Fighter Verses

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
[Psalm 127:1]

What makes a house built apart from God a work of vanity? Or what makes watching over a city without him useless?

This verse reminds me of Gamaliel’s advice before the Jewish council about what to do with the apostles who had filled Jerusalem with their teaching:

So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! (Acts 5:38-39)

Gamaliel had the insight to see that what ultimately matters and ultimately lasts is the will of God. Therefore, to do anything without consulting him first and making sure you have his support is bad business. It will fail. And more than that: your work will be found contrary to God’s will (cf. Matthew 12:30)!

This means that doing your own thing in life is not only a colossal waste of time and effort. It is also outright rebellion against the One who owns and supplies all of your life, strength, and resources.

But praise God for providing a better way: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:4).

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. [Galatians 6:9-10]

In the previous verse Paul writes, “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” (Galatians 6:8). This helps us understand the reaping that Paul is talking about in verse 9, as well as the temptation to grow weary of doing good.

According to Paul in this passage, every person alive is a farmer. Everyone sows seed. Everyone reaps a harvest. But not everyone works in the same field. Many people work in a field called My Own Flesh and spend their whole lives throwing their actions like seed into its soil. The day will come when a nasty crop will spring up called Corruption and they will be compelled to stuff their mouths full of it for endless ages.

Others work in a field called The Spirit. Though imperfectly, these people spend their days tossing good deeds into its fertile ground. The day will come when a delicious crop will spring up called Eternal Life and they will feast on it forever.

There is one additional factor in Paul’s analogy: the harvest doesn’t happen immediately. This is precisely what makes sowing to the flesh seem so attractive and sowing to the Spirit seem futile. The Spirit farmers look over to the My Own Flesh field and see a perpetual party filled with ease and instant pleasure and little consequence. Then they look at their own field and, yes, there’s great joy in the work, but quite frankly, it’s hard. A lot of sweat, a bum back, and very little to show for it.

Yet.

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
[Galatians 6:4-5]

Why does Paul say “each will have to bear his own load” when he just said in verse 2, “Bear one another’s burdens”?

The sense of verse 5 is not that people should only bear their own loads.

That is, we should seek to help others when they are struggling to carry their burdens. But to prevent us from thinking that we’re holier than the people who need help, Paul reminds us that we each have our own load to carry, and that each load is different.

The fact that you carry your load with little trouble does not mean that you are any abler than another person. You haven’t borne their load, so how do you know? Theirs may be much harder than what you have had to bear.

This fighterverse strikes at the very heart of our natural tendency to compare ourselves to others. The compulsion to compare is carnal, and it leads only one of two ways: 1) to fragile, fleeting pride or 2) to depression and envy, neither of which we really want.

So Paul blesses us by first identifying the problem for us and then telling us to let it go.

And this does not discourage us, for—praise God—we know that whatever command we are given, God has equipped us to obey [2 Peter 1:3-4].

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
[1 Corinthians 15:58]

What lies between this week’s and last week’s fighterverse is the doctrine of the resurrection.

Paul recounts the gospel in 15:1-3, laying the primary focus on the reality of the resurrection, because some people in Corinth were starting to say that there is no resurrection from the dead [15:12].

The rest of the chapter goes on to make even more of a case for the resurrection, giving evidence for it, talking about how it will happen, and then stating some of its implications for the here-and-now. One of those implications is “do not go on sinning” [15:34]. Another one is this week’s fighterverse.

What is the “therefore” there for?

The “therefore” points back to the reality of the resurrection. Paul is saying, “Because there is a resurrection from the dead, be steadfast…”

What does “steadfast” mean?

It seems from this context, as well as from a parallel in Colossians 1:23, to refer to steadfastness in faith. That is, being steadfast here means holding on to the truth of the resurrection.

In other words, “Don’t be deceived by bad company who have no knowledge of God and deny the resurrection so that they can justify living it up in this world [cf. 15:32-34]. Don’t be led astray. Be steadfast in your conviction. Keep your doctrine pure, for it was the message of the apostles and the truth by which you are being saved [15:2].”

And just as all true believing leads to action, so Paul mentions the necessary result of being steadfast in faith: “abounding in the work of the Lord,” the positive alternative to sinning with the drunken truth-deny-ers.