Bible Reading

Galatians Chapter 6 - Bear the Right Burdens

Are you carrying the wrong burdens, or bearing the right ones in the love of Christ?

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A little robe

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Contents

There’s an old story of a weary traveller walking down a dusty road with a heavy pack on his back. A kind man driving a cart saw him struggling and offered him a ride. Grateful, the traveller climbed onto the cart, but kept his pack strapped to his shoulders.

When the driver asked why, the traveller said, “You’re already carrying me, I couldn’t trouble you to carry my burden too.”

Of course, the driver laughed. The moment the man climbed on the cart, his burden was already being carried, whether on his shoulders or at his feet. But the traveller chose to continue to bear the burdens he really didn't need to.

That’s exactly what Paul warns against in Galatians 6.

Some believers in Galatia were preaching that Christians needed to return to obeying the Law of Moses, and compelling people to be circumcised. But Jesus had already taken away the heavy load of the Law of Moses. To go back and try to carry it again would make them like the traveller, sitting in the cart but still straining under a pack that has already been lifted.

To return to the law is to place yourself under a heavy yoke once more. The Law of Moses was difficult to keep completely. (Acts 15:10) And this is why Jesus came.

Christ has carried our greatest burden

Jesus did not abolish the law, He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). And because He loves us, He took this burden away from us. Let us therefore not impose extra burdens on ourselves or others, preaching that we earn God’s favor through rigid rules or legalism.

Because Jesus gives us a new yoke if we come to Him, one that is light and easy (Matthew 11:30).

So Paul redirects us to bear the right burdens. What are these?

1. Bearing one another’s burdens

Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

We fulfil not the law of Moses, but the law of Christ. And what is the law of Christ? To love one another (Gal 5:14). We can now bear each other’s burdens because Christ has already borne ours. His love is the strength behind our love.

Galatians 6 begins with one example of bearing one another’s burdens - restoring brethren who do wrong (Gal 6:1). Only love, patience and gentleness can lead someone out of sin without causing them to stumble. As we bear with the failings of the weak, we build up the church for good (Rom 15:1-2).

Bearing one another's burdens could also look like empathising with someone else’s struggle, praying for a friend, or sharing time, resources, and encouragement to someone who needs it. Bearing burdens may not be about removing all their struggles, but about lightening the load by helping them carry it together. In doing so, we reflect Christ Himself.

And that is why we do not weary while doing good, because we are fuelled by the love of Christ and motivated by a true reward. (Gal 6:9)

2. Bearing our own load

Paul also says each one must bear their own load (Gal 6:5). This means a personal responsibility for our own walk with God. Even as we help one another, each of us has personal accountability before God.

While others can pray for, encourage, and support us, nothing can take the place of our own spiritual cultivation. Or, though we may be spiritual to restore another, none of us are always strong. We ought to examine ourselves and keep watch (Gal 6:4), to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). For each of us will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).

When we are faithful in our own spiritual lives, we can walk alongside others without stumbling ourselves and others.

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God calls us to live out the law of Christ in love. The impossible burdens have already been lifted; may we not take them up again. Instead, let us learn to take up the right burdens: bearing the burdens of our brethren, and of our own walk of faith.

Related Topics

Galatians

See Also

Romans Chapter 7: Is God’s law bad?

Romans Chapter 7: Is God’s law bad?

Our chapter today clarifies a key misconception in the Christian world: how we ought to look at the law. Some Christians go to the extent of describing the law as something Christians ought to avoid, justifying this with what Romans 6:14 instructs: “you are not under law but under grace”.  Given this current outcome of being “under grace”, some even think that God made a mistake instituting His law in the Old Testament in the first place. This misconception is particularly driven by the common phrase “law vs grace”, which pits them against each other.  When we take a closer look at Romans 7, we will see this is not to be so. Knowing that he was writing “to those who knew the law” (Romans 7:1), Paul set out to correct misconceptions about the law. What did Paul write about the law? How should we understand what the law is? 1. The law is not sin. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!” (Romans 7:7a) The law does not fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). It is not something God wishes to distance Himself away from.  2. The law sets the righteous standards of God, so that through it we understand what sin is, and by contrast, what God’s holiness is. ‘ I would not have known sin except through the law . For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”’ (Romans 7:7b) Elsewhere, the Bible states, “ the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24) The law helps us—and the Jews—to know Jesus Christ and His holiness, that we can believe in Him and follow Him. 3. The law is not evil, wicked, or sinful. In fact, it is holy and good. “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” (Romans 7:12) The law is “what is good” (Romans 7:13). And again, “the law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14). Seeing how many times Paul reiterated this fact, it’s clear that he strongly believed in this. 4. God intended the law to bring life, but our sinful nature causes us to die instead.  “Did that which is good [the law], then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good , in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” (Romans 7:13 ESV) “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” (Romans 7:5) The problem is sin.  5. Without the law, sin cannot exist. “ For apart from the law sin was dead .” (Romans 7:8b) Without the law, sin cannot exist, because there are no righteous standards for one to fall short of. Yet we cannot destroy the law just because we want to get rid of sin (Matthew 5:17-18). Without absolute standards of righteousness instituted by God, how then will we know if Christ is good, or if someone is evil?  All this might make us feel drab and hopeless, especially if we’re currently fighting against sin that we are struggling to overcome in our lives. But Paul speaks to our struggle, especially through the narrative frame his chapter takes.  The chapter begins with the analogy of marriage. Through her husband’s death, a woman is free from the law of her husband. Likewise, through the death of Jesus Christ, we are free from the law, yet still called to be righteous, for we must “bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4), At the chapter’s end, Paul personalizes that analogy into his own statement of faith, where he sees his victory over sin: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25) Truly, our God has a marvelous plan beyond our imagination.  He prepared the law to teach us God’s holiness and lead us to Jesus while executing just judgment on the wicked (1 Timothy 1:9). At the same time, knowing our weaknesses, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from a sinful nature we cannot flee on our own, so that we can still be saved (John 3:16). What can we do next? If you have not done so, repent and have your sins forgiven by (Acts 2:38).  Allow Jesus to work in your heart and circumcise it. This journey of victory over sin is a lifelong one where we keep God’s commandments, love Him with all our hearts and souls, and walk by the power of His grace (Romans 7:6; Romans 2:25-29; Deuteronomy 30:6).

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