by Paul teaches in Galatians 6 what our response is to be if a brother or sister in Christ is “overtaken in a fault.” By definition and context, this fault is not a lifestyle of sin but the result of falling into Satan’s pitfall of temptation – overtaken is being startled or surprised, and fault is taking a step in the wrong direction and losing your footing. Context is seen in the previous chapters, written to teach the Galatians to forsake their reliance on the Law and replace it with conformity to the Gospel they were saved by.
The Galatians were being deceived by false teachers trying to put them back under the Law and tradition. Paul was teaching about their Christian liberty they received in Christ, liberty that freed them from this bondage. As Paul comes into Galatians 5, their response to his teachings determined whether they were walking in “the works of the flesh” or “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-26). By Galatians 6, they knew just how easy it was to sin as they were doing their utmost to fight the flesh and walk in the Spirit. Paul begins this chapter with an “if,” giving them a hypothetical situation to apply to the previous chapters. He was teaching them from personal experience, knowing just how easy it was to allow temptation to get the better of him (Romans 7:14-24).
We all have much to learn about handling sin’s temptation. Putting ourselves into Paul’s hypothetical situation, we must admit that when faced with choosing to sin or run, we don’t always make the right choice. Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God always gives a way of escape, but we must choose to take it. With this, Paul teaches that we can fall into temptation – startled or surprised – but we consciously chose to sin – and it is our sin that is hindering the work of God’s church. This is a serious matter in these last days, a matter that must be tended to immediately, or as Paul said, “lest thou also be tempted.” This can be accomplished through the teachings in Galatians 6.
Only when we truthfully consider ourselves, our sins and the mercy of God on our own lives, are we able to effectively “bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
