Why should we restore a brother gently if he sins (Galatians 6:1)?

This is the only fully effectual corrective of the danger from any personal element, wherever (as in the present case is generally taken for granted) that may be found. In the presence of God sin is truly judged, but therefore judged in ourselves first and so it is we obtain that "spirit of meekness," in which alone we are able to "restore" those "overtaken in a fault" as considering our own proneness to temptation (Gal. 6:1). That is the first thought here, and always as regarding one who has sinned ― restoration: "if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." There is not to be the thought, as presently and plainly insisted on; of "pay me that thou owest," but of gaining a brother: of winning him back to all that belongs to Christian brotherhood. For sin means collapse, estrangement from this, ― a shadow over the glory of "what is really life," and dishonor to Christ and to God. How in the apprehension of this, could one even think of one's own things, save as one may truly find them in the thought of a "brother"!

And this governs all in this first step taken: "go and show him his fault" ― literally, "convict him," bring him to conviction ― "between thee and him alone." Let there be no needless exposure, no pain that can be spared, nothing that would arouse resentment, and so most surely hinder recovery. He is to feel that, as Elihu with Job, you desire to justify him, ― if that may not be, yet to put his case into his own hands for trial, and lift him up into the Christian place of judgeship, master of himself once more.

Galatians 6:1 instructs us: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." It is in a spirit of meekness that the erring one is to be dealt with and not in any spirit of being better than he. Notice that the aim is noted here as restoration.

The Galatians may have considered themselves spiritual because they were legal-minded. There is a good test for this. What about a person overtaken in a fault? Shall we callously say, "That's his problem, not mine"? Or shall we despise and ostracize the erring one? Either attitude is commonly that of a legal mind. But if one is spiritual, there is good work for him to do in restoring such a person (v.1), for compassion is one of the lovely marks of spirituality. Law can expose and condemn a person, but it can never restore. More than that, spirituality can lead us to show a spirit of meekness, even toward one who has failed, for it will remind us that we have the same propensities for failure as our erring brother or sister does. We should pause to consider how we would like to be treated if we were in such a situation. This is a lovely contrast to the attitude that Cain expressed, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen.4:9).

How appealing then to a Christian's heart is the admonition, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (v.2). Did the Galatians desire a law? Then, being Christians, why not take the law of Christ rather than a Jewish law? This is "the perfect law of liberty" (Jas.1:25) rather than the law of bondage, as was Moses' Law. Bearing the burdens of another reduces the flesh to nothing, for we must humble ourselves to do this. Was it, for instance, the stern spirit of justice that led Christ to come to bear at Calvary our greatest burden? Absolutely not! Rather, grace and humility stand out there at the cross in marvelous beauty, and this is "the law of Christ."

Practical exhortations conclude the defense of the gospel. The previous chapter stated that they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh and its lusts. In the beginning of this chapter the treatment to be accorded to a man (a brother) who has been overtaken in a fault is given. The law would demand the cutting off of such a one. It is harsh and merciless. But grace bears a different message. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The sin of a believer does not put him out of the true church, the body of Christ, but it interrupts communion with God. The erring brother is to be treated in a spirit of meekness and to be restored. Then law is mentioned, but not the law of Moses, but the law of Christ. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." He is the great burden-bearer for His people and to bear the burdens of others is to act as the Lord Jesus does. None is to think of himself to be something when he is nothing; the legal spirit puffs up. Every man is to prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. "For every man shall bear his own burden"--this is in reference to the judgment-seat of Christ when each must give an account of himself.

The apostle now adds some special exhortations. First, as to the grace which we ought to shew one towards another, coupled with the sense of responsibility in oneself. The spirit of the law naturally leads to righteousness, and then to hardness towards another, if he is overtaken in a fault: it makes us forget our own weakness. This was seen plainly in the Pharisees, and is found among Christians also; therefore the apostle exhorts them, saying, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The sense of one's own weakness makes us meek towards others.

Then (v. 2) we get a law; he calls it this because they wanted a law: the true law, if they must have one, is to act as Christ did - that is, to bear the burdens of others, and thus fulfil the most excellent law, the law of love. He would not have them to be indifferent to sin, or to fail in needful discipline when sin had been manifested. But when a brother had been overtaken in a fault, he would have them seek his restoration with love, with the faithfulness of holy love. The danger, and even the effect, of a legal spirit is to make us think ourselves something when we are nothing; we deceive ourselves. Simple words, but full of power! We need to prove ourselves and our work, that we may have to boast as to ourselves alone, and not as to others; a principle which is always true, and such was then the case with the Galatians. Whose had the work among them been? Paul's. Others desired to appropriate that work; but when they had been heathen Paul had worked among them, and had been the means of their conversion. Through his instrumentality they had received Christ into their hearts. But each should bear his own burden. Grace may bear the burdens of others, but, as to responsibility, when the Lord shall judge, each shall bear his own burden.

The appeal to restore such an one is addressed to "ye which are spiritual." There were not many such amongst the Galatians, as the last verse of Gal. 5 infers. To approach a fallen brother in the spirit of vainglory would necessarily be provocative of all that was worst in him. To approach him in the spirit of meekness would help him. Let us take note that the spirit of meekness is a necessary accompaniment of spirituality, for there is a spurious spirituality, all too often to be met with, which is allied with a self-conscious assertiveness which is the very opposite of meekness. A truly spiritual man is one who is dominated and controlled by the indwelling Spirit of God and hence is characterized by "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1). But even such an one as that is not beyond falling in the presence of temptation. Hence while restoring another he has to take good heed to himself.

Verse 2 is an exhortation of a more general character. It applies to all of us. We are to fulfil the law of Christ — which in one word is LOVE — and bear one another's burdens. Very frequently the brother who falls has been bearing burdens to which we are strangers, and had we been walking in obedience to the new commandment of John 13:34, we should have been helping to lighten them.

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Supposing a person goes altogether wrong, and is positively surprised into what is plainly evil, what then? Still the Holy Ghost presses that the spiritual should "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." A very weighty word indeed. For, first, in case of a fall, through want of watchfulness and dependence upon God, we learn who are most adapted to meet the need. It is the obligation of all in a general way; but who are those that the Holy Ghost urges to deal well with such a case? "Ye which are spiritual." Now it does not follow that he who is born of God is spiritual. To "live in the Spirit" is a very different thing from being "spiritual." A spiritual person not only lives, but walks in the Spirit. Of course, he has the infirmities of other men, and may at times show nature; but in an obvious way, taken as a whole, through the grace of God, he has learnt to judge, not to spare self, to detect, especially in himself, departure from the Lord, and to own it frankly and humbly before God. In consequence of this habitual self-judgment, there will be far greater tenderness in dealing with sin in others. They may have a keen discernment; but where it comes to that which is real and most serious — which perhaps many would give up as making the case hopeless, and think that the person could not be a Christian at all — they, knowing more of the subtlety of the flesh as well as of the grace of God, are able to count upon His goodness, and are the very persons to deal with the evil and to restore that soul. So that you will always find in cases that call for gracious handling, it is for the spiritual, not those that are the most used themselves to trip, not those that are apt to indulge the flesh and depart from the Lord. These men some might think the most likely to deal pitifully with such as stumble; but on the contrary, those are called for who walk circumspectly and in self-judgment, as a general rule, and who are thus kept from slipping, through habitual leaning on a faithful Lord; because the very power that preserves them from going astray is what gives them to understand the grace of God and to use that grace for others. Accordingly these are told to "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness."

He adds further, "Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." This would justly be before the mind's eye of a spiritual man. He has the deepest sense of his own weakness; and hence would he most readily esteem others better than himself. How is that? Not of course that he who has made progress in the ways of God is to count a babe's knowledge greater than his own. Not that there are not, on the one hand, in the Church, those who are least esteemed, and on the other, men of tried and spiritual judgment. Not that we are to suppose all alike wise, strong, and honourable. This would be not faith, but fanaticism, and contrary to every right thought. In what sense then are we to esteem "others better than ourselves?" When a soul that is in any measure spiritual, thinks of himself, what he feels is his immense falling short of Christ. He has habitually before him how greatly he fails, even of that which he desires in his ways before God. But when he looks at his brother-christian, let him be the feeblest possible, and sees him as a beloved one of Christ, in full acceptance in, and the object of, the Father's tender affections, this draws out both love and self-loathing! Thus, if grace be at work, what is Christ-like in another saint rises at once before the heart, and what is unlike Christ in himself. So that it is not a question of striving to cultivate high feelings about one's neighbours, and to think them what they are not, but really believing what is true about them, and feeling rightly about ourselves too. If one thinks of what a saint is in Christ and to Christ, and what he will be through Christ, then one's heart takes in the wonder of His love, and how much the Lord makes of him: but when the eye is turned to oneself, all the unworthy ways and feelings and shortcomings come up in humiliating remembrance. So, in considering "thyself, lest thou also be tempted," with this difference, that it is not so much looking at what we have been, as at what we have to fear and watch against.

But there is another aspect of the case which must not be overlooked. The apostle Paul says, writing to the Galatians, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." (Chap. 6:1-2.) It is not too much to say, with these words before us, that there is a direct responsibility resting upon the people of God concerning those who may have been "overtaken in a fault." It is quite true that the exhortation is limited to the "spiritual"; but it has to be recollected that every Christian should be spiritual, although it is undeniable that, unless there be the state indicated by this word, it would be useless to attempt the work of restoration. For an unspiritual man to deal with a fallen brother would be almost a mockery, because, as pointed out, what is needed for such a service is communion with the heart of Christ. On the spiritual, then, there does lie the solemn responsibility of caring for those who may have sinned. In this sense, at least, they are their brethren's keepers. If this were but remembered it would preserve us from all hardness of heart, from all censorious depreciation of those whom the enemy has overcome, and help us in the activity of that love which beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, of that love which never fails to seek the grace of being used in the backslider's restoration.

The passage, however, contains other instruction for those who would engage in this blessed work. The service must be entered upon in the spirit of meekness, "considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The Spirit of God thus reminds us that it is only grace that has kept any of us, that if we had been tempted in a similar way we might have ourselves fallen. This feeling, produced by the Holy Spirit, would save us from any harshness and self-righteousness in dealing with an erring brother, and beget the spirit of meekness of which the apostle speaks. It is easy, comparatively speaking, to write or to read such words; but the object of this divine communication will be lost unless we are searched by it, and unless we challenge ourselves as to whether we have been marked in the past by the spirit here enjoined, whether it be our state of soul today concerning those who have been led aside from God's path, and whether we are ready to humble ourselves before God if we find, in the light of His holy presence, that we have been governed by a contrary spirit. One word more should be added before passing on, as to our responsibility in restoration. We do not press it, but we may put it whether the language used does not involve our seeking to restore the one overtaken. By this we mean that we are not to wait until the wanderer comes to us for restoration, but that rather we are to tenderly watch over him, and to use such means as are permitted to effect it. In one word, it is active grace which is enjoined.

Now when such a thing occurs, what is to be the attitude of others? Do not let us miss the connection between the last verse or two of Galatians 5 and the first of Galatians 6. If the flesh is working in others, they, desirous of vain glory, will simply provoke the flesh yet more in the offending brother. If, on the other hand, there are those who are spiritual; that is, those who in their thoughts and affections, and consequently in their judgments and behaviour, are governed by the Spirit of God and not by the flesh — those who are "walking in the Spirit," then these should restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. They may well be meek in the remembrance of their own liability to temptation. In thus humbly getting down alongside the erring brother and bearing his failure on their hearts they would be fulfilling the law of Christ, which is love.

The Apostle goes on to tell the brothers who have undertaken the work of setting to rights the fallen ones, that it must be done in a spirit of meekness, or gentleness, or tenderness. There is no other way to treat a wound or a fracture. We must be gentle, or we cannot restore it at all; and what skill is needed. But not half so much skill as is required to restore the fallen one of Galatians 6:1. A hard and legal spirit will never restore such an one, but only drive him further away. Alas, I have watched with anguish of soul, one of these soul doctors, as he undertook to put to rights a fallen brother, and I have seen him drive him far away; instead of picking him up, he knocked him further down. I have heard more than one who has fallen, cry with tears: "They drove me away!" I knew it was true and I thought of Ezekiel 34, and the shepherds there: "Ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled over them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd … Yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them." Ezek. 34:3-6. How we need some true shepherds today.

But there is a very urgent reason for using a spirit of meekness, and the Apostle tells us why: "Looking to (or paying attention to) thyself, lest even thou shouldest be tempted." Notice the sudden change from plural to singular here. I am apt to forget that I am just as likely to fall as my brother who is down. So I, personally (each individual one of us), need to pay attention to myself. Do you remember Peter? He passed the death sentence on Ananias and Sapphira, because they did not walk straightforwardly, but lied to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:1-11). Doubtless the Holy Ghost dictated this sentence, but as Peter passed it on to the guilty ones, he never thought that he could do such a thing. I rather fear he did not pass that sentence in the spirit of meekness, but in the spirit of righteousness. But it was not many years later when Paul is compelled to rebuke Peter before all, because he like Ananias, did not walk straightforwardly. There is not one of us who can venture to say to another: "I would not do what you have done." Better far not to go near our fallen brother, than to go in any spirit, but the gentle spirit of meekness, paying attention to myself, lest I also should be tested in the same way, and like my brother I also should fall.