Thoughts on Galatians 6:2-5

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load."

In Galatians 6:1 Paul tells us to restore anyone caught in sin. He told us to offer them a hand, help them off, dust them off, and point them in the right direction. Now in verse two he tells us to “Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The Greek word for burdens here is baros, which refers to heavy loads that are difficult to lift and carry. In the context of this verse the burdens that Paul is talking about here are likely the sins or transgressions we are struggling with. In telling us to bear one another's burdens Paul is telling us that once we help our friend up off the ground and restore him, we are to be there for him to help him through whatever sin or burden he is carrying at that time. That means taking the time to talk with him, counsel him, pray for him, and anything else that would help him carry the load which is likely crushing him. In doing so we will be fulfilling the law of Christ which Paul told us back in chapter 5: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Of course the ultimate example here is Jesus bearing our burdens on the Cross. In the verse Martin Luther calls “the great exchange”, Paul explains it perfectly: “For our sake He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus took our place on the cross, bearing our sin so that we would be seen as righteous. We are to follow his example by bearing each others burdens.

Pride is a very destructive thing and is at the root of most of our sin. Paul warns us against pride in verse three when he says: “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Paul is telling us here that we are all nothing. Left to ourselves we are worthless. In and of ourselves is nothing to boast about. Paul is warning here against the prideful person who thinks that he is a good person, and deserving of God’s grace and forgiveness. In this context pride can be dangerous for two reasons.

First pride will cause us to think of ourselves as superior to others which will in turn keep us from offering to bear each others burdens. We will likely say things to ourselves like “He got himself into this mess, he can get himself out.” Or “I was careful and worked hard to make sure I’m not in that situation, he should have done the same.” Those may very well be true statements but that does not excuse us from the command to bear each others burdens.

Second, pride will keep us from admitting when we need help carrying a burden of our own. James 5:16 tells us: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.” When we are in sin and the weight of that sin is too much to carry we have an obligation to confess to a friend who will be able to help us carry that burden. The blinding effect of pride will keep us from doing so.

Being open and honest with each other carries with it some danger that we must guard against. When we are transparent with each other about our sins we have to be careful not to compare ourselves with each other. Paul tells us in verse four: “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.” God does not grade on a curve. He will not look at my life and compare it to anyone else’s. My life and the things I do will be put up against His divine, perfect standards for me. We have to be careful not to say to ourselves “Compared to him I am a really good person.” Instead we should say “Compared to God’s standard, I am in big trouble and in need of Jesus to save me.” Do not fall into the trap of looking around at others to see how you are doing. Look to the perfect standards of God, realize that you fall infinitely short, and thank Him for sending Jesus to take your punishment.

In continuing verse four Paul tells us that “each one will have to bear his own load.” This carries a couple of meanings.

First, on judgment day you will have to give an account for yourself. You cannot ride anyone’s coattails into heaven. You are not justified by anyone else’s actions. You will not be saved because you are part of a good church, because you have a faithful spouse, or because your parents taught you about Jesus. As 2 Cor. 5:10 puts it: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Secondly, what Paul tells us in this verse seems to contradict what he just told us in verse two about bearing each others burdens. Notice, though, that the two words are different and in Greek this is significant. In verse two Paul uses the word “burden” meaning heavy loads that are difficult to lift and carry. In this verse the word is “load” or phortion in Greek. This refers to a anything that is carried and has no connotation of difficulty. Paul is telling us here to man up, shut up, and carry your own weight. Don’t expect others to do your work for you. We have all been given work to do so don’t expect anyone else to do your part. There are things in this life we will need help with and in those cases we are obligated to ask. But then there are things that we are expected to take care of on our own. Men, this means, leading your family and not expecting your pastor to do so. It means getting a job and providing financially for your loved ones. It means loving your wife as God has called you to do so she doesn’t feel the need to go somewhere else and get it. It means protecting your children from the dangers of the world. It means educating them in the important things in life and not relying on the school system to do it. It means looking around, seeing what needs to be done, and doing it. It means being a leader and visionary for your family so that they are taken care of in every way while you are here and after you’re gone. It pisses me off when I see limp-wristed men who are not willing to man up and be the men that God has called them to be. They desert their families either physically by leaving their wives for their girlfriends or by checking out emotionally and leaving the leadership of the family to the over-stressed, over-worked wife. Paul tells us here to knock it off and carry the load you have been given.

In these verses Paul tells us that as Christians it is important that we bear each others burdens while at the same time carrying our own load.