October 28, 2024 -- Galatians 6:1 -- Staying on course and helping others to do so

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Galatians 6:1 ESV

Our life in Christ is one of growing sanctification. When the Spirit of God gets our attention, drawing us out of the cyclone of temptation, indulgence and sinful activity which characterized our former way of life, our whole life’s direction is changed. We are taken from the highway to hell (as one of the world’s songs so aptly states it) and set on the path of eternal life. Our spiritual GPS is tuned by the Spirit and informed by the Word of God. Fellow Christians assist us in letting us know what hazards might be blocking the road. With wisdom gained by experience and persistence  learned from their own trial and errors they will also urge us against taking detours into old habits.

When you are caught in sin your conscience is already seared by the Spirit and your God-directed sense of shame will be on high alert. You will need to be approached as a wounded animal, one who is hurt but still ready to strike out. That is why Paul tells the Galatians, who received this letter, to restore the wandering brother or sister in a spirit of gentleness. Not proud. Not harshly. Not show-boating your own spirituality and progress. No. But keenly aware of your own inclination to sin and waywardness, tenderly seek to win your brother back to the way of truth and obedience to Jesus. Remembering that Jesus Himself described Himself this way, “for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). What a powerful description. No wonder Christians, filled with shame and angry at themselves for taking a detour back into old sins, are able to turn to Jesus. For He welcomes them. Tenderly corrects them. Gently restores them. Helps them in their path of reconciliation with the Father and the people of God.

The wily old Devil has been in the business of deceiving believers for a long, long time. It will be just a short, slight adjustment in your own journey with Jesus to walk a little ways with a brother or sister caught in sin. Soon you will find yourself getting caught up in the very sins from which you are trying to help your fellow believer extricate himself. You'll be on an unfamiliar road that looks suspiciously like your old ways.

Yet God is merciful. He directed His servant Paul to write this warning to the Galatians, and to all subsequent generations of believers, so that warned they would be better sensitized to the enemy's wiles and temptations disguised as harmless sidetracks. Dear fellow believers, stay alert so that you and your family, and your brothers and sisters in Christ, will faithfully travel on the road of salvation, keeping true to Jesus, follow Him, Who is the Captain of Salvation.

“Father, what we do not know, teach us;
What we have not; give us,
What we are not, kindly make us
For Your Son's sake. Amen.”
~Old Anglican Prayer

https://youtu.be/eXp6XXBPiCg?si=W_wXYGqvXXHpFqQf Soldiers of Christ, Arise

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