Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load. - Galatians 5:26-6:5The following are my Bible Study notes based on my pastor's sermon. You are invited to watch, listen, and worship with us here.
Free - Freedom To Restore, Middle School Pastor Joshua Martin - July 21, 2019 (Message) from Christ Place Church on Vimeo.
We as Christians are supposed to fight spiritually for one another. We are to stand in the gap for each other.
Most people fall into one of two groups. Some people fall in both groups.
1. You know someone who has fallen away from the Lord. This means that someone has given his or her life to the Lord but he or she is not living like it.
2. You are the one who has fallen away.
Whoever has fallen away, whether it be you or someone else (or both of you), needs to be restored.
Freedom makes restoration possible.
Freedom to Restore
No one is too good to help someone who has fallen. It is our responsibility to help restore others if we are walking with the Lord.
We must be careful not to make their burdens heavier by focusing on petty things. Keep your focus on their walk with the Lord. Legalism lives for condemnation.
We need to walk beside others and lighten their load.
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” - John 8:1-11It is important to remember that you are never too far away to come back to the Lord. If you think you haven too far away or that you are too bad of a person, it's not true. That is a lie that Satan tells us. Don't believe his lie.
We need to examine our own lives. If I am walking in the flesh, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to restore someone else who is walking in the flesh. (Galatians 6:1)
Freedom requires us to be responsible. We are responsible for our own walk with Christ. When the bible tells us in Galatians 6:2 that we are too bear one another's burdens, the word "burden" in the original language of this text refers to a load so heavy that it cannot be carried alone. The word "burden" in verse 5 of the original text refers to a burden which can be carried alone such as "purity, integrity, and character.
So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. - Romans 14:12
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Image Credit: Ben White - Public Domain Image via Freely Photos
Read all posts in the Galatians Bible study series here.
