Galatians 6: Sow to the Spirit Without Growing Weary

Introduction

"You can do one of two things: sow to the flesh or sow to the Spirit." On the Sunday the clocks changed, Pastor Rubén Gramaje of the Iglesia Evangélica Bautista El Buen Pastor in Madrid closed his series on the letter to the Galatians, one sermon per chapter. He reached chapter 6 with a practical conclusion for the Church.

The verse that carries the whole message is Galatians 6:8: "For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." The Bible presents many things that cannot go together, the pastor reminds us. Here is one more, and the consequences are serious.

He draws three keys from Galatians 6:1-10, addressed to the brothers and sisters, the family of faith: restore with gentleness, bear one another's burdens, and do not grow weary of doing good.

Outline of the Message

1. Two Kinds of Sowing That Cannot Go Together

The Bible presents many things that cannot go together: you cannot serve God and riches, and you cannot have other gods before the true God (the first commandment).
You cannot walk through the wide gate and the narrow gate at the same time: you have to choose. The Bible also contrasts the children of light with the children of darkness, and says that blessing and cursing cannot come out of the same mouth.
Paul speaks to the Corinthians about being unequally yoked: this is why believers marry believers.
Galatians 6 adds one more: sowing to the flesh or sowing to the Spirit. Paul writes that he bears on his body the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). The pastor asks the question: what are our marks? Are we believers who sow to the Spirit?

2. A Ladder of Sanctification

The pastor sums up the series as a progression, a ladder leading up until Christ is formed in us.
Chapter 1: seek God's favor rather than trying to please others. Chapter 2: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Chapter 3: live by the Spirit we have been given.
Chapter 4: the high point, until Christ is formed in us, in our character, our words and our actions. Chapter 5: the call to freedom, because Christ has set us free, so let's not go back.
In the Christian life, you sometimes step down one rung and then have to climb two. Chapter 6 ends with applications for the Church: sow to the Spirit, and do it with perseverance.
The Spirit is a person. Paul says elsewhere that we can grieve him and that we must not quench him. Put positively: we must walk by the Spirit and please him.

3. The First Key: Restore with Gentleness

"Brothers, even if a man is caught in some wrongdoing, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1). Gentleness is part of the fruit of the Spirit described in the previous chapter.
Being gentle is not being weak: it describes someone who keeps their strength under control, someone humble. The Bible presents Moses as a gentle man.
We do not know Paul's tone, only his writing, but the pastor hears it as a "go ahead, you who are spiritual." To the Romans, Paul includes himself: "We who are strong ought to put up with the weaknesses of the weak."
The word suggests putting something back in working order: knowing the way and putting back on it the one who has strayed. If you ask someone for directions and they answer, "I'm not from around here, I'm lost too," they cannot help you. You can only help if you know the way.
The believer learns from Jesus, an even greater example than Moses: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart." The Lord gives rest to the soul and the direction you need.

4. Watch Yourself

"Looking to yourself." You who have had to lay your burdens down before the Lord, you who have asked for forgiveness, you can help someone who has been caught in wrongdoing.
The pastor thinks of the woman caught in adultery who was brought to Jesus. He does not fall into the trap and answers: "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her."
"Let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). The Lord's mercy is new every morning. "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30, read at the morning Bible study). His loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear him (Psalm 103).
Look at your own life first if you want to help the lives of others. You don't walk into an operating room saying, "Don't worry, I brought some bandages."
His mother used to repeat a proverb: "It's always the lame man who talks about racing." Jesus says it more plainly: you cannot take the speck out of someone else's eye with a plank in your own. He rebukes the Pharisees for straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel: attentive to superficial details, they swallowed injustice.

5. The Second Key: A Love That Bears Burdens

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). The Galatians were insisting on the old laws, even circumcision. Paul did not mince words (Galatians 5:12). Here he tells them in essence: since you love talking about law, let's talk about the law of Christ, love for your neighbor.
"Love, but love well. Love, and love better," in quantity and in quality, with humility, like Jesus who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.
Just as children want to resemble their parents, God's children want to resemble God, a compassionate, patient God who bears burdens: "Cast your burden on Yahweh and he will sustain you" (Psalm 55).
A shared load weighs less. The pastor says how much he loves the Thursday prayer meeting, where we share our concerns with our brothers and sisters and seek the Lord together. The point is to lighten other people's weight, not to add to it as the Pharisees did.
The law of Christ is tied to his message. In the synagogue, Jesus opens Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor," to set the captives free. Then: "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4).
It is the Spirit who set us free, who took away our guilt, who convicted us of sin. Whoever has found the keys to their own chains can tell others that Christ sets people free. The God who bore your guilt can bear the guilt of that loved one who has not yet accepted the Lord and who may be living their last days.

6. The Third Key: Do Not Grow Weary of Doing Good

"Let's not be weary in doing good": let's not grow weary of talking about Christ and proclaiming the Gospel, because many people need it.
Do it responsibly, because "each man will bear his own burden" (Galatians 6:5): you cannot pass your responsibilities on to others. Paul tells the Corinthians that it is the Lord who judges him. "That comforts us, but it also commits us."
Sowing means working the soil, which is very hard work. The pastor quotes a proverb: "If you want something, it costs you." Spiritually, it costs a great deal: following the Lord, "it is no longer I who live," denying yourself. And it is every day.
In the fields, you have to get up early, go out every day, take the sun and come back the next day. We read about the fruit of the Spirit and say, "I need patience, gentleness, faith and self-control, a double portion please." The secret is consistency: sowing and sowing again, eyes fixed on Jesus, in the race of faith.
"We will reap in due season if we don't give up" (Galatians 6:9). Chronos is the time that passes, kairos is the appointed time, the opportune moment. The harvest comes in the Lord's time: that part depends on him, and all we have to do is trust him. Our part is never to lose heart and never to throw in the towel.

7. How Are You Using Your Time?

The pastor comes back to the hour gained that night. If you spent it sleeping, "that is a very good investment": resting in the Lord is part of it. The question is what we are using our time for.
"So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12): learning to count chronos while keeping the Lord's kairos in mind.
Is Christ being formed in you, or are burdens getting in the way? Work, exams, your schedule, responsibilities, or the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21. The flesh cannot go together with the Spirit: "You cannot sow to the flesh and reap from the Spirit."
Sow faith, even small as a mustard seed, as long as it is real. He does his part: if a mountain has to move, it moves.
Sow gentleness and work on your character. Sow patience: Jesus announces that lawlessness will increase, that the love of many will grow cold, and that the one who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24). Sow love and joy. You will be able to lighten your own burdens first, then, if the Lord grants you the privilege, help others carry theirs.

Key Takeaways

Sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit cannot go together: the flesh produces corruption, the Spirit eternal life.
Restoring a brother or sister means putting them back on the path, with gentleness, while watching yourself. You can only guide others if you know the way.
The law of Christ is love that bears the burdens of others without growing weary, in the image of a God who bears ours.
Each of us also carries our own responsibility before the Lord, who is our judge.
The harvest comes in God's kairos. Our part is consistency: sowing every day without losing heart.

Personal Application

Looking at this past week, have you sown more to the flesh or to the Spirit?
Is there someone around you who has strayed from the path and whom you could help get back up, gently?
Before correcting someone, have you taken the time to look at yourself and remember the forgiveness you received?
What burden of a brother or sister could you carry with them in prayer this week?
In what area are you tempted to give up, when the harvest comes in the Lord's time?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to sow to the Spirit in Galatians 6:8?

For Rubén Gramaje, sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit are two paths that cannot go together. Whoever sows to their own flesh reaps corruption, whoever sows to the Spirit reaps eternal life. Sowing to the Spirit means cultivating every day the faith, gentleness, patience and love of Christ, like work in the fields that demands consistency.

How do you restore a brother or sister caught in wrongdoing according to Galatians 6:1?

In a spirit of gentleness and while watching yourself. The preacher explains that restoring means putting someone who has strayed back on the right path. You can only do it if you know the way yourself, and by remembering that you have needed the Lord's forgiveness too.

What does reaping in due season mean in Galatians 6:9?

Rubén Gramaje distinguishes chronos, the time that passes, from kairos, the time God appoints. The harvest comes in the Lord's time: that part depends on him, and all we have to do is trust him. Our part is not to lose heart and to keep sowing.