Sowing and Reaping
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2020 · 24 May 2020
Galatians 6:7-10 is one of those important portions of Scripture that every believer should know. “7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 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. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
“10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” The physical universe is built on absolute laws. There are physical laws, and those laws are consistent; they do not vary. Just as there are laws that control all of that, so there are moral laws. There are laws in the spiritual realm that are equally fixed and absolute.
Here is one of God’s absolute, fixed principles; it is stated in verse 7, “Whatever a man sows, this will he also reap.” Now that is true in farming, in gardening, and in planting anything. That is also true physically in his world: whatever you sow, you reap. But Paul is making the point here spiritually, that reality in the natural world is also understood in the spiritual world.
Verse 7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this will he also reap.” Don’t think you can ignore God; this law will never ever change – a principle that no one can deny. Paul says to the Galatian believers and to all of us, “Now that you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit is in you, and you are led by the Holy Spirit. If you walk in the Spirit, you will realize the fruit of the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:22, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” If you walk in the Spirit that is the fruit.” On the other hand, in Galatians 5:19, if you plant seeds of the flesh, you will harvest: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.”
Now in the Galatians 5 and 6 he’s telling us how to live the Christian life. Verse 7 starts with, “Do not be deceived.” That’s an important warning. Most Christians are somewhat deceived about the consequences of their sinful behaviors. We tend to believe that because we’re under grace, because we’ve been forgiven and that’s forever, we cannot lose our salvation because God is gracious.
But the apostle Paul says, “Don’t deceive yourself.” “Deceive” is an interesting word, it comes from planaō, which means “to be led astray.” That’s deception. 1 Corinthians 3:18 says, “Let no man deceive himself.” So not only can we be led astray and deceived by somebody else, we are pretty good at deceiving ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.”
In Obadiah 1:3, the prophet said, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.” Your heart is arrogant, self-protective, self-promoting, self-fulfilling, and self-defending. Pride is the primary sin, selfishness. You have a selfish heart that wants to spin your life the best way to make you feel the best about your behavior. So your heart will deceive you. As long as you’re in this world, you have that deceptive heart.
Self-deceit is a problem for all of us, and it tends to run typically like this: you’re saved, you’re on the way to heaven, you’re under grace, the Lord will never let you go, so there can’t really be too serious consequences if I walk in the flesh. You can add to that the fact that there is a deceiver in the world. Revelation 20:3 says, Satan is the deceiver who deceives the whole world.
So you not only have an internal deceiver, you have an external deceiver. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” If you associate with bad company, they corrupt your morals. Listen to Romans 16:17, “I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.”
So it’s not about works, it’s about the power of the Spirit. So people say: my works didn’t contribute to my salvation, they can’t undo my salvation. This is antinomianism, which is fleshly living in the name of grace. Jude 1:17-18, “Beloved, remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’” Well, we are now in the ‘last time’.
Now, having said that, here comes His law, “whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” That’s so straightforward and true that it doesn’t really need an explanation. Paul wants us to understand that you have a choice as a believer: you can walk in the Spirit, or you can walk in the flesh. Don’t think for a moment that you can walk in the flesh and not pay the consequence.
Remember Nebuchadnezzar who mocked God in the book of Daniel? What happened to him? He was turned into an animal. Remember Belshazzar in Daniel 5 who mocked God? And what happened to him? The destruction of his entire kingdom. You have Romans 1:18, where “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
The wrath in Romans is the wrath of God turning them over to their own sin, to immorality, to homosexuality, and a reprobate mind. Now the wrath of God has a number of forms. Let’s start with the final form: eternal wrath is hell, where all unbelievers will suffer punishment forever. The Bible also talks about eschatological wrath; that’s the wrath at the end of human history.
That’s wrath described by the prophets and described by our Lord in the Olivet Discourse at the end of His ministry in Jerusalem, and it’s described particularly in the book of Revelation. There’s also cataclysmic wrath. Cataclysmic wrath is what we see in natural disasters and plagues throughout human history, where in some cases in the past, millions of people died from a plague.
And in the modern time, tens of thousands die in a tsunami, and many die in a hurricane, etc. The fallen world, the cursed world is subject to these cataclysmic events, which are a form of divine wrath. But eschatological wrath is a period of time in the future. Eternal wrath is after time has ended, and cataclysmic wrath kind of comes and goes at points in time and place.
But there is another kind of wrath that’s operating all the time. It’s cyclical, and it’s sowing and reaping wrath: what you sow, you reap. And it is happening all the time. “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Whenever he sows, he will set in motion the wrath of God. Often people nowadays call it ‘karma’. If you think you can violate it you are mocking God.
Man’s atheistic identification is a mockery of God; and you can’t do that without consequences. For it’s not just atheism. People who believe in God and reject His Son are also mocking God; or people who have received His Son, but think they can sin without consequences. That’s also mocking God, and that relates to us. Listen to Job 4:8, “Those who plow iniquity sow trouble and harvest it.”
Proverbs 1:31, “They shall eat of the fruit of their own way.” Proverbs 11:18, “The wicked earns deceptive wages; he who sows righteousness earns a true reward.” Or Hosea 8:7, “They who sow the wind reap the whirlwind.” The harvest is determined by the planting, like begets like. The fruit of a life is determined by what that life has planted. A man’s character is the harvest of his habits.
Witness, for example, the absolute frustration and hopelessness of psychiatry and psychology to put people together. Why? Because of this law. The only way that you can get out of the bondage of this law is to become a believer and to be transformed; and even then the law still operates. But for the nonbelievers, they can only sow sin, and they can only reap corruption.
Numbers 32:23 says, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” Isaiah 3:11, “Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him, for what he deserves will be done to him.” Isaiah 59:12, “Our sins testify against us.” Romans 2:9, “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil.” So the law of God is unchanging, immutable, and relentless, as God’s nature is unchanging and relentless.
God, at the point of salvation, intercepts that operating law, intercepts and gives new life, so that now you have the capacity since being freed from that law to do what honors God, to walk in the Spirit by the miracle of redemption. You can now reap what Christ has sown. So in your daily life, if you walk in the flesh, you’ll harvest the flesh. If you walk in the Spirit, you’ll harvest the blessings of God.
Salvation doesn’t prevent people who drink, smoke and abuse their bodies from getting sick or get cancer. The person who gets in a fight may be a Christian, but that’s not going to prevent him from ending up hurt. If you drive recklessly and have an accident, being a Christian isn’t going to protect you from ending up in the hospital. If you sin immorally, that’s not going to protect you from venereal disease.
Here is king David, a man after God’s own heart. He wrote many of those beautiful psalms; a true worshiper, whose life is marked by outrageous sin; and always there are consequences. In verse 8, the law is explained: “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Flesh is always the starting point for sin.
James 1:14-16, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” From the flesh you will reap corruption, which means, decay, disintegration, degeneration, or even the ultimate corruption, which is death.
John Stott wrote, “Every time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge, nurse a grievance, entertain an impure fancy, or wallow in self-pity, we are sowing to the flesh. Every time we linger in bad company, every time we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, every time we read pornographic literature, every time we take a risk that strains our self-control, we are sowing to the flesh.”
Verse 8, “The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” What do you mean, ‘reap eternal life’? Don’t we already have eternal life?” Well, when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been given eternal life. But this is talking about here and now. This is where this law operates. This law isn’t operating in heaven. The results are showing up in this world only.
Well, what is meant with, “to reap eternal life?” Paul means that we’re going to reap the full blessings contained in that life which is already ours in Christ. Like: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and other blessings. That Christian reaps all the satisfactions and all the joys of eternal life. So the law is explained.
This divine law has been stated and explained, is now fulfilled in verse 9, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” At this point, some of the Galatians, and maybe some of you are thinking, I’ve been sowing a lot of good things; I’ve been walking in the Spirit. When does the harvest come? That’s what this verse is addressing.
“Let us not lose heart in doing good,” because you can be pouring your life into walking in the Spirit and wondering why things are difficult in your life. “Don’t lose heart in doing good, in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Due time is God’s time. Christians frequently act like children. They want to sow and reap the same day. This is advice for us: “Do not lose heart. Do not grow weary.”
Don’t sin by becoming discouraged. In 1 Corinthians 15:58, Paul says, “My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” Keep doing it, knowing your toil is not in vain. No place for weariness, no place for spiritual laziness. God has been faithful to us, we need to be faithful to sow the seeds of righteousness.
Finally, the principle has been stated and its fulfillment promised. The divine law is applied in verse 10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” The opportunity is the time period between our salvation and our glorification. Let us do good to all people. “The good” he has spoken of is love, joy, peace, all that is virtuous, noble and honorable.
The New Testament is full of calls on us to do good, to silence the critics, to manifest the transformation that Christ has wrought in our lives, to be lights in the world. This is the heart of our Christian testimony. So while we are in this season of life, let us do good to all people; let us be known by our goodness. “Especially to those who are of the household of faith,” especially fellow believers.
Ephesians 2:19, “you are no longer strangers and aliens, you’re fellow citizens with the saints, and you’re of God’s household.” You’re part of His family from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name. This ought to be the motivation for living your life, walking in the Spirit, that you might reap the fruit of the Spirit. Holiness is the harvest of righteous sowing. Let us pray.