Galatians 6 Study Notes

6:1 A person who falls into sin at a vulnerable point should be spiritually restored in a gentle manner (part of “the fruit of the Spirit,” 5:23). A danger for those doing such restoration is that they themselves might be pulled into the sin.

6:2 The person whose life is controlled by the Holy Spirit (v. 1) is to come alongside and help carry the physical, emotional, or spiritual load threatening to crush his fellow believers. The law of Christ is “love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14). This is focused somewhat in Jesus’s new commandment, “Love one another” (Jn 13:34). It was not possible to keep the entire law of Moses (Gl 3:10,12), but it is possible to fulfill both that law (5:14) and the law of Christ through loving actions.

6:3-5 Anyone who considers himself superior to a fallen believer is deceiving himself and risks being tempted also (v. 1). We cannot legitimately compare ourselves to someone else because each person is assigned a different load (Gk phortion; not the same word as in v. 2, but meaning “cargo, capacity”) by the Lord.

6:6 The principle that the one who is taught the Scriptures should support the teacher is also stated elsewhere by Paul (1Co 9:11,14; 1Tm 5:17). In this context it is an application of “carry one another’s burdens” (v. 2).

6:7 “A person cannot claim to accept the gospel and the obligations that come with it and at the same time live in obedience to the flesh instead of the Spirit” (Ronald Y. K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians).

6:8 Destruction here may refer to: (1) eternal damnation (5:21) or (2) loss of eternal rewards (1Co 3:12-15). Eternal life does not mean earning your salvation since justification before God is through faith (2:16). It refers to life from the Holy Spirit (Rm 6:22).

6:9-10 The Christian life is a marathon race, so let us not get tired (i.e., grow weary or lose heart). Doing good is not seeking to be justified by works, but living as God has planned for those who have received his gracious salvation through faith (Eph 2:8-10). To “sow to the Spirit” over the long haul means taking the opportunity (Gk kairos, “opportune or appointed time”) that the Lord places before us to work for the good of all.

6:11 Paul had dictated the earlier part of the letter to an unnamed amanuensis, or secretary, and now he added a postscript in his own handwriting. Some believe that the oversized letters (large letters) indicate that Paul was having problems with his eyesight (see note at 4:14-15). See also 1Co 16:21; Col 4:18; 2Th 3:17; Phm 19.

6:12-13 The Jewish teachers who were compelling the Galatians to be circumcised were doing so for appearance’s sake and to avoid being persecuted by unbelieving Jews for the cross of Christ, as Paul had been (Ac 14:19). They had no basis for boasting since they could not keep the law themselves (see note at 3:10).

6:14-15 The only basis for believers to boast is in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, which makes each of us a new creation (see 2Co 5:17). On the world has been crucified to me, see notes at 2:19-20; 5:24-26 (cp. 1Jn 2:15-17). On both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing, see Gl 5:6; 1Co 7:19.

6:16 The Israel of God may mean: (1) the Gentile church, which through faith has inherited the promise God gave to Abraham (3:29) or (2) more likely, the “remnant” of believing Israel “chosen by grace” (Rm 11:5), as opposed to the “false brothers” among the Jews (Gl 2:4), who were seeking to be justified by “the works of the law” (2:16).

6:17 Paul asked that this letter put an end to the trouble he had been facing because of standing against justification by the works of the law and for justification by faith (2:16). Paul’s scars were from injuries he had received through persecution (Ac 14:19; 2Co 11:23-25). He considered these far more significant than the “mark” of circumcision (Gl 6:12-13,15).

6:18 Paul ended Galatians on the same note with which he began—grace (see note at 1:3). It is also significant that in Paul’s last sentence he addresses the Galatians as brothers and sisters. Although they have been tempted by “another gospel” (Gl 1:7), Paul ends this letter in the hope that they remain brothers and sisters.