Galatians: Freedom through Christ – Part 10

Life in the Family of God – Galatians 6:1-18

Crosspoint – Dave Spooner – November 23, 2025

Introduction

• Troy Snyder, a son, a friend, a brother in Christ. Some of you served with him. Some of you worshiped beside him. Many of you prayed for him and walked with him. And now we find ourselves in a moment where words feel thin, where the questions pile up, where grief sits heavy on the heart.
• When the people of God face tragedy, we do not pretend it doesn’t hurt. We do not rush past the sorrow. Scripture never calls us to minimize loss; it calls us to bring it before the Lord. We lament honestly, we cling strongly to the promises of God, and we walk humbly together as a family under the care of Christ.
• So, before we step into our text today, I want you to know and remember, you are not alone in your grief. God is near. We are here for one another. Christ’s light remains unshaken, and His promises are not broken.
• In God’s sovereign kindness, He has placed before us a passage this morning that speaks directly to what it means to walk with one another through brokenness, through sin, through suffering, and through the realities of a world still full of evil and corruption.
• We come today to Galatians chapter 6, a passage that calls the church to be a restoring, burden-bearing, cross-boasting community. This is not an accident. It is God’s shepherding care for us in a moment we did not expect. So, let’s open the Word together to Galatians 6:1, page 1004 in your pew Bible, the last chapter of this letter, and the last installment of our sermon series. In this chapter, like the previous one, there are many things for us to consider and follow. I am not going to cover them all; however, I am going to read the chapter in its entirety, then highlight just a few of its truths for us to consider, hold onto, and put into practice. So, let’s read this together.

Galatians 6:1-18 NIV

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

 11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

 12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

 17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Restore the Broken with a Spirit of Gentleness

• Paul begins this final chapter with a family responsibility as we live by the Spirit with each other: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently” (Gal 6:1). The word restore is the same used for mending fishing nets or resetting a dislocated bone. It’s patient. It’s careful. It’s healing work.
• This is what we do for one another. This is what we are called to do for each other. We help each other walk again. We help each other breathe again. We help each other believe again when faith feels thin. We help restore each other from the rocks and rips of sin that can leave our lives in tatters or put us out of joint and in pain, so we can function as we are designed.
• Paul says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (v. 2). What is the law of Christ? Jesus said this: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”( John 13:34). Love with humility. Love with gentleness. Love with endurance.
• On days like today, when our grief is on the surface, this passage becomes very real. The church is not a collection of perfect people. We are a people who bear burdens together. Some of you carry the burden of sorrow today. Some carry fear. Some carry regret. Some carry hidden sin. Some carry exhaustion. But none of those burdens was meant to be carried alone.
• In a moment like this, God says to His church, slow down . . . look around . . . someone near you is staggering. Go to them. Lift them up. Restore what is weakened. Bind what is broken. This is how the Spirit forms Christ in His people. This is how we are to walk with each other.
• This means that we need to make space for each other, tell the truth with each other, and trust ourselves to each other by building relationships, by being trustworthy and vulnerable with each other.

Do Not Grow Weary in Doing Good

• In times of loss, it is especially easy to grow weary. Weariness is not sin; it is part of being human in a fallen world. But weariness becomes dangerous if it leads us to withdraw, to close off, to isolate, or to stop sowing the seeds of faith and obedience.
• Paul turns our eyes to this spiritual reality: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (v. 7). This is not harsh; it is fatherly. God is reminding His children how life in the Spirit works:
  • If we sow to the flesh—resentment, bitterness, selfishness, strife, jealousy—we reap destruction both in this life and the life to come.
  • If we sow to the Spirit—love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness—we reap life both in this life and the life to come.
• This passage calls us to make intentional spiritual choices even when our hearts are heavy and life is difficult, especially in times when life is difficult.
• Then Paul gives one of the most needed encouragements for a grieving church: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (v. 9). The temptation when things are difficult is to tap out, to numb out, to pull out, to protect yourself emotionally. But hear the Lord’s voice through Paul: Do not give up. Do not grow weary. Keep loving. Keep praying. Keep forgiving. Keep serving. Keep sowing seeds of faith. Because God’s promises remain true, in due season, you will reap a harvest, so do not give up.
• And then Paul adds this: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (v. 10). Especially now, especially in grief and difficulty, when times are the darkest, this is where the beauty of the church shines. When the world sees a people who carry each other, pray for each other, cry together, sit together, give generously, and love sacrificially, they see Christ (John 13:35).
• We are a people who walk in the Spirit, which means we do good, wherever and however, especially prioritizing those in this family of believers, those in this room, and those connected to this body. This is one of the beauties and strengths of the church. Make time and room for this, and see what God does in your life, and through your life, and in and through His church, this church that He has called to commit to each other because we are committed to Christ.

Boast Only in the Cross

• Paul closes the letter with his own hand, emphasizing the central truth of the gospel: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (v. 14). Why the cross?
  • Because in the cross, Jesus entered into the darkest places of human suffering.
  • Because in the cross, Jesus conquered the very evil that steals life.
  • Because in the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin, death, and hell.
  • Because in the cross, our greatest need is met with the greatest love. All we have is need, and all we need is Him. Through Him, we have been given a new heart, a new life, a new power, and a new purpose. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
• Friends, on weeks like this, the cross becomes more than a doctrine. It becomes our sure anchor that holds fast in every wave, in every wind, through every storm this life holds.
  • Evil does not have the last word.
  • Violence does not have the last word.
  • Death does not have the last word.
  • The cross declares—Jesus has the last word.
• Because of that, Paul can end this entire letter with the benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen” (v. 18). Notice that: your spirit.
• When your heart is crushed, when your mind is confused, when your soul is trembling, God does not merely give you ideas; He gives you grace that meets your spirit, infilling us, strengthening us, comforting us, and giving us what we need to continue to press on, in the midst of sorrows and suffering, in trials and tribulations, knowing that we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Jesus has made us a “new creation,” and this is what counts, this is what matters. In this way we are made new and His light shines in us, especially when the darkness is at its blackest. So, keep that faith and keep shining and walking with each other, keeping step with the Spirit of God that is in you.

Conclusion

• So how do we walk forward from here?
  • We walk with honesty. We acknowledge the pain. We cry together. We ask God for mercy, for comfort, for justice.
  • We walk with gentleness. Galatians 6 calls us to be restorers, burden-bearers, and patient helpers of one another.
  • We walk with perseverance. We keep sowing seeds of faith. We keep loving. We keep serving. We do not grow weary in doing good.
  • We walk with hope. Because we boast, not in our strength, but in the cross of Christ, where all evil is defeated and brokenness is made whole. We have this in part, but someday we will have this in whole, when Christ returns and makes everything new.
• Some have entered their reward, they are walking with Christ, waiting for the final trumpet, and watching now, cheering us on to finish our race. So, let’s run with perseverance the race set out for us. Looking to Jesus the author and perfector of our faith (Heb 12:1,2). Let’s press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phip 3:14).
• Let’s remain together. Let’s run together. Let’s do good. Let’s boast in the cross. And know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us, for His glory and our good.

Our prayer team is available to pray with you after the service, near the “prayer” sign at the front of the sanctuary, and also in the prayer room, located next to the offices. Also, you can send your prayer request to prayer@crosspointrockford.com

Questions for Growth Groups

1. Where have you personally felt the weight of grief, loss, or weariness recently, and how has the body of Christ helped carry that burden, or how could we better carry it with you?
2. Paul calls us to “restore gently” those caught in sin. Why is gentleness essential for restoration, and what makes it difficult?
3. Paul warns us that we reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-8). What seeds are you currently sowing with your thoughts, habits, and relationships? Which seeds lead toward life in the Spirit, and which might be leading toward weariness or destruction?
4. Verse 9 calls us not to grow weary in doing good. Where are you feeling weary or tempted to withdraw, isolate, or “tap out”?
5. Paul says the distinguishing mark of the Christian is boasting only in the cross (v. 14). What does it practically mean to “boast in the cross” in your daily life? How might remembering the cross reshape your perspective on suffering, loss, sin, or perseverance?