Sunday Morning Bible Study: Galatians 6 — Bearing One Another’s Burdens
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Updated: 1 day ago
Last week, we studied Galatians 5, where Paul called us to stand fast in the liberty Christ has given us and to walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh. We also came to the Lord’s Table, remembering the grace by which that freedom was purchased.
Today, we come to the final chapter of Epistle to the Galatians—a chapter that gathers the letter’s great themes and brings them down into the everyday life of the church.
Bring your Bibles. We will read Galatians 6 together. Please share the thoughts the Holy Spirit gives you as we read or post them to the letter you recieved so others can see them and be blessed.
1. Restoring One Another Gently
Paul begins with a picture of the church as a caring community:
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.”
The goal is not condemnation but restoration. Sin must be taken seriously, but the fallen brother or sister must be treated with humility and compassion. The one who restores must remember that he too is capable of stumbling.
Christian maturity shows itself not in harshness, but in gentleness.
2. Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Paul continues:
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation. We carry our own responsibilities, yet we are also called to carry the burdens of others—sorrow, weakness, discouragement, hardship.
This is the law of Christ: love expressed in practical care.
When one believer stumbles, others help lift him up. When one struggles, others help carry the weight. This is what the church is meant to be.
3. Sowing and Reaping
Paul then reminds us of a principle that runs through all of life:
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Life is a field, and every day we sow seeds. If we sow to the flesh—selfishness, pride, indulgence—we will reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit—faithfulness, kindness, obedience—we will reap life.
This is why Paul urges perseverance:
“Let us not be weary in well doing.”
The harvest may seem slow in coming, but God’s promise is sure.
4. Doing Good to All
Paul concludes this section with a practical command:
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
The Christian life radiates outward. Love begins within the fellowship of believers, but it does not stop there. It extends to neighbors, strangers, and even enemies.
Grace received becomes grace given.
5. A Final Word: The Cross
In the closing lines of the letter, Paul returns to the central truth of Galatians: the Cross of Christ.
The teachers troubling the Galatians wanted religion that looked impressive—external marks, outward conformity. Paul points to something entirely different:
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Cross is the center of the gospel. Through it the world loses its hold on us, and we become a new creation.
In the end, what matters most is not appearance, reputation, or ritual—but a new life in Christ.
A Bridge from Galatia to Thessalonica
With Galatians 6, we come to the close of Paul’s passionate defense of the gospel of grace. The letter has reminded us that we are justified by faith, freed from the law as a means of salvation, and called to live by the Spirit in love toward one another.
Next week we will move to another of Paul’s early letters, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians.
Where Galatians defends the gospel, Thessalonians shows us a young church learning to live it out—a community marked by faith, hope, and love while waiting for the return of Christ.
It is a warm and encouraging letter, written to believers who had come to faith in the midst of opposition but whose testimony was already spreading far beyond their city.
Closing Prayer
Lord, help us bear one another’s burdens, sow to the Spirit, and glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come REJOICING, bringing in the sheaves,
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come REJOICING, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
Refrain
Knowles Shaw, 1874.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall DOUBTLESS come again with REJOICING,
bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:6
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