ガラテヤの信徒への手紙6:7-10 Galatians 6:7-10,

自分の肉に蒔く者は、肉から滅びを刈り取り、霊に蒔く者は、霊から永遠の命を刈り取ります。たゆまず善を行いましょう。飽きずに励んでいれば、時が来て、実を刈り取ることになります。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（ガラテヤ6:8-9）

「霊に蒔く者」とは、聖霊の導きに従って生きる者のことです。具体的に言えば、22節と23節に記されていることをしている者のことです。そして、そのような者は最後の審判において「永遠の命」を受けます。パウロは古い自我に従って生きる者が「滅び」に至ることを警告していますが、パウロの強調したいことは聖霊の導きに従って生きる者が「永遠の命」を受けるという方でしょう。そこで、9節では「たゆまず善を行いましょう。飽きずに励んでいれば、時が来て、実を刈り取ることになります」と述べて、信徒たちを励ましています。「たゆまず善を行いましょう」と翻訳されている励ましの言葉は、日本語としてはわかりやすいですが、ギリシア語の原典では少しニュアンスが違います。ギリシア語の原典では「善を行うことに疲れないようにしましょう」と書かれています。英語の聖書もわたくしが知る限りそのように翻訳されています。

私たちはしばしば「善を行うこと」に疲れてしまうことがあります。互いに重荷を担いあって罪に陥っている人と柔和な心で接することや、謙虚な思いで自分の責任を担って生きることを続けていると、「いつまでこんなことを続けなければならないのか？もう十分に善いことをしたから、そろそろやめてもいいだろう」と思うことがあるのではないでしょうか。ガラテヤの諸教会の信徒たちにもそのような思いがあることを見抜いていたパウロは「善を行うことに疲れないようにしましょう」と励ましているのです。そして、それに続けて「飽きずに励んでいれば、時が来て、実を刈り取ることになります」と述べて、「善を行うこと」の労苦がいつかは報われるということを保証しています。「時が来て、実を刈り取ることになります」というのは、これまでお話してまいりましたように、終わりの日が来て最後の審判が行われると「永遠の命」という報いを受けるということです。

ただし、「報い」と言っても、私たちの行いと引き換えに当然に「永遠の命」という「報い」受けることができるということではありません。私たちの「善を行うこと」はまったく不十分なのですが、それにもかかわらず神様は憐れみをもってその不十分な行いを受け入れてくださり、恵みによって「永遠の命」という「報い」を与えてくださるということです。その恵みによる「報い」を目標にして、「善を行うこと」に疲れることなく「たゆまず善を行いましょう」とパウロは勧めているのです。

（10月13日の説教より）

What is the impression non-Christians have of Christianity? They may have the impression that it is a serious teaching that teaches people to do good. However, they may also have the impression that it is an irresponsible teaching that if a person does wrong, he/she can be forgiven if he/she repents. The connection between forgiveness of sins and doing good in Christian teachings can be difficult for non-Christians to understand. And even for Christians, how forgiveness of sins and doing good are connected may not be understood unless they are well taught in Christian teachings.

The Heidelberg Catechism, a summary of Christian teachings produced in Heidelberg, Germany, some 460 years ago, teaches the relationship between “being forgiven of sins and saved” and “doing good works” in the following question and answer.

Question 86

Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own, why then should we do good works?

Answer

Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also restoring us by his Spirit into his image, so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us, so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ.

 

According to this question and answer, those who are united with Christ through faith in him are not only forgiven of their sins by the efficacy of his sacrifice on the cross, but are also cleansed by the Holy Spirit whom Christ sends, so that they will thank God and do good works. To say that if we believe in Christ, our sins will be forgiven, so let us sin more and more and be forgiven, is a statement made by people who do not understand the Christian teachings correctly. Those who have a correct understanding of Christian teachings are grateful for the forgiveness of their sins by the grace of Christ and try to live their lives doing good works, led by the Holy Spirit.

As written in Genesis 1:26-27, originally the human soul was created in God’s image to have right fellowship with God and to live according to his will. However, because the ancestors of mankind disobeyed God, the form of the human soul was greatly distorted, and mankind began to do things that were contrary to God’s will. That is, they began to sin. However, in order to save mankind, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, died on the cross to atone for their sins. And by believing in Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we can be reconciled to God and have right fellowship with God. Those who are in right fellowship with God can continue to receive the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the form of the human soul is transformed into the original form of God. Those who are in right fellowship with God will then be grateful to God and do good works that please God.

However, even after being forgiven of sins and saved, the nature to do things contrary to God’s will persists in the human soul. Paul called such a sin-stained old ego “the flesh.” He then describes the thoughts and deeds of the sin-stained old ego in 5:19-21 of this letter, as follows.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Even those who believe in Christ still have this sin-stained old ego in their souls. However, by continuing to receive the Holy Spirit, a new personality is formed in the soul of the believer in Christ. Paul calls the work of the new personality by the Holy Spirit “the fruit of the Spirit” and writes in 5:22-23 as follows.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

In verses 1 and 2 of chapter 6, Paul exhorts the Galatian believers to bear one another’s burdens and to restore him who is caught in any transgression in a spirit of gentleness, through “the fruit of the Spirit.” And in verses 3 through 5, he exhorts them to live their lives bearing their own responsibilities without being conceited. And, as I mentioned when I explained verse 5, the words “each will have to bear his own load” in verse 5 were originally a reference to the Last Judgement on the Last Day, as the new translation of Japanese Bible translates it as “each one will result in bearing his own load.” In other words, it means that each person will be held accountable by God at the Last Judgement, so they should live humbly before God and take responsibility for their own deeds.

Christians live by doing good works not only on the basis that the Holy Spirit has given them “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” but also with the goal of receiving eternal life at the Last Judgment on the Last Day. Today’s Bible passage specifically teaches that Christians should live with the goal of receiving eternal life at the Last Judgement. First, in the verse 7 Paul says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” “Being deceived” is having the subjective impression that it is okay to live according to the thoughts and deeds of the sin-stained old ego. “God is not mocked” means that we must not underestimate God, thinking that there is no judgement of God. And the reason for “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked” is that “whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” In the Greek original text, the sentence “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” begins with the conjunction gal (γὰρ), which shows the reason. This means that because what one sows, one will also reap, one should not underestimate God thinking that there is no judgement by God. “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap,” is a saying from agriculture. Teachings with a similar meaning are also found in the Old Testament. For example, in Proverbs 22:8 it is said: “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,” and in Hosea 10:12 the prophet says: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love.” In other words, the metaphor of sowing and reaping shows that one receives the reward of one’s deeds.

Paul links this saying to the question of whether to live according to the old ego or according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And in verse 8 he says, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” What is confusing about this verse 8 is that in verse 7 the saying was used to mean “what one sows determines what one reaps,” but in verse 8 it is changed to a metaphor meaning “where one sows determines what one reaps.” Strictly speaking, therefore, there is a bit of a gap between verses 7 and 8. But if both are interpreted in a broad sense as saying that what one will reap depends on how to sow, then verses 7 and 8 are connected.

“The one who sows to his own flesh” is the one who lives according to his old ego. Specifically, it refers to those who do what is described in 5:19-21. In 5:21, Paul writes, “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” As I said in my exposition of verse 21, the words “those who do such things” are written with the present participle of the Greek verb, which a biblical scholar interpret as indicating that the deeds are continuous. That is, the words, “those who do such things” do not refer to persons who are sometimes defeated by these vices even though they strives to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, but to persons who always live doing these vices. To make the most of this nuance, one English Bible translates it as “those who live like this” (NIV 2011).

“The one who sows to the Spirit” is the one who lives according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, it refers to those who are doing what is described in 5:22-23. And such a person will receive “eternal life” at the Last Judgement. Paul warns that those who live according to the old ego will reap “corruption,” but his emphasis is probably more on those who live according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who will receive “eternal life.” So, in verse 9 Paul says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up,” encouraging the Galatian believers.

We often get tired of “doing good.” When we continue to bear one another’s burdens, to be gentle with those who are in sin, to bear our responsibilities with a humble heart, we often say to ourselves: “How long do I have to keep doing this? I’ve done enough good already, it’s time to stop.” Paul, seeing that the Galatian believers also had such thoughts, encourages them “not to grow weary in doing good.” Paul goes on to assure them that their labours in “doing good” will one day be rewarded, saying, “for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” “In due season we will reap” means, as I have said, that when the Last Day comes and the Last Judgement is done, we will be rewarded with “eternal life.” However, as I said in today’s children’s sermon, this does not mean that we will receive the “reward” of “eternal life” in exchange for our works as a matter of course. It means that our “good works” are not good enough, but that God nevertheless accepts our inadequate works with mercy and gives us the “reward” of “eternal life” by grace. With the “reward” by grace as his goal, Paul encourages us “not to grow weary of doing good.”

However, some may say, “I can’t set my sights on the Last Judgement on the Last Day whose coming time is uncertain.” To such people, I would like to say, “When your life on earth comes to an end, you will no longer have to work hard to do good.” It is a matter of course, but the toil of our life does not last forever. When our earthly life comes to an end, the toil of life will also come to an end. And when we are tired of “doing good” to others, let us look not at the other person, but at God through the other person. That is, look at what God is doing now through the other person. For example, suppose there is someone around you who is in sin. Doing good to such a person can be really tiring. But if you pay attention to what God is doing now, you can see whether God is gradually leading that person towards repentance or leaving that person to go on getting worse and worse. If you can see that God is leading that person towards repentance, you will be given the energy to continue doing good to that person. Or, if you see that God is leaving that person to go on going worse and worse, you can see that that person may be one who is going to “corruption,” and then you can sort out your feelings about doing good at a distance so that you don’t get caught up in that person’s evil. In any case, you can do good based on the trust that you will ultimately leave it to God’s judgement!

In the verse 10, Paul encourages the Galatian believers saying, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” The phrase “as we have opportunity” is written in a context of “due season” in verse 9, which means the time of the Last Judgement. Therefore, the phrase “as we have opportunity” means “as we have opportunity” before the Last Judgement. And that, in effect, as I have said, means during the time of life on earth. The time of our earthly life is the “opportunity” in which we do good. It is a precious time that will one day come to an end. Therefore, let us stop thinking, “How long do I have to do this exhausting thing?” Instead, live our lives with the mindset, “This is a limited and precious time given to us to do good.”

And let us bear in mind Paul’s exhortation to do good, “especially to those who are of the household of faith.” I have explained many times about the disputes over teachings in the churches of Galatia. To these contending believers, Paul exhorts them to see each other as “the household of faith” and to “do good” each other. Even in today’s church, there are disputes over teachings, and even when there is no dispute, there is never 100 per cent agreement between the members of the congregation. Therefore, if we only focus on the differences, we will end up dragging each other down by saying, “His way of thinking is not Christian.” However, as believers in Christ, we should do good to each other as God’s “household.” God is the final judge, so let’s leave the judgement of the wicked to him. And since we ourselves will be judged by God, let us walk under the leading of the Holy Spirit with the goal of receiving “eternal life” for ourselves.