Summary
Burden Bearing
"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" Galatians 6:2. The Greek word translated burden (baros) pictures something heavy and difficult to carry. Every believer carries such weights at one time or another—grief over a loved one, financial strain, broken relationships, struggles at work. One of the most beautiful marks of the church is the way Christians come around one another in those moments: sitting in silence with the sorrowing, listening, sharing an encouraging word from Scripture, bringing a meal, lending a hand where help is needed.
But the burden Paul has primarily in view in Galatians 6:1 is heavier still and presses against our comfort zones: "Brothers and sisters, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness." The word translated detected means overtaken—like an animal caught and tangled in brush. The picture is not a person whispering gossip we happen to overhear, but a fellow Christian ensnared and trapped by a particular sin. To bear that burden is to love them enough to move toward them so that, by God's grace, they may be restored.
This task is not reserved for a special class of "spiritual" Christians. "You who have received the Spirit" addresses the whole congregation—every baptized believer in whom the Holy Spirit dwells through faith in Christ. To restore means to help a brother or sister recognize the sin that has overtaken them, so that they might repent and receive forgiveness. Paul rebukes the Corinthians for refusing to do exactly this: a man was living in open immorality and the church looked the other way, congratulating itself rather than mourning 1 Corinthians 5:1-2. True love does not look the other way.
Two cautions guard the work. First, it is to be done "in a spirit of gentleness"—not with harshness, superiority, or a desire to expose. Second, "take care that you yourselves are not tempted" Galatians 6:1. The one who restores must remain humble, aware of his or her own susceptibility to sin. This is bearing in the sense of carrying alongside, like an ancient servant shouldering a heavy load, not bearing in the sense of merely "putting up with."
Such a calling is only possible because of the One we follow. Christ Himself bore the ultimate burden for us: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" Galatians 3:13. "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" Galatians 4:4-5. We restore others because we ourselves have been restored at the cross and the empty tomb. We do for someone else because Someone Else has done everything for us.
This is what it means to fulfill the law of Christ—the new commandment that we love one another as He has loved us John 13:34, the whole law summed up in "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" Galatians 5:14. The church is not merely a society of friends; it is a family. At every baptism a new brother or sister is welcomed into the household of God, and family carries a deeper level of commitment than friendship alone. Burden Bearing in this fullest sense—gently moving toward a brother or sister caught in sin so that they might be restored—is one of the most profound blessings one Christian can leave with another. God repositions our comfort zones, and people are blessed.
Video citations
- "Burden Bearing" — Would you open your Bible please with me today for our study in Galatians 6, chapter. Galatians 6 for our study today. Comfort zones. We all have them. Don't we? For example, if you were to say,…