Paul shows the demands of fraternal love (Gal 6:1–6), then he indicates that the thought of giving an account to God at the end of our life should motivate us to live according to the Spirit and serve our brethren (Gal 6:7–10). Finally, he ends with conclusion.
6:1. Fraternal correction is commended, but:
1. It has to been in the spirit of meekness (humility) - one among the fruits of the Spirit.
2. The one who corrects needs to be careful, not to be influenced by the fallen brother. That is also the reason, why humility is so important. There is no guarantee that the same temptation would not overtake the one who corrects. So, the one who corrects cannot have the feeling of superiority.
6:2. In previous chapter, Paul has indicated that in Christ Jesus “faith acting through love” is the new fundamental principle. Then, he explained that love should be understood as readiness to serve brethren even up to the point of giving up one’s life for others. Now, he talks about carrying one another’s burden.
The word burden appears few times in the New Testament:
Here, Paul does not specify the meaning of the word ‘burden’, but it has to be connected with the challenge that their new faith in Christ brought to their life. In order to persevere in faith, there is need for mutual support. Thus, ‘the law of Christ’, here, would mean the new life according to the Spirit that Paul spoke about in chapter 5 and that is so opposed to the life according to the flesh. In order to complete this life according to the Spirit - that is so different from how the world around them lives - they need to be united.
6:3. We have here an indication of the importance of believing community. If one thinks that he can stand alone in the world, without the support of the community; if one thinks of himself higher than the others, then he is close to failure.
The phrases “to be something” and “being nothing” are related to the previous verse. By avoiding to carry others burden and probably also by not allowing others to carry one own burdens, such Christians indeed deceive themselves that they can live a life according by the spirit by themselves.
6:4–5. Each community has usually three types of problematic brethren:
(1) those who are not willing to sacrifice their time and resources for the community and they also do not expect anything from the community - they just want to be left alone (Gal 6:3);
(2) freeloaders - those who want everything from the community but not putting anything to it (see 2 Thess 3:6–12);
(3) those, who compare themselves their work or burden with others (6:4).
If one wants to compare themselves with others, then let them compare themselves with Christ. This will show them how far they are still from the fulfilling “the law of Christ”.
Bearing other’s burden springs from the commandment of love (Gal 6:2);
Bearing one’s own burden is our own responsibility (Gal 6:5).
6:6. Perhaps, here is an example of bearing one another’s burden. A teacher gives knowledge and a student supports his teacher with material resources. Here, probably Paul has in mind catechetical training of the faithful to deepen their understanding of faith. But, it could also mean a training of the candidates for baptism, known as catechumenate.
It is worth to remember that from certain communities (the Thessalonians and the Corinthians), Paul did not accept such support (1 Thess 2:7–9; 1 Cor 8:11–15). On the other hand, the community of Philippi often supported him financially (Phil 4:15–16).
In Gal 5:16–26, Paul has shown us life according to the flesh and life according to the Spirit. The consequence of the first one is forfeiting the kingdom of God (Gal 5:21) and corruption (Gal 6:8). Regarding the second way of life - according to the Spirit, its reward is “eternal life” (6:8).
“God is not mocked” (6:7) indicates that God is aware of the way we live. If someone thinks that he can compromise the demands of the Gospel, he is gravely mistaken.
“Sowing in Spirit” is explained as doing good till the end. There is always temptation of giving up in the middle of the way. That is the situation of the Galatians. They have run very well and then stopped (see Gal 5:7). We have to run to the end (2 Tim 4:7).
In both verses 9 and 10, Paul uses the word “kairos”. The Greek has also another word for “time”, namely “chronos”. From this word, we have chronology. It is a time that counts the passing second, minutes, hours, days, week, months, and years. But, kairos is a time filled with opportunity. Thus, if we catch the opportunity that kairos is now giving us by doing good, in God’s kairos we shall reap the fruits of our persistence (Matt 10:22; Luke 21:19).
Finally, there is saying that “charity begins at home”. Love has its priority, in this case its first object should be our brothers and sisters in Christ.
In his conclusion, Paul again goes back to those Judaizantes. In his view, they do not have in mind the goodness of the Galatians and they do not care about keeping the Law. Their perverting of the Gospel has two aims:
6:14. Paul stands in opposition to them. He does not preach the Gospel in order to boast about his success (see 1 Thess 2:3–6). The preaching of the only Gospel causes him to experience persecution (Gal 5:11).
In baptism - understood as death, burial, raising with Christ (Rom 6:3–4), Paul has died to the world and the world has lost its appeal and importance to him. Paul was liberated from “this present evil age” (Gal 1:4).
6:15–16. Paul brings his letter to a final conclusion that can be drawn from the entire letter. Be it circumcision or uncircumcision, they both avail nothing. Any quarrel on this matter between the Jewish and Gentiles Christians is pointless. There is only one mode of salvation, namely baptism - participating in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism, putting on Christ, brings with itself “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), which means that a person is ‘created’ anew (see 2 Cor 4:6). This concept is also seen in the Gospel of John (John 3:3).
Paul blesses those, who would live out this principle (Gal 6:14) in their lives. Paul wishes them two gifts: peace and mercy. Both gifts comes from God. Mercy refers to the salvation offered by the Father to us in Jesus Christ. The problem is that by embracing circumcision and the law, the Galatians are about to forfeit that mercy.
The blessing, however, is conditional. If they follow the rule in 6:14, they are sure to experience peace and mercy, but if not then it would mean no peace and no mercy. Notice also, that the curse in Gal 1:8–9 is also conditional. It only applies to those, who preach another Gospel than the one preached by Paul.
The blessing extends to “the Israel of God” - in this case, no condition is placed. “The Israel of God” refers here to the Church.
6:17. The term “stigmata” has different meaning from the contemporary one. It does not refer to the marks of the crucified Jesus that some of the saints had on their bodies (St. Francis of Assisi, blessed Pio). They refer to the marks of persecution and suffering for the sake of the Gospel (see 2 Cor 4:8–9; 6:4–8; 11:23–28). These marks - visible on the body or invisible in the heart (inner sufferings) - indicate that someone belongs to Christ. In ancient times, the soldiers bore the marks from their fights for the emperor or a king with pride. Paul does the same. He is proud to prove by those marks that he belongs to the crucified Christ.
6:18. The last verse differs a bit from the usual endings. Instead of the usual “the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with you” (1 Cor 16:23; Thess 5:28), there is here “with your spirit”. This ending connects with the main theme of the letter. The Galatians want to live according to the flesh; Paul wants them to live according to the Spirit.