Galatians 6:9
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
In the verses that follow the aposlte warns against becoming weary in Christian well-doing, and enforces his warning by a very powerful motive. “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:9-10)
“Well-doing” (τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες) is a phrase which may be understood, either in a more restricted, or in a more extended, sense. In the first case, it is equivalent to beneficence; in the second, to dutiful conduct generally. It is a good general rule of interpretation, that when a word or a phrase occurs which admits of a more restricted and more extensive sense, the more extensive sense is to be preferred, if there is nothing in the passage or its context to fix it to the more restricted meaning. Applying this principle to the passage before us, we consider “well-doing” as a word of equal extent with “sowing to the Spirit” — as a phrase descriptive of the whole duty of a Christian. The Christian’s business is to “do good” — to perform all the duties that rise out of the various relations in which he stands to God and his fellow men. These duties are numerous; they are, many of them, arduous; they are constantly recurring; and their performance must be coeval with the Christian’s life.
Owing to the number, the difficulty, and the never-terminating, never-remitting obligations of these duties, even genuine Christians are in danger of “becoming weary of well-doing.” They become backward to undertake them, and languid in performing them. They multiply and magnify obstacles. They are ingenious in devising excuses. They leave them half done, and are strongly tempted to abandon them altogether. It ought not to be so. It would not be were Christians what they should be — what they might be. The great cause of weariness in well-doing is a deficiency in faith, and a corresponding undue influence of present and sensible things. To the man who has, through the faith of Christ, overcome the world, none of the commandments of God are grievous. On the contrary, “In keeping them he finds a great reward.” But whenever the Christian walks by sight, and not by faith, he becomes weak as another man, every duty is a burden. It is when in the exercise of faith he realises to himself the unseen realities of religion and eternity, that he “renews his strength, mounts up on wings as an eagle, runs and does not weary, walks and does not faint.”
Against this spiritual languor, which makes the discharge of duty tiresome, and strongly tempts to its utter abandonment, the apostle here warns the Galatian Christians, “Be not weary* in well-doing.”
We have here a beautiful exemplification of the extent and spirituality of the law of Christ. It prohibits the neglect of well-doing, as well as positive evil-doing, and it reaches to the very spring of actions. It not only prohibits the neglect of well-doing, but that weariness in well-doing which is likely to lead to this neglect. It is not satisfied with the thing enjoined being done; it must be done in a right temper. The Lord loves a cheerful doer as well as a cheerful giver.
The motive which the apostle employs, for the purpose of guarding the Galatian Christians against weariness in well-doing, is at once appropriate and powerful. Nothing is so much calculated to produce languor as a suspicion that all our exertions are likely to be fruitless; and nothing is better fitted to dispel it than the assurance that they shall assuredly be crowned with success. “In due season,” says he, “ye shall reap, if ye faint not.”
“Ye shall reap.” The language is figurative, but not obscure. Indeed it is far more expressive than any literal description could have been. It implies in it the idea of reward — of reward naturally rising out of, and proportioned to, the dutiful exertion. The Christian shall be rewarded for his well-doing. Every act of Christian duty, every sacrifice made, every privation submitted to, every suffering endured, from a regard to Christ’s authority, with a view to Christ’s honour, shall assuredly be recompensed. This reward is often — usually — granted in part, even in the present state, and shall be most certainly conferred in the future. This reward shall grow out of, and correspond to, the dutiful exertions of the Christian. It shall be his harvest. The happiness of a Christian, both in this world and the next, is, in a great measure, the natural result of his conformity to the will of God. Every holy temper is a capacity of enjoyment, and a source of enjoyment at the same time. The cultivation of holy dispositions, and the performance of commanded duty, are necessary to the true happiness of the Christian, not only from the Divine appointment, but from the very nature of the case.
The happy results of well-doing are not, however, in every case immediate — in no case are all the happy results of any act of well-doing at once and completely developed — and therefore the apostle adds, Ye shall reap “in due season.”** Christians frequently act like children in reference to this harvest. They would sow and reap in the same day. When children sow the seeds of flowers in their little gardens, they are apt to become impatient for their appearing above ground; and then for their yielding blossoms; and by this impatience are often not merely disquieted, but induced to do what must retard, and may altogether prevent, the eagerly desired event. Like “the husbandman” who “waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, till he has received the former and latter rain,” the Christian must also “be patient and stablish his heart.” Our time is always ready; but it is not for us either to know or to regulate the times and the seasons. The Father has kept them in his own power. The harvest is certain. This we are assured of, and, moreover, that if our own fault prevent not, it will be abundant and joyful. Whether it is to be an early or a late one depends entirely on the arrangements of Him who is “wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.” And is it not right that it should be so? Is it not enough to be assured that in due season — at the period fixed by infinite wisdom and kindness — our objects shall be completely gained, our exertions abundantly rewarded?
The concluding clause deserves particular notice, “if we faint not,” literally “not fainting.”*** This phrase, “not fainting,” may, so far as construction is concerned, be connected with either clause of the verse. It may be considered as describing either the nature of the dutiful exertion, or of the gracious reward. They who take the last view consider the apostle as saying, Unwearying labour or Christian duty will terminate in unending reward. We shall never cease to reap if we but persevere in well-doing. There will be satisfaction without satiety, and that for ever. This is truth, important truth, but we rather think the more ordinary way of connecting the phrase brings out better the apostle’s exact meaning.
The saint’s reaping is suspended on his not fainting, that is, his reward is suspended on his “constant continuance in well-doing.” The words obviously imply, ‘If we faint we shall not reap.’ No true saint will so faint as to abandon altogether the onward course of well-doing; but just in the proportion in which he does so shall he not reap; just in this proportion shall he come short of “obtaining a full reward:” and if a man who has exhibited all the appearances of saintship, who has been reckoned a saint by himself, and by those who were best acquainted with him, if that man should so faint as to habitually neglect the performance of Christian duty, no doubt he shall reap, but it will be “of the flesh, corruption,” and not “of the Spirit, life everlasting.” A great deal of the false and dangerous notions entertained in reference to a most important Christian doctrine, that of the perseverence of the saints, would be prevented were men but to remember that the perseverance of the saints is a perseverence in holiness, and that, though “eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” it is on those only who, “through a constant continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality,” that eternal life is conferred. It has been finely said, “He who becomes a Christian in the true sense of that word becomes such for eternity. He has enlisted for life — for immortal life — never to withdraw. He becomes pledged to do good, and to serve God always. No obstacles are to deter him, no embarrassments are to drive him off the field. With the vigour of his youth, and the influence and wisdom of his riper years, with his remaining powers when enfeebled by age, with the last pulsations of life here, and with the immortal energies of a higher life in a better world, he is to do good. For that he is to live. For that he is to die. And when he awakes in the resurrection with renovated powers, he is to awake to an everlasting service of doing good, as far as he may have opportunity, in the kingdom of God.” (Barnes.)
No man who is habitually neglectful of, or allowed languid and careless in, the discharge of Christian duty, can have satisfactory evidence of his being an object of Divine favour; and if, in these circumstances, he cherishes a confidence in the goodness of his state, and in the security of his salvation, his confidence is presumptuous.
— John Brown of Edinburgh (1784-1858)
* ἐκκακέω ‘to turn a coward, to be faint-hearted, to despond.’ — Eph. 3:13; 2 Cor. 4:1, 16; Luke 18:1; 2 Thess. 3:13. Lach. and Tisch. read ἐγκακέω in all these passages.
** The difference between καιρὸς and χρόνος is illustrated in the following words of Demosthenes: “συμβαίνει πολλῶν πραγμάτων καὶ μεγάλων καιρὸν ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ γίγνεσθαι,” — (19, 6); and in the verses of Ausonius, de sapientibus: —
”Pitticum dixisse fama est Lesbium
Γίγνωσκε Καιρόν. Tempus ut noris jubet,
Sed Καιρὸς iste TEMPESTIVUM TEMPUS est.”
— Palairet, p. 436
*** ἐκλύεσθαι, ‘to be unstrung — relaxed, to be weakened, fatigued, to faint.’ — Matt. 9:36; 15:32; Heb. 12:3, 5; Deut. 20:3. μὴ ἐκλνόμενοι, equivalent to ἐὰν μὴ ἐκλνώμεθα.
