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If Someone Is Caught in a Sin

              Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.  Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.  (Galatians 6:2-5)

           Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

 

          According to Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, this passage can be read in two ways. The first is as a group of proverbs, with each verse being a general and independent maxim. In this interpretation, I have read that carrying another’s burdens involves helping those who have a mission in their lives. An example would be donating to or otherwise assisting someone who cares about the plight of single parents. Later, the load to which Paul referred has been interpreted as meaning that we are responsible for taking care of ourselves, so that we are not a burden to others.

          In the second interpretation, the whole passage refers to the idea of our response when we (who live by the Spirit) catch someone in a sin. It is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7. First, we’re to take the plank out of our eye, so that we can remove the speck we’ve discovered in the eye of another. We’re to do so gently, helping them to deal with the weight of sin and its consequences.

          But we need to do this carefully, having tested our own actions by the Word rather than by a comparison of our deeds with someone else’s, because ultimately, each will face responsibility for their own actions or load, which will include their actions in catching another in sin, restoring sinners gently, bearing each other’s burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ, and dealing with their own sins.

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