Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
October 13, 2013
Dayton, Texas
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Thesis: There is absolutely no escape from experiencing the "harvest" of our "sowing".
Introduction: Because the Scriptures are heavily emphatic about God's willingness to forgive sins and turn every action into a means to good for those who love Him, there is a lot of confusion about just how serious "sin" actually is. It is entirely possible that there has never been a believer who has not at least entertained the thought, "I can do this 'sin' and repent and confess afterwards and all will be well". How can it be true that "all things work together for good" and that "sin is a bad thing"?
Galatians 6:7-8 is Paul's answer to this question.
- I. The Differences Between "Fellowship With God" and "Living With the Harvest".
- A. Paul's most fundamental thesis in Galatians is that God so completely "forgives" those who approach Him by faith in His promise(s) that He refuses to impute "sin" to them.
- 1. This teaching is to accomplish one overall goal: to draw men into a "family" relationship with God so that He becomes "Father" to those who embrace it and men become children/sons to Him.
- 2. This overall goal has God's intention to share "Joy" with men behind it.
- B. Paul's thesis in Galatians 6:6-10 is that "doing good by the Spirit" enhances the experience of that "Joy" for those who walk by that Spirit.
- 1. This thesis assumes a particular reality: the experience of "Joy" is tied to the connection that exists between what we "believe" and what we then "do".
- a. This "tie" exists within the reality that the "Joy" that is available in the presence of God is directly related to the energy of "faith"; God shares His "Joy" with those who actually "believe" Him in a real, and specific, "time" governed way (at any given point in time we are either "believing" or "distrusting" and "Joy" is the outcome of the "believing").
- b. Thus, the "energy of faith" is the issue with certain consequences.
- 1) The "energy of faith" is increased by the consequences of what "faith" causes us to "do".
- 2) The "energy of faith" is decreased by the consequences of what "distrust" causes us to "do".
- 3) In other words, the "harvest" of our "doings" impacts our capacity to live by faith.
- c. Therefore, we can say that "sin" matters because it inserts a real, and permanent, obstacle to "faith" that diminishes our capacity for "Joy".
- 1) This does not diminish God's willingness to "forgive"; it simply acknowledges a fact: forgiveness does not erase the damage to our capacity to be believing.
- 2) The more we "sin" the less we find ourselves energized by faith.
- 2. This thesis means, then, that we live within a reality of conflict between what the "harvests" do.
- a. Since we all "sow to the flesh" some of the time, "corruption" is the lingering outcome without remedy.
- b. Since we all "sow to the Spirit some of the time, "eternal life" is the lingering outcome without remedy.
- II. The Issue of "Deception".
- A. Paul clearly understood the various "arguments" involved in "Joy by grace".
- B. He also wished his readers to understand that "forgiveness" is not a license to sin as if there are no real, or permanent, consequences.
- III. The Actual Reality of Distrust.
- A. Paul calls it "mocking" God, which boils down to degrading His Truth and elevating lies to the level of "truth".
- B. This means that, at root, what he is saying is that distrust has a real and lasting effect because of the inherent character of God.
- 1. It is no accident that men end up living out the consequences of their "beliefs/behaviors" (who was more persecuted than the one whose greatest sin was persecuting the Church? why did John, alone, live to die a "natural" death?).
- 2. God, being Who He is, forgives completely, but He does not share "Joy" without boundaries.
- a. The experience of "Joy" requires the immediate presence of "faith".
- b. The immediate presence of "faith" requires multiple reinforcements created by multiple experiences of "Joy".
- c. Sowing to the flesh creates reinforcement of distrust.