You Reap What You Sow

Paul states a fixed moral order: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7, NKJV). The harvest of our lives corresponds to what we plant. In Galatians this is not a way to earn salvation but a description of God's just government and the believer's sanctification. To think we can mock God by sowing to the flesh while expecting the Spirit's harvest is self-deception.

No. Paul has already insisted that justification is by faith alone in Christ, not by works of the law (Galatians 2:16). Calvin notes that though eternal life is called a reward, it does not follow that we are justified by works or that works merit salvation; God graciously crowns the very fruit His Spirit produces in us. The sowing-and-reaping principle describes the moral order God upholds and the believer's growth in holiness, never the ground of acceptance.

"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" (Galatians 6:8, NKJV). Sowing to the flesh means living for self and sinful desire; its harvest is decay and death. Sowing to the Spirit means walking by the Spirit who was given in regeneration. Spurgeon observed that the one who sows to the Spirit is led to repent, believe, and pursue holiness, taking no credit himself.

To mock God here is to imagine we can outwit His moral order, pretending to follow Christ while sowing to the flesh. "God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7, NKJV) means He cannot be deceived or evaded; He sees the heart and brings every life to its true harvest. This is a sober warning against hypocrisy and a comfort that God governs the world justly. No sin escapes His notice, and no labor of love is forgotten.

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9, NKJV). The Christian life is patient sowing, and the harvest often comes later than we wish. Paul anticipates the temptation to quit when good works bring no immediate reward. The promise is that God's appointed "due season" will come; perseverance in well-doing is itself a fruit of the Spirit, not a means of self-justification.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2, NKJV). Paul calls believers to share the weight of each other's struggles, especially restoring those caught in sin "in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1, NKJV). The "law of Christ" is the law of love He embodied and commanded. This burden-bearing is the practical shape that sowing to the Spirit takes within the church, flowing from grace received, not merit earned.

"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14, NKJV). Against opponents who boasted in circumcision, Paul glories in nothing but Christ crucified. Calvin explains that Paul glories in that shameful death because in it he obtains perfect salvation. The cross, not religious performance, is the believer's only ground of confidence, and it cuts off all human pride before God.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation" (Galatians 6:15, NKJV). External religious marks count for nothing; what matters is the regenerating work of the Spirit that makes a person new in Christ. This new creation is God's sovereign work, not human achievement. It is the same grace by which the believer is justified by faith and then enabled to sow to the Spirit unto everlasting life.

"From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Galatians 6:17, NKJV). These marks are the scars of suffering and persecution Paul endured for the gospel. Unlike the circumcision his opponents prized, his wounds prove his union with the crucified Christ. They display a life conformed to the cross, the daily dying to self that follows the call to take up one's cross and follow Him.

Galatians as a whole defends justification by faith alone, apart from works (Galatians 2:16). The sowing principle of chapter 6 belongs to sanctification, the Spirit-wrought fruit of those already saved. The Westminster Confession (16.5-6) teaches that even believers' best works are accepted only in Christ, yet God is pleased to reward them. So the harvest is grace upon grace, never wages we have earned from God.