(PNN) PPSIMMONS News and Ministry Network: IS SALVATION FROM HELL EARNED BY SOWING TO THE SPIRIT

by Rev. Joda Collins

One of the most challenging salvation verses is Galatians 6:8.

"...he that soweth to the Spirit shall...reap eternal life." (KJV)

After more than 2,000 years of analysis, the theological greats, past and present, cannot come to a meeting of the minds regarding the meaning of this verse. So, theologians take one of four approaches.

1. The verse really does not mean what it states, but it means....(something else).

2. The verse means what is states only if it modified by (this or that).

3. The verse means exactly what is states in clear black and white; eternal life is the future payment for good works (sowing to the Spirit).

4. "I do not know what the verse means." Those who do not know what the verse means either skip the verse (which is honorable) or give as many interpretations of the verse they feel have some merit (which is, also, honorable).

What appears below in parenthesis is not a word for word presentation of the commentator's position, but a summary of their position. The summary is my way of trying to keep this difficult study as simple as I can and still maintain scholastic stature.

Matthew Henry's Commentary

He that sows to the Spirit shall....reap (confidence in his stand before God that he has) eternal life.

John Gil's Exposition of the Bible

He that sows to the Spirit shall....reap (not as a consequence of sowing but by God's grace and not self-effort) eternal life.

Many, commentaries (too many to list) handle this verse in this fashion.

(Only) he that (does good works) sow(ing) to the Spirit (in this life) shall...reap eternal life (later).

Notice the vast difference in the way commentaries interpret this verse. In the first example (Matthew Henry) a concept is added, "confidence in". This changes the verse in a dramatic way by changing the benefit and result of sowing in the Spirit from eternal life to confidence. I am much against any approach to biblical analysis that changes the meaning of a verse. This is approach the #1 approach as clarified above; "The verse really does not mean what it states, but it means....(something else)." I reject such an approach. That is not bad theology; it isn't theology. Anything designed to change the assumed meaning of a verse is not theology, even if the presented alternative is right. In such cases, the commentator got to the right place, but in the wrong way. The right end does not justify the wrong route to it. That is a slippery slope that leads to all kinds of wrongs.

In the second instance (John Gil's) a theological truth is added in parenthesis that is used to blunt the verse so that the impact of the verse (without the added theological truth) is not felt as much. In effect, this attempts to change the assumed meaning of the verse just as in the first example, but the method is to place a known theological truth (in this case, salvation is by grace through faith and not of our own good works, Ephesians 2:8-9) side by side with the assumed wrong implication of the verse at hand (eternal life is the later result of a lifetime of sowing to the Spirit) and hoping the reader adopts the theology in the parenthesis rather than the reader's assumed implications of the verse that stand in opposition to what is in the parenthesis. This is the #2 approach as clarified at the beginning of this discourse; "The verse means what is states only if it modified by (this or that)."

A vast number of commentaries simply state what the author sees as their understanding of this verse, which for Galatians 6:8 is "Only those who sow to the Spirit from the point of their salvation until their death will go to heaven." Such authors who are salvation by grace and eternal security believers add no more to their analysis and you can feel in their writings they want to get away from Galatians 6:8 as fast as they can. Commentators who reject the concept of eternal security, often camp joyfully at Galatians 6:8 with some smugness and an "I told you so" attitude. Finally, after changing, challenging, degrading or ignoring all of the many New Testament verses that proclaim salvation free and salvation never lost, they have a place to rest and catch their breath. They are home. This is position #3 as clarified above; "The verse means exactly what is states in clear black and white; eternal life is the future payment for good works (sowing to the Spirit)."

Dr. Billy Graham writes, "...the interpretation of Galatians 6:8 is not as clear as you might surmise or you may have been taught." (Source: http://www.preceptaustin.org/galatians_68_commentary.htm). Dr. Graham's view of Galatians 6:8 is #4 above, is "I don't know". I admire people who can admit they do not know everything about everything.

Given the fact that I cannot find a satisfactory (for me) explanation of this verse in any commentary and given the fact that I have never heard a sermon or a Bible study that provided, for me, a satisfactory interpretation of Galatians 6:8, permit me to venture into these muddy waters to see if we can clear the waters up (at least some).

As a father to two girls, I used an approach towards my girl's maturity that I call "good wording". Some consider it is a form of lying. I do not. I call it "good-wording". It is a pat-on-the-back using words. Everyone recognizes this method and I think everyone uses it.

When I saw my girls involved in something in which they had interest, I always complimented their work without qualification. For example, our oldest daughter likes to draw. When she was very little, she would draw something and I had no idea what it was. When she told me what it was, I told her "That is a great picture of a (whatever she told me it was)". I never qualified my enthusiastic statement with things like, "for your age" or "if you did this or that to the drawing". I knew that if she felt good about her effort she would continue to try and, in time, may become a very good artist.

Today, she makes money with her art work! I hope my encouragement helped her become very good at art. I think it did.

Our youngest like playing with baby-dolls and other kinds of toy dolls. I encouraged her to take good care of them and always told her she was a really good mom to those babies, even if she was pulling them by the hair across the floor or I had to spend a lot of time trying to find the heads she took off their bodies and dropped around the house.

Today, she is a great mother to four children and would have more kids if she could.

When I read the words of Jesus (John 10:27) "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me" I think to myself "I do not always hear Jesus' voice and when I do, to my discredit and shame, I do not always follow Him." However, Jesus is giving me the benefit of the doubt and good-wording me with is verbal pat-on-the-back; his vote of confidence. Notice there is no qualifier, such as "sometimes" or "occasionally", "more now than in the past" or "to the best of their limited ability". It is just a simple statement that is not always true. However, I want to hear his voice and I want to follow him. This positive verbal pat-on-the-back encourages me to do so and to do better today at hearing and following than I did yesterday. Did Jesus lie? No. His comment assumes the common sense understanding that not that every sheep follows Jesus 100% of the time. Anyone with a reasonable amount of functioning brain cells knows that.

Now, back to Galatians 6:8, "...he that sows to the Spirit shall...reap eternal life."

This is not a theological statement of how to get saved. This is good wording. Jesus says, "Hey, boys and girls of mine, I know you can and will sow to the Spirit. I know you are partakers of eternal life. Thanks for living for me." It is encouragement. It is "that is a really good picture of (whatever)." It is, "You are a really good mom to your dollies." It is giving the hearer the benefit of the doubt. It is Jesus cheering us along the path of righteousness (1 Thessalonians 5:11). It is Jesus clapping for us as we run the race for him (1 Corinthians 9:27). It is grace. Do not turn grace into law. Doing that will steal your joy and rob you of spiritual progress.

With these things in mind, read (in this order) Galatians 3:6-9, 26, 4:6-7, 5:25, 6:8-10 and 18; you will see the graceful encouragement of good-wording from the heart of God in the flesh to his own.

Let me add a fifth option for understanding Galatians 6:8:

5. God's good-wording encouraging us to live above habitual sin and in the habit of living in accord with (sowing to) the Spirit.

Finally, the Apostle Paul (the human author of Galatians) does give the plan of salvation in the book of Galatians. It is found in Galatians 2:16 and 3:26 which reads:

"...a man is not justified (saved) by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be (are) justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. For ye (you) are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Parenthesis mine.)

Or the answer could be even more simple. Only those who are saved can "sow to the Spirit", therefore, only the saved inherit eternal life.