“Fulfilling the Law of Christ”

“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.” (Gal. 6:2-4 ESV)

Chapter 5 ended with the statement “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (5:25) This is a statement of fact of an ongoing activity, living by the Spirit. Paul assumes that if God’s grace has indeed saved you, you will be walking by the Spirit. As a matter of fact, the Greek word translated “if” can also mean “since,” and I think that is what Paul means here. Since we have been saved by grace, we will be living by the Spirit. And since that is the case, he instructs us on how to treat our brothers and sisters in Christ in verses 1-8 of the next chapter.

In verse 2, we are told to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Have you ever wondered what the “law of Christ” is? Wait a moment, I didn’t even know that Christ had a Law? I thought that Christ fulfilled the Law and that we are dead to the Law of Moses? You are absolutely right; Jesus did, in fact, fulfill every aspect of the Mosaic Law. He was sinless, and we who are believers in His death, burial, and resurrection are now free from the law, no longer slaves to sin, but free to live our lives to bring honor and glory to Christ. Jesus does not have “laws” or activities that we must perform to earn or keep our salvation; that is just not taught in the Bible. But Jesus does have a way He wants us to live our lives as believers. Remember in John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

It’s clear that Jesus desires that we live our lives to honor Him, and we can do that by fulfilling this "law" or commandment of His. Paul, in verse 2, simply reiterates the same point: that we need to show the love of our Savior to others, and he provides a practical way to do so. Remember in  James, where he says the same thing in 2:14-18, that our faith is living and active, a faith that bears one another’s burdens. Both of these authors are saying, How can we claim to have the love of Christ living in us and we ignore our hurting brothers and sisters? It’s pretty evident that we cannot claim to be fulfilling the law or the command of Jesus if we don’t show love towards our fellow believers.

Then what a great and powerful thing to tell these Galatian believers in verse 9: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  Who among us hasn’t grown weary from time to time? The evil one will see to it that you do, but we need to remember that we serve a living and faithful God, one who sees everything we do to further His kingdom. I’m sure you’ve said, 'What difference does it make?’ No one notices that I straightened the chairs, picked up the trash, helped that little kid find the right room, or helped that elderly person get up or down in a chair.' How many times have you thought, 'What I’m doing doesn’t really matter, I’m not preaching or teaching, I’m not an evangelist.' But Paul says for all of us, no matter what service God has called us to, that we should not grow weary in serving our Savior. I love the way Paul ends this wonderful letter, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” If there is anything that we could pray for one another, it is for the grace of our Savior to be with our spirits.'

To recap this insightful letter from the Apostle Paul to the new believers he led to the Lord during his first missionary journey, who Judaizers were attacking that constantly followed him from region to region telling the new converts that they “had to become Jews first then they could become Christians”, and that they had to be circumcised and adhere to the Mosaic laws. Remember in Chapter 1:8 Paul said, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”  Paul wanted to set the record straight from the outset of his letter. There is only one way of salvation, and that is through faith alone in Jesus; there are no works to receive or keep salvation.

Then, in Chapter 2, he provides more details about the Jerusalem Council (see Acts 15), where James, the half-brother of Jesus, and all the other leaders of the Jerusalem Church agreed that the Mosaic Law has nothing to do with Salvation. Paul also discusses a confrontation he had with Peter regarding the message of God’s grace. In Chapter 3, Paul continues his argument against working to gain or keep salvation and states, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” He couldn’t have been any clearer that it is God’s grace that saves us initially, and it is God’s grace that keeps us, and there is no room for works of any kind. We never have to worry if we are good enough for God. Jesus made us righteous and holy because of our faith in Him, not because we are doing good deeds for the church.

In Chapters 4 and 5, he tells us that we have been adopted into the family of God and that we are indeed children of God. In 5:1, he states, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery” of the Mosaic Law. Paul ends this section with “If (sense) we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Because God’s grace has saved us, we are called to live our lives demonstrating God’s grace to others. 

Then, in Chapter Six, Paul concludes by telling us that we have a living faith, not a dead, do-nothing faith. A faith that helps our fellow believers, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"