Scripture Reading: Gal. 6:7-10
The book of Galatians is focused on Christ replacing the law. It is not God’s intention to keep His people under the law. His intention is to dispense Christ into them. Thus, Christ as the center of God’s economy must replace the law. Because the Judaizers were misusing the law, the Epistle to the Galatians was written to reveal Christ as the replacement of the law. Yes, the law was given for a specific purpose, but God did not intend for the law to be permanent. Christ has come to replace the law with Himself. This is the focal point of Galatians.
In chapter one Paul shows that God is pleased to reveal His Son, Jesus Christ, in us (1:15-16). In chapter two we see that we should live this Christ, not the law (2:19-21). God does not want us to be occupied with keeping the law and be distracted from living Christ. According to the pleasure of His heart, He has revealed His Son in us that we may live Him. The crucial points in chapters one and two are that the Son of God has been revealed into us and that we should live Him.
In chapters three and four Paul shows us how to experience this Christ and enjoy Him. The One revealed as the center of God’s economy is Christ. But in our experience this One is the Spirit. This is the reason that, beginning in chapter three, Paul speaks of the Spirit again and again. In 3:2 he asks the Galatians if they received the Spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith. Then, in a somewhat rebuking tone, he goes on to ask in the next verse, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Here we see the contrast between the Spirit and the flesh. This is somewhat different from 2:20, where the contrast is between Christ and “I.” The Spirit in chapter three is the very realization of the Christ in chapter two, and the flesh is the experiential aspect of the “I.” Doctrinally we may say that our problem is with the “I,” the self, but in experience our problem is with the flesh, which is the totality of our fallen being. It may be easy for us to testify in the church meetings that we are nothing but flesh. But in our daily life it is not so easy to admit that we are flesh. In the sight of God, fallen man is nothing but flesh. Beginning in chapter three and continuing into chapter six, Paul contrasts the Spirit with the flesh.
Galatians 4:29 says, “But as then he that was born according to flesh persecuted him that was born according to Spirit, so also it is now.” In this verse we see two categories of people: those born according to flesh and those born according to Spirit. As saved ones, we are in both categories. On the one hand, we are children born according to flesh; on the other hand, we are also children born according to Spirit. Within us we have two elements, two natures — the Spirit and the flesh. These two elements make us two kinds of children.
The contrast between the Spirit and the flesh continues in chapter five with the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (5:19-23). In 5:17 we are told, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” The Spirit and the flesh can never work together or go along with each other.
Finally, in chapter six, we have the contrast between two different kinds of sowing: the sowing unto the flesh and the sowing unto the Spirit (6:7-8). On the one hand, we may sow unto the flesh to accomplish the purpose of the flesh. On the other hand, we may sow unto the Spirit with the Spirit as our goal. In chapter three, the Spirit is mainly for us to have the divine life. In chapter four, the Spirit is for us to be born of God. In chapter five, the Spirit is for us to live and walk. Here in chapter six, the Spirit is for our aim, our goal. In the first two chapters of Galatians we have the revelation of Christ as the focal point of God’s economy, but in the last four chapters we have the Spirit in our experience. We have somewhat covered the aspects of the Spirit for life, birth, and walk. In this message we need to consider the Spirit as our aim. This has much to do with sowing unto the Spirit.
In 6:8 Paul says, “He who sows unto his own flesh, shall reap corruption of the flesh, but he who sows unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.” It is very important to understand what Paul means by sowing. Because of his human experience and what he had learned and because of the revelation he received from God, Paul had a thorough understanding of human life. His use of the word sow in 6:8 points to the true meaning of human life. According to Paul’s view, human life is a process of sowing. Day by day, we are sowing. We sow by what we say and do and by what we are.
To sow is to put forth something that will grow and eventually be reaped. In our daily living we are constantly putting forth things that will grow and bring forth a harvest. Even a word uttered by us contains seeds that will land in a particular soil, grow, and produce a harvest which we shall reap. We should not think that our words and actions are without result or issue. On the contrary, all that we say and do involves the sowing of seeds.
Do you realize that you are sowing all day long? You sow when you are happy and when you are sad, when you are calm and when you are angry, when you are praising the Lord and when you are complaining. Whenever you gossip or criticize someone, you are sowing. When you sing you sow, and when you scold your children you also sow. The human life is a life of sowing, a life of putting forth things that grow and produce a harvest.
People sow whether they realize it or not and whether they intend to sow or not. You may have no intention for a certain negative thing to grow and produce a disastrous harvest. But as long as you sow, a harvest will result. Unsaved people do not realize that their life of sowing will eventually cause them to reap death and the lake of fire. No matter what your intention may be, as long as you sow, you will reap, and you will reap what you sow. We should not be surprised that we reap a certain thing, for that kind of reaping comes from that particular kind of sowing. A person should not be surprised if he sows soybeans and then reaps soybeans instead of corn. As long as he sows soybeans, he should not expect to reap corn or any crop other than soybeans. We need to be impressed with the serious fact that what we sow will return to us.
I am quite concerned that many believers do not realize that their life is a life of sowing. Whatever we are, wherever we go, and whatever we say and do are all sowing. In particular, we sow by our talking. Eventually, we shall be the first to reap the negative things we have sown. Even in seeking to know the affairs of others, we may sow the seed of death. As a result of our sowing such a seed, death will come into our own lives and also into the church. First we shall be the victims of this death. Then the death will spread to others. It is much better not to know things about others. The more we know, the more seeds we shall have to sow. Although it is dangerous to gather information about others, some saints in the church could even be called an information center. They can supply information about many people and places. Possessing such information opens the way for sowing seeds of death. From experience I have learned that it is better not to know so many things. Although I am in the church in Anaheim, I can testify truly that concerning the church there are a great many things I do not know and do not want to know. The less information I have, the less seeds I have to sow. Seeds of information about saints and about churches are not seeds of life, but seeds of death. If you sow this kind of seed, you will reap the death you have sown.
The word sowing is actually equal to living. To be careful in our sowing is to be watchful concerning our living. I repeat, sowing causes a certain result. This was the reason Paul warned us to be careful of our sowing.
If we sow unto the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption, but if we sow unto the Spirit, we shall reap of the Spirit eternal life. In 6:8 flesh stands in contrast to the Spirit, and corruption in contrast to eternal life. There are only these two kinds of sowing and two kinds of reaping. There is no neutrality, no third kind of reaping. No doubt, corruption includes death. Sowing unto the flesh will always produce a harvest of corruption, whereas sowing unto the Spirit will always produce a harvest of life eternal.
Paul’s words strongly imply that we must make a decision with respect to our aim, our goal. Will our aim be the flesh, or will it be the Spirit? In 6:8 Paul speaks of sowing unto the flesh and unto the Spirit. The Greek preposition rendered unto means “with a view to” or “resulting in.” To sow unto the flesh means to sow with a view to accomplishing the purpose of the flesh. This is to have the flesh as the goal. But to sow unto the spirit means to sow with a view to accomplishing the purpose of the Spirit. This is to have the Spirit as our goal. The Spirit should be not only our life and walk, but also the goal of our living. There is no neutral ground between the flesh and the Spirit. Our goal is either one or the other. It cannot be anything else.
In different ways, both the flesh and the Spirit are all-inclusive. The flesh includes everything apart from the Spirit. Gossiping, criticizing, shopping in a worldly way, reading the newspaper apart from the control of the Spirit — all these are aspects of the flesh. Do you intend to take the flesh as your goal? What is the goal of your life on earth? I hope that you all will be able to say that your goal is the all-inclusive Spirit. Sowing unto the Spirit includes calling on the Lord, praying, ministering Christ to others, and fellowshipping in life that others may be edified. We also sow unto the Spirit when we use our money for the Lord’s purpose. If we sow unto the Spirit, taking the Spirit as our goal, we shall not go shopping in a worldly way. Instead, our shopping will be governed by the fact that we have chosen to take the Spirit as our goal. If the Spirit is our goal, then everything in our daily life will be with a view to this goal.
Paul’s burden in the book of Galatians was to reveal Christ in such a way that He would be not only the focal point of God’s economy, but also the focal point of our daily walk. God has revealed Christ into us, and now we need to live Him. This is the revelation presented in the first two chapters. As we have seen, Paul goes on to point out how we can experience such a Christ. If we would experience Him, we must have the Spirit as our life. This requires that we have a divine birth. Then we should walk by the Spirit and take the Spirit as our goal. We are not aimless people who wander about without a goal. We have a clear, definite aim — the Spirit. If the Spirit is our goal, everything in our daily life will become meaningful. The way we dress, how we arrange things in our room, where we go, even what we eat — all will be a sowing unto the Spirit. When the Spirit is our goal, we live on earth with a view to this goal. However, if we let the flesh be our goal, we shall eventually reap corruption. This corruption may affect not only us, but also our family and even our descendants. In His grace, the Lord wants to help us take the Spirit as our goal. The way we talk to others, the way we spend our money, and every aspect of our living should be with a view to this goal.
Young people, I encourage you to make up your mind to take the Spirit as your goal. I would even suggest that you make a vow to the Lord concerning this. You may want to say, “Lord, I call heaven and earth to witness that I make a vow to take the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as my goal. I want whatever I say and do to be toward this goal. Lord, I don’t want to sow anything that will result in corruption for me or others. I want to sow unto the Spirit and reap eternal life. Everything I do, I want to do toward the goal of the Spirit.”
In 6:10 Paul says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good toward all men, and especially toward those of the household of the faith.” Paul’s mention of the household of faith immediately after his word about sowing indicates that our sowing affects the household of the faith, which includes all the believers on earth. What you sow today will have an effect on the household of faith. Do not think, for example, that the way you cut your hair is a matter of no significance. In cutting your hair you sow either unto the flesh to reap corruption or unto the Spirit to reap eternal life. Furthermore, your sowing has an effect on the saints and even on the churches. If you sow unto the Spirit, the result will be a supply of life to the churches. If we see this, we shall surely desire to take the Spirit as our goal and live unto this goal. I have the assurance that if we live unto the Spirit by sowing unto the Spirit, we shall reap a harvest of eternal life. This will be a great benefit to ourselves, our families, the saints around us, and even all the churches on earth.
If we receive grace from the Lord to live Christ, we shall sow unto the Spirit and take the Spirit as our goal. The result will be life eternal. Instead of causing corruption, we shall be able to minister the life supply to those with whom we have direct contact. Moreover, because we have been sowing unto the Spirit, even those who contact us only indirectly will receive something of life. There is no need to try deliberately to carry on a work for the Lord. If we live unto the flesh, what we do as a Christian work will not be effective. What counts is not our working, but our sowing.
Every detail of our living is important because it is part of our sowing. If we sow unto the Spirit in all the small parts of our daily living, we shall have a life unto the Spirit. The issue of this kind of life is life eternal. When our goal is the Spirit, we become a supply of life to others.
I say once again that we believers are not aimless. We have a goal, an aim that controls and directs us. Whatever we do, we do with a view toward this goal. In drawing the Epistle to the Galatians to a close, Paul charges us to sow unto the Spirit, to live unto the Spirit, to say and do everything with a view to the Spirit. As sons of God, we need to take the Spirit as our unique and eternal goal. I urge you to take the Spirit as your goal in life that you may become one who supplies life to others. Tell the Lord, “Lord, from this time forth, my goal is the Spirit and only the Spirit. I’m so happy that I have such a goal. My life is meaningful, for I have a goal which directs me and controls me in all things.” The Lord is sounding out the call in His recovery to take the Spirit as our goal and to live unto Him in everything that there may be a harvest of life eternal. How wonderful that we may have such a glorious goal in life!
