiritual nourishment, from the Word of God.
- lack of physical food leads to physical
fatigue.
- lack of BD/RS leads to soul fatigue - fainting due to lack of
resources
4. This
renewal of the inner man, the new man in Christ
encourages us so that we do not loose heart. 2 Cor 4:16
5. We may
never realize in life overt material
blessing that others do, but we are guaranteed surpassing blessing in eternity,
our inheritance in Christ.
6. God
will not forget your DGP Heb. 6:10
7. The P/T
can never afford to loose his determination in his objective to communicate the
truth 2 Cor 4:1-2.
8. The
congregation should not loose heart, their determination over the various CHP's that I as the P/T
might experience. Eph 3:13