Gal 6:7-8 | KingComments | STEP | . Concerning this verse and the following verses we can say that they deal with the government of God. The government of God has to do with someone's behavior and with the consequences of this behavior. Whatever you do, it always has a certain effect, a specific result. It does something, it leaves a trace. It does not only influence your own life but also the lives of those who are involved in your life. It is true that the grace of God is perfect and that by the work of the Lord Jesus you are perfectly saved. Nothing or nobody can snatch you out of the hand of the Lord Jesus and out of the hand of the Father ( ). However, that does not mean that it is unimportant how this is exposed in your life and how you walk in your practical life. God has connected infallible consequences with the way you live. It’s something you can easily observe just by having your eyes open. Eliphaz has also made such an observation: “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it" ( ; cf. ; ). Think for instance of the slogan that has been used for an anti-drink campaign: ’Drink destroys more than you like’. This means that someone who has been drinking too much can cause a fatal accident. When he is sober he may confess that, and be forgiven. He will not lose his salvation, but the victim will still be dead. The awareness of this accident and the knowledge of being responsible for somebody’s death will remain with him. This principle can be applied to many other situations. It is important to realize that you are constantly sowing, day after day, by what you think, say and do. The environment in which you sow this ‘seed’ and in which it develops, is the breeding ground. Therefore ask yourself again and again: where do I have to be, for example, because of my work or other obligations, and where am I by my own choice, what do I read, what am I watching, what am I listening to? “Do not be deceived” here means ‘don’t deceive yourself in this regard’. God is not mocked, you cannot fool Him. Actually it also means: don’t treat Him with disrespect. And that’s what you do if you don't consider what He has said in His Word. This might be the connection between and the previous one, , which is about the Word. Indeed the Galatians were to blame in that they listened to the Judaists with their human doctrines and therefore put aside the Word of God. Well, if you do not listen to the Word, you mock God and there will be consequences for you. I put it rather sharply, but that’s what Paul does here as well. . The choice is yours. You can sow to the flesh, or you can sow to the Spirit. If you sow to your own flesh, you’re seeking your own interests, so you’re feeding selfishness. You think of your own pleasure and comfort. The inevitable consequence is that you will reap corruption. Nothing remains of it. If you sow to the Spirit, if you’re busy in His interests, you don’t think of yourself, but of Christ and His own. This results in nothing but enjoyment of what eternal life is about and this enjoyment will be perfected when we are finally with the Lord Jesus. . That way of life is not made easy for you. In fact, we often have to wait for a long time before we see the results of sowing to the Spirit. Then suddenly the thought may arise: ‘What really is the use of the things I do? I don’t see any result; actually it’s only getting worse and worse.’ Hence the admonition “not to lose heart in doing good”. To connect to the imagery of this section: from a piece of land in which you have sown seed today, you cannot reap a rich harvest tomorrow. Continue to do well, remain true in your daily activities, for the harvest is surely coming. Do well generously and you will have a rich harvest. Do not weaken, just hold on. Do not be disheartened by the setbacks and the pain you experience when your good work is rewarded with evil. God will reward you at the right time. . Look at all those people around you. They need someone like you, someone who knows the grace of the Lord Jesus. Sow His grace around you. The people in the world need that grace to be saved; Christians who are captured by legalism need that grace to be freed; Christians who have difficulties in other ways, need that grace to be encouraged. So you have a great area to sow: in all the people you encounter every day. The field in which you sow – in other words, your target group – consists of all people. When there is an opportunity, you can do them good. By that you also show Who God is. God’s target group, speaking reverently, also consists of all people (cf. ; ). Amid all these people is living a particular target group called “the household of the faith”. You ought to do them good in a special way. 1 Timothy 4 says God also acts in that way ( ). The ‘household of faith’ includes all of God's children, all members of the church, no matter what group or what denomination they have joined. . With these admonitions Paul seems to have reached the end of his letter. Although the letter is relatively short, he points out that it is a long letter. He had written it completely by himself. Usually he dictated his letters and added a salutation with his own hand ( ). This letter is an exception. Because of the gravity of the error for which the Galatians had opened up their minds, he did the writing himself. Now read Galatians 6:7-11 again. Reflection: Consider your ‘sowing activities’ and ask yourself in whose interest you ‘sow’: to your own flesh or to the Spirit?

‏ Galatians 6:7-8

What a Man Sows, He Will Also Reap

Gal 6:7. Concerning this verse and the following verses we can say that they deal with the government of God. The government of God has to do with someone's behavior and with the consequences of this behavior. Whatever you do, it always has a certain effect, a specific result. It does something, it leaves a trace. It does not only influence your own life but also the lives of those who are involved in your life.

It is true that the grace of God is perfect and that by the work of the Lord Jesus you are perfectly saved. Nothing or nobody can snatch you out of the hand of the Lord Jesus and out of the hand of the Father (Jn 10:28-29). However, that does not mean that it is unimportant how this is exposed in your life and how you walk in your practical life. God has connected infallible consequences with the way you live.

It’s something you can easily observe just by having your eyes open. Eliphaz has also made such an observation: “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it" (Job 4:8; cf. Pro 22:8a; Hos 8:7a). Think for instance of the slogan that has been used for an anti-drink campaign: ’Drink destroys more than you like’. This means that someone who has been drinking too much can cause a fatal accident. When he is sober he may confess that, and be forgiven. He will not lose his salvation, but the victim will still be dead. The awareness of this accident and the knowledge of being responsible for somebody’s death will remain with him.

This principle can be applied to many other situations. It is important to realize that you are constantly sowing, day after day, by what you think, say and do. The environment in which you sow this ‘seed’ and in which it develops, is the breeding ground. Therefore ask yourself again and again: where do I have to be, for example, because of my work or other obligations, and where am I by my own choice, what do I read, what am I watching, what am I listening to?

“Do not be deceived” here means ‘don’t deceive yourself in this regard’. God is not mocked, you cannot fool Him. Actually it also means: don’t treat Him with disrespect. And that’s what you do if you don't consider what He has said in His Word. This might be the connection between Gal 6:7 and the previous one, Gal 6:6, which is about the Word. Indeed the Galatians were to blame in that they listened to the Judaists with their human doctrines and therefore put aside the Word of God. Well, if you do not listen to the Word, you mock God and there will be consequences for you. I put it rather sharply, but that’s what Paul does here as well.

Gal 6:8. The choice is yours. You can sow to the flesh, or you can sow to the Spirit. If you sow to your own flesh, you’re seeking your own interests, so you’re feeding selfishness. You think of your own pleasure and comfort. The inevitable consequence is that you will reap corruption. Nothing remains of it. If you sow to the Spirit, if you’re busy in His interests, you don’t think of yourself, but of Christ and His own. This results in nothing but enjoyment of what eternal life is about and this enjoyment will be perfected when we are finally with the Lord Jesus.

Gal 6:9. That way of life is not made easy for you. In fact, we often have to wait for a long time before we see the results of sowing to the Spirit. Then suddenly the thought may arise: ‘What really is the use of the things I do? I don’t see any result; actually it’s only getting worse and worse.’ Hence the admonition “not to lose heart in doing good”. To connect to the imagery of this section: from a piece of land in which you have sown seed today, you cannot reap a rich harvest tomorrow. Continue to do well, remain true in your daily activities, for the harvest is surely coming. Do well generously and you will have a rich harvest.

Do not weaken, just hold on. Do not be disheartened by the setbacks and the pain you experience when your good work is rewarded with evil. God will reward you at the right time.

Gal 6:10. Look at all those people around you. They need someone like you, someone who knows the grace of the Lord Jesus. Sow His grace around you. The people in the world need that grace to be saved; Christians who are captured by legalism need that grace to be freed; Christians who have difficulties in other ways, need that grace to be encouraged.

So you have a great area to sow: in all the people you encounter every day. The field in which you sow – in other words, your target group – consists of all people. When there is an opportunity, you can do them good. By that you also show Who God is. God’s target group, speaking reverently, also consists of all people (cf. Mt 5:45; Tit 2:11).

Amid all these people is living a particular target group called “the household of the faith”. You ought to do them good in a special way. 1 Timothy 4 says God also acts in that way (1Tim 4:10). The ‘household of faith’ includes all of God's children, all members of the church, no matter what group or what denomination they have joined.

Gal 6:11. With these admonitions Paul seems to have reached the end of his letter. Although the letter is relatively short, he points out that it is a long letter. He had written it completely by himself. Usually he dictated his letters and added a salutation with his own hand (1Cor 16:21). This letter is an exception. Because of the gravity of the error for which the Galatians had opened up their minds, he did the writing himself.

Now read Galatians 6:7-11 again.

Reflection: Consider your ‘sowing activities’ and ask yourself in whose interest you ‘sow’: to your own flesh or to the Spirit?