Why should I care about your problems?
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. 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 neighbour. For each will have to bear his own load. (Gal. 6:1–5)
In these five verses Paul uses the word bear twice: first to command his hearers to bear one another’s burdens and then to remind them that they must bear their own load. How can both of these statements be true simultaneously?
Part of the answer comes from considering Paul’s use of the word law in verse 2. This is the only time we see the exact phrase the law of Christ.” There is something distinctive about the law of Christ—something that distinguishes it from the Old Testament law.
Throughout Galatians, law is contrasted with faith: It is by faith, not the law, that a Christian is justified, is credited with righteousness, and gains life. But there are also passages in Galatians where Paul explains how the life of faith leads to keeping the law. Here in 6:2, the language of fulfilling the law is used to describe the way that Christians should live in light of what Christ has done for us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Juxtaposed with the many other uses of the word law in Galatians, Paul here highlights a life transformed by the grace we have received. Because Jesus loved us and bore our burdens, we love our neighbours and bear their burdens. Because Jesus cared for the needs of others, we too are to care for the needs of others.
Moving on to 6:5, Paul urges his readers to consider whether this is true of their lives. Every Christian is responsible for the way she conducts herself as she follows Christ. How we choose to live in light of God’s grace matters. We are to respond not with selfishness but selflessness. So we are called to take an honest look at how we live, lest we deceive ourselves (6:3–4).
Galatians 6 tells us that we are responsible for the way we conduct ourselves as believers, and that conduct involves being selfless, especially in bearing one another’s heavy burdens to the best of our ability. This is what it looks like to fulfill the law of Christ, who has perfectly met the requirements of the Old Testament law on our behalf.
Applying the Gospel
These verses provide clear instruction on how to live in such a way that pleases the Lord. We must care deeply about the needs of others, bearing their burdens as though they are our own. In so doing, we must be careful to keep a close watch on our own behaviour and actions to ensure that they reflect Jesus.
