Galatians 6:8
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Truth to Learn
Where you put the focus of your life will ultimately determine whether you will reap rottenness or life eternal.
Behind the Words
“Flesh” is a word that we have looked at before. The Greek word sarx refers to the meat of a live animal. Allegorically, Paul uses this term to refer to the desires and cravings of our sinful nature; that part of us that is influenced by our body of flesh as distinct from that part of us that is influenced by the Spirit of God.
The word translated “his” is heautou, which means, “his own.” This makes the emphasis clearly on an inward focus of the one sowing to his own flesh.
The word translated “corruption” is phthora, which refers to “decay or spoiling, especially that which is progressively wasting away.”
“Everlasting” is translated from the Greek word aiōnion, which, according to Archibald Robertson in his Word Pictures in The New Testament, “comes as nearly meaning ‘eternal’ as the Greek can express that idea.”
Meaning Explained
The Christians in the Galatian churches were being continually deceived by the false teachers there, teaching a salvation that required adherence to the law. This doing of acts of obedience and contrition focuses on self, and the satisfaction of such requirements produces personal pride. The whole purpose of legalism is to make oneself the center of all thinking and action. A life lived in submission to the Spirit of God, on the other hand, is a life which is focused on others.
Paul uses a farming analogy which all his readers would be familiar with because in the agrarian society of the first century, nearly everyone was involved in sowing seeds as well as in the harvesting of the resultant crop. It was common knowledge that good seed planted in good soil produced good crops and bad seed planted in bad soil produced poor crops. In using this analogy, Paul demonstrates to the Galatians that if their religious “faith” is one in which they are performing selfish works focused on themselves, the resulting crop will only be a progressive rotting of life. If, on the other hand, their faith is solely based in God through the power of the Holy Spirit, the crop they harvest will produce life without end.
Application
If we live our life in a manner that focuses on pleasing our fleshly desires, then we are sowing seed unto the flesh. This is what the world system is all about. “After all, I’m worth it!” And, living a life committed to God will result in your being ridiculed and persecuted by the world. But we, like Moses, must turn from the attractions of the world which only satisfy the flesh and turn to a life dedicated to God and His glory:
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, (Hebrews 11:24, 25)
Where are you sowing your seed?
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2008 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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