GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GALATIANS 6:7-8
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7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap what you sow.
This verse falls in the context of giving gifts; sharing our income with those who are our spiritual teachers and preachers. It is easy to fall into the assumption that many others are giving, and that “I can’t afford to give, at least not today.” But there are many other excuses on top of this one.
1, A man does not give because he is simply greedy.
2, A man does not give because he is afraid he will not have enough money for his sinful habits.
3, He does not refuse to give, but does not prepare for it, and forgets. His life of faith is that of an infant.
4, He does not give because he is angry with the way the church spends “his” money.
5, He does not give because he does not like the preacher.
6, He does not give because he does not like the preacher’s preaching style.
7, He does not give because he doesn’t think the preacher does enough.
8, He does not give because he doesn’t like the hymnal or hymns.
9, He does not give because “they’re always asking for more money.”
10, He does not give because “they don’t ask for it.”
11, He does not give because he doesn’t trust that God will give him what he needs.
12, He does not give because he is angry with God.
13, He does not give because he is angry or resentful of some other man in the church.
14, He does not give simply because he does not want to.
15, He does not give because he thinks other men should be giving more.
16, He does not give because the church won’t change this or that doctrine, or policy.
17, He does not give because he thinks the preacher could support himself with another job, and does not know that the preacher is forbidden from such a side job by his call– the call that the non-giver may have personally signed.
18, He does not give because the cost of living is too high.
19, He does not give because he disagrees with the “policy” of providing insurance for a minister or a teacher.
20, He does not give because he thinks the preacher’s salary is too high.
21, He does not give because he thinks the preacher has too many children.
22, He does not give out of ignorance, not knowing that this is what the Holy Spirit wants of him. He is like a teenager who, left home alone for the evening, never bothers to read the note from his father that says, “Please take out the trash before 6:00 A.M. (i.e., before you go to bed).”
It is a gift from God to have any amount of income, large or small, whether a man thinks of his wealth as being barely enough or more than enough; to have possessions, and to live in a time of peace in which to enjoy those things: this is truly a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Each person has his own gift. One has this, another has that (1 Corinthians 7:7). If we are able to contribute to the needs of others, the Scripture says: “Let him give generously” (1 Corinthians 12:8).
“God,” Paul warns, “is not mocked.” That is to say, it is impossible to mock or ridicule God, or even to ignore his holy will, with impunity. To think that if I just decide for myself how I will serve God and act as if I don’t care about the things he says he wants me to do (such as look after his ministers) is not something that will stand. We can compare this with the command from God to look after widows and orphans, and the foreigners who are among us. How do we treat them? Do we wish that they would go away, so that we would have a community only of people who are more pleasant to be around? Do we want to be a community or a church only of people who don’t need help? Churches are not meant to be country clubs. They are hospitals for hurting souls. Therefore, be careful what you sow…
8 If someone sows for his own sinful flesh, he will reap ruin from that flesh. But if he sows for the Spirit, he will reap eternal life from that Spirit.
If you only plant weeds and hatred and a back turned on those in need, then what do you think you will harvest? Hatred, and a back that is always turned on those in need– but by then, you might be the person in need. Or if a man only plants with greed, he will harvest ruin, corruption, and destruction.
It might be tempting to apply this verse only to lust and other sins of the flesh, but Paul is talking about all sins, not just a few. In this context, greed is a special concern, but also the sin of ignorance, of willfully refusing to learn more about the will of God. For example, most any Christian would agree with Luther, that if we learned to keep the First Commandment perfectly, we wouldn’t even need the other nine. But imagine a man who is new to the faith and who hears that, and he says, “No, I don’t even want to learn the other commandments. I’ll just spend the rest of my life trying to keep the First one.” He is a fool. He will fall into all kinds of sins by never even learning what God’s will is about God’s holy name, about his word, about parents and the government, about loving our neighbor, about marriage and stealing and lying and coveting! Paul said, “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet’” (Romans 7:7).
Notice that eternal life is the gift of God, since Paul says we “reap eternal life” from the Spirit. Notice, too, that the one who reaps eternal destruction, does so from his or her own sinful nature. Heaven is the gift of God. Hell is the fault of the one who rejects God.
So is it the things we do, the things we sow which achieve heaven? Of course not: Jesus’ death on the cross is what paid for our sins. But the new life we live in Christ is an outward display of our faith; it is evidence of our faith. Paul’s focus here is on blatant sin which mocks God, which is evidence of unbelief. The Christian “sows to please the Spirit” because we know we have eternal life, through Jesus.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Galatians 6:7-8 God is not mocked