by Patte Smith on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 10:16am
will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit
will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Galatians 6:8
As we minister to thousands of sexually immoral, aborting women (many who profess to be Christians, & who presume upon the mercy of Jesus Christ for the atonement of all their sins) we often wonder if anyone has taken time to explain to them the eternal principles of sowing and reaping to them. The same is true of those college students we meet, who have been assured by those who call themselves 'Christians' (even campus ministers!) that "God loves you just the way you are". How far this kind of message is from the Bible's revelation of the evil harvest of sin, in this life and in the life to come. There is no fear of God in their eyes and they believe themselves to be deserving of their best life now. So many have been given assurance (either explicitly or implicitly ) by churchmen, para-churchmen and laity, that they are not at fault for their 'mistakes' and that God will forgive and bless them while they remain in their sin. This is a perpetuation of the cruel, demonic lie of the murderer from the beginning, in the Garden of Eden.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?...You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1,4-5
The following are commentaries on the Galatians passage above. I would like to ask you to keep several of the 'pet' sins of today; sexual immorality, adultery, pornography, murdering of children and homosexuality, in mind as you read these biblical teachings on God's principle of sowing and reaping.
Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries
www.sanctuaryministries.blogspot.com
Schoolmaster Ministries
www.schoolmasterministries.weebly.com
For he that soweth to his flesh - makes provision for the indulgence of fleshly appetites and passions. He who makes use of his property to give indulgence to licentiousness, intemperance, and vanity.
Shall of the flesh - From the flesh, or as that which indulgence in fleshly appetites properly produces. Punishment, under the divine government, is commonly in the line of offences. The punishment of licentiousness and intemperance in this life is commonly loathsome and offensive disease; and when long indulged, the sensualist becomes haggard, and bloated, and corrupted, and sinks into the grave. Such, also, is often the punishment of luxurious living, of a pampered appetite, of gluttony, as well as of intemperate drinking. But if the punishment does not follow in this life, it will be sure to overtake the sensualist in the world to come. There he shall reap ruin, final and everlasting.
Corruption -
(1) By disease.
(2) in the grave - the home to which the sensualist rapidly travels.
(3) in the world of woe.
There all shall be corrupt. His virtue - even the semblance of virtue, shall all be gone. His understanding, will, fancy - his whole soul shall be debased and corrupt. No virtue will linger and live on the plains of ruin, but all shall be depravity and woe. Everything in hell is debased and corrupt; and the whole harvest of sensuality in this world and the world to come, is degradation and defilement.
But he that soweth to the Spirit - He who follows the leadings and cultivates the affections which the Holy Spirit would produce...
Shall of the Spirit -... following the leadings of the Spirit.
Reap life everlasting
~ Barnes' Notes on the Bible
For he that soweth to his flesh, is to be called a carnal sower. He is such an one that pampers his flesh, gratifies and indulges the lusts of it, who minds the things of the flesh, lives after it, and does the works of it, who spends his substance in a luxurious way upon himself and family; or whose whole bent, and study, and employment, is to increase his worldly riches, to aggrandize himself and posterity, to the neglect of his own soul, the interest of religion, the poor of the church, and ministers of the Gospel.
Shall of the flesh reap corruption; shall by such carnal methods procure for himself, in this world, nothing but what is corruptible, as silver and gold be, and such treasure as moth and rust corrupt; such substance as will not endure, but is perishing, and may be by one providence or another taken from him. All his care in sowing comes to nothing, and is of no advantage to himself, nor to his posterity (see Haggai 1:4) He shall fall into the pit of corruption, and be punished with everlasting destruction, and die the second death in the world to come.
But he that soweth to the Spirit; not his own, but the Spirit of God; or that soweth spiritual things, that minds and savours the things of the Spirit, lives in the Spirit, and walks in the Spirit; that lays out his worldly substance in promoting spiritual things, in encouraging the spiritual ministers of the Word, in supporting the interest of spiritual religion, in relieving the poor of Christ's churches, in contributing to the spread of the Gospel, and the administration of the Word and ordinances in other places, as well as where he is more immediately concerned --
Shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting; in the use of such spiritual means, though not as meritorious, or as causes, he shall attain to, and enjoy eternal happiness in the other world; or of, and by the Spirit of God, by whose grace and strength he sows, and does all the good things he does, by and of him sanctifying him, and making him meet for it, and not of himself, or any works of righteousness done by him, shall he inherit eternal life; which is the pure gift of God through Jesus Christ, and bestowed as a reward of His own grace.
~ John Gill
He who thus sows will reap a crop of fleshly lusts and ills. His carnal indulgence will end in moral ruin.
But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. He shall reap spiritually, and as a final harvest the spiritual life beyond, the life everlasting.
~ People's New Testmanent
For he that now soweth to the flesh - that follows the desires of corrupt nature. Shall hereafter of the flesh - out of this very seed. Reap corruption - Death everlasting. But he that soweth to the Spirit - That follows His guidance in all his tempers and conversation. Shall of the Spirit - By the free grace and power of God, reap life everlasting. ~ John Wesley
For in ourselves we are not spiritual, but carnal. The flesh is devoted to selfishness.
Corruption-that is, destruction (Philippians 3:19). Compare as to the deliverance of believers from "corruption" (Ro 8:21). The use of the term "corruption"... implies that destruction is not an arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its natural fruit. The corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is another word for destruction: corruption is the fault, and corruption the punishment (see 1Co 3:17; 2Pe 2:12). Future life only expands the seed sown here. Men cannot mock God because they can deceive themselves. They who sow tares cannot reap wheat. They alone reap life eternal who sow to the Spirit.
(Ps 126:6; Pr 11:18; 22:8; Ho 8:7; 10:12; Lu 16:25; Ro 8:11; Jas 5:7).
~ Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Many excuse themselves from the work of religion, though they may make a show, and profess it. They...deceive themselves if they think to impose upon God, who knows their hearts as well as actions; and as He cannot be deceived, so He will not be mocked.
Our present time is seed time; in the other world we shall reap as we sow now. As there are two sorts of sowing, one to the flesh, and the other to the Spirit, so will the reckoning be hereafter. Those who live a carnal, sensual life, must expect no other fruit from such a course than misery and ruin. But those who, under the guidance and influences of the Holy Spirit, live a life of faith in Christ, and abound in Christian graces, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
We are all very apt to tire in duty, particularly in doing good. This we should carefully watch and guard against. Only to perseverance in well-doing is the reward promised. Here is an exhortation to all to do good in their places. We should take care to do good in our life-time, and make this the business of our lives. Especially when fresh occasions offer, and as far as our power reaches. ~ Matthew Henry
'As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.' ~ Job 4:8
'The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.' ~ Proverbs 11:18
"They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.' ~ Hosea 8:7
'But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors' Hosea 10:13
'Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.' Matthew 25:46
'What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!' ~ Romans 6:21
'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' ~ Romans 6:23
'The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace' ~ Romans 8:6
'So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable' ~ 1 Corinthians 15:42
'Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.' ~ James 3:18
ABORTION:
‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen. ~ Deuteronomy 27:25
'Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.' ~ Exodus 23:7
'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.' ~ Leviticus 19:16
'God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal's seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.' ~ Judges 9:24
'He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;& ... does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.' ~ Psalm 15:2 & 5
'There are men in you who slander to shed blood..In you they take bribes to shed blood... and have forgotten Me, said the Lord GOD.' ~ Ezekiel 22:9, 12
Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to others, and by faith set their own 'Amen' to it. And they must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them with the threatenings of a curse, by declaring that a curse would be upon those who do such things. To each of the curses the people were to say, 'Amen'. It professed their faith, that these, and the like curses, were real declarations of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, not one jot of which shall fall to the ground. It was acknowledging the equity of these curses. Those who do such things deserve to fall, and lie under the curse. Lest those who were guilty of other sins, not here mentioned, should think themselves safe from the curse, the last reaches all. Not only those who do the evil which the Law forbids, but those also who omit the good which the Law requires.
Without the atoning blood of Christ, sinners can neither have communion with a holy God, nor do any thing acceptable to Him; His righteous Law condemns every one who, at any time, or in any thing, transgresses it. Under its awful curse we remain as transgressors, until the redemption of Christ is applied to our hearts. Wherever the grace of God brings salvation, it teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, consenting to, and delighting in the Words of God's Law, after the inward man. In this holy walk, true peace and solid joy are to be found. ~ Matthew Henry
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