Transcript
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The following is a listener supported ministry.
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From the Grace Evangelical Society. Do works play any part in the acquiring of eternal salvation? Does Galatians 6, 6, 10 say this? Well, you've tuned in to Grace in Focus. We come to you five times per week and we're glad you're with us today. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society located in North Texas. We have a website, it is faithalone.org we also have a free online seminary, Grace Evangelical Seminary. You can get information at that website. We invite you to apply to study with us and if you do, you'll be ready to join us at the beginning of next semester. So Visit our website faithalone.org and now with today's discussion, here is Bob Wilken along with Sam Marr.
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Alright Bob, we have a question from one of our seminary students.
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Oh, good.
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Questions from Ann. She says, kindly explain to me the real meaning of Galatians 6, 7 through 10, which looks like a works based salvation.
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Okay, we could probably start in verse 6, because 6 through 10 is kind of, you know, a whole context. Could you read those verses and then we'll walk through and talk, explain it. But she's at Ann's asking a great.
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Question starting in verse six. Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit, will of the Spirit, reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, if we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
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Okay, so if you're reading along in your Bibles and if you're driving, don't pull your Bible out. But if you're at home and you can look, Notice how verses 6 and 10 are more or less parallel. Let him who has taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. This is basically the idea that if you're in a church and you have a pastor and you have elders, then you are to provide for their support. You're to share good things with them. And verse 10 is similar. In verse 10 he says, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. So our priority is going to be fellow believers. I love the way Paul puts it Here, the household of faith. And within that, you know, it's going to be our immediate family, and especially those who teach us the Word. But then we're also to do good to all. And so that would include unbelievers as well. But in 7, 8, and 9, basically, what Paul is talking about here is the sowing and reaping principle. And you get this all through the Old Testament. You get it all through the Gospels, you get it all through the Epistles, you get it in the Book of Revelation. And that is what we sow in this life, we reap in this life. And what we sow in this life, we're going to reap in the life to come. That's true for the unbeliever, and it's true for the believer. Now, here he's talking about believers, and you have to understand the book of Galatians to know what he's talking about. When he talks about sowing, how does he put it, according to the flesh, he who sows to the flesh, to his flesh, and then he who sows to his spirit. In the book of Galatians, sowing to the flesh or the flesh does not refer to someone in rebellion against God. This isn't a person who's like the Prodigal Son wasting all his inheritance on ungodly living. Instead, this is a legalist. This is a person influenced by the judaizers of Galatians 1, 6, 9. Look at Galatians 5:4, that you've fallen from grace if you're seeking to be justified by law. So the person who's walking according to the flesh is one who's trying to be justified by law. And what it's saying is that person is going to reap loss or destruction, but he who sows to the spirit will reap everlasting life. The reason Anne's question is so good is because it doesn't talk about everlasting life as a present possession. Right? This is a possible future possession. John 3:16. It's present. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son. Whoever believes in him will not perish. But present tense has everlasting life. Same thing. John 6:47. He who believes in me, present tense, has everlasting life. John 5:24 has everlasting life. So what is it with this future reaping of eternal life? There are about. I'm not sure how many passages that talk about eternal life as a possible future reward. I can think of about five. One of them is Matthew 19:29 where Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all and he would have treasure in heaven. And Peter says, we've done that, we've left everything, we've given up everything and followed you. What do we get? And he said, in this life you're getting 10,000 times as much. And in the life to come you're going to inherit everlasting life. Well, that's a fullness of everlasting life. You have something similar in First Timothy 6 where Paul tells Timothy to lay hold on eternal life. Well, Timothy already had eternal life, but he's to lay hold on the future, the possible future of it. And later on in Galatians 6, he tells the rich to store up a good foundation for eternal life. And here in this passage, Galatians 6:8, I think the point is clear that if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap a full experience of eternal life. And by the way, I think this is parallel to Galatians 5, 1921 that those who sow to the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. And inheriting the kingdom of God isn't getting in, it's ruling and reigning in the life to come. And so when you come over here to Galatians 6:8, the person who sows to the flesh is not going to rule and reign, but the person who sows to the spirit will.