... And another thing! Revisiting Galatians 6:2

Hot on the heels of my previous blog, I thought I might as well visit the only other verse in the whole of the New Testament which even alludes to 'the law of Christ' - Galatians 6:2. Those who argue that this verse indicates that believers are, in any sense, under law are really tearing this one reference right out of its context. At best, it is really, really shaky to develop a doctrine from one verse. Yes, the proponents tie in other references. But if you do that, you end up with a doctrinal patchwork quilt effect - bits and pieces from all over the place stitched together by your preconception thread! Not a good way to handle God's word.

Galatians 6 and all that!

I'm going to back up into Galatians 5 to get the whole picture here:

"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. 

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 

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. 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. "

Galatians 5:13–6:10

I've bolded those two references to pull out two clear points:

1. Christ's new covenant teaching is that all of the Law (Mosaic) is fulfilled in his re-iterated 'love' command.
2. The law - any law - becomes unnecessary in the new life of walking by the Spirit. The Spirit 'grows' his fruit in us

Thus we see that the old system and the way it worked - of being given commands to obey -  is fundamentally NOT the way that the new covenant works. It isn't that we now have new laws to replace the old ones. It is that in the Christ-covenant, the 'modus operandi' is completely other - it is a covenant 'not like' the previous one. Indeed, all of the previous five chapters have been an argument designed to protect the Galatians against the teaching that in order to be 'real' Christians, Gentiles had to embrace all of the old covenant Jewishness. In the 'new commandment' Jesus has given to his followers (John 13:34) all of the old Law is FULFILLED - completed; finalised. No more needs to be added to it.

I have argued elsewhere that (in my view) the 'new commandment' to love one another as Christ has loved us may well be what Paul has in mind when he refers to 'the law of Christ'. It is the one place where Jesus specifically speaks of a given commandment. And the timing is significant. When doe it occur? AT THE INSTITUTION OF THE NEW COVENANT. In other word, the Upper Room, on the night before the cross, in the context of the visual representation in the bread and wine of the body broken and the blood poured out (this is all covenant-making language), God's Son gives to his appointed 'Moses equivalents', the Apostles, not ten, but one commandment. The Upper Room is the new covenant Sinai!

So when we arrive at ch6 v2, Paul has established that life in Christ consists of

1. Living and walking by the Spirit
2. Serving one another in love
3. Exhibiting Christlikeness (the fruit of the Spirit) in behaviour and attitude

No law is required to modify or regulate such lifestyle. It glorifies Christ fully.

And then Paul adds something else. This 'law of Christ' will be completed (fulfilled) by one more thing - bearing one anothers' sin burdens. Look at the context:

"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ"

 Paul is talking about what we should do if we see another believer 'caught' (trapped) by sin. Condemn? No. Disfellowship? No. Give up on him? Never. Draw alongside and help him through it. Bring him back to the Lord. Is not that why the immediate caution is given that we don't fall into the same trap? And look at the glorious description of what this is doing - it is fulfilling the new commandment. Jesus said 'Greater love has no man than this - that he lay down his life for his friend' (John 15:13) The Lord is not just talking about what he would do - he is showing us what we should do. At cost to ourselves, we commit to doing everything in our power to rescue the sinning prodigal from his state. Of course we don't die for anyones' sins. Jesus has done that once and for all. But this is the heart of our Saviour, is it not? This is 'loving one another as he has loved us'.

Well, that is my comments. Here is what AI returned!

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 In Galatians 6:2 what is the law of Christ, and in what sense is it fulfilled by us bearing each others burdens?

The “law of Christ” in Galatians 6:2 is equated with fulfilling the whole law by loving one’s neighbor[1]—specifically, the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:14) This is not a new law unique to the Christian era, but rather the singular divine demand that has always bound humanity, though the means of fulfilling it have changed with Christ’s coming and the gift of the Spirit.[1]

Bearing one another’s burdens fulfills this law through concrete action. Since the entire law is summed up in the command to love your neighbor as yourself, carrying each other’s burdens is simply love in action and the fulfillment of Christ’s command.[2] The exhortation represents a general call to help with various struggles—not limited to moral failures, but encompassing persecution, financial difficulties, sickness, and other burdens believers face.[3]

The connection operates through Christ’s own example. The “law of Christ” echoes the teachings of Jesus and is exemplified in his life, with his self-sacrificial example particularly emphasized as the model for how believers should treat their neighbors.[1] The “law of Christ” is to love one another as he loves us—the new commandment he gave.[4] When you bear someone’s burden—whether emotional, physical, or spiritual—you embody this sacrificial love and thereby fulfill the law that Christ both taught and lived.

Jesus commanded his disciples to “love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another,” (John 13:34–35) and love fulfills the law, for the commandments are summed up in the word “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Rom 13:8–10)

[1] Abraham Kuruvilla, Privilege the Text! A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching (Chicago, IL: Moody, 2013), 201–202.
[2] Tommy C. Higle, Journey into Believer Building, The Journey Series (Marietta, OK: Tommy Higle Publishers, Inc., 2007), 48.
[3] Thomas R. Schreiner, Galatians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 358.
[4] David Platt and Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Galatians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 127.

Explain why this phrase cannot mean that in the new covenant there is a 'new law' by way of a 'suite' of commands to obey. And how does this relate to what Jesus himself said about 'keeping my words'.

The search results clarify this distinction sharply. The words of Jesus do not constitute a new Torah for Paul—nowhere in Galatians or in the near context of 1 Corinthians 9:21 does Paul cite the words of Jesus as a new law for the Christian.[1] Rather, the law of Christ is not the new covenant version of the Mosaic law in which the hundreds of commands can now be kept through the Spirit; it is the manifestation and fulfillment of the law of love.[2]

This distinction matters because it addresses a fundamental shift in how divine authority operates. The law must be understood as part of the old creation and old covenant—the past age that is no longer normative. Paul’s argument is not only anthropological but also salvation-historical: the time period in which the Mosaic covenant was in force has passed away with the coming of Christ.[3] A “suite of commands” would reinstate that old covenant structure, which Paul explicitly rejects.

When Jesus speaks of “keeping my words,” he means something fundamentally different. The phrase “keeping Christ’s word” refers to the observance of the whole revelation in its organic completeness—the opposite of disregard or disbelief. He who “keeps” Christ’s “word” first attends to it, lets its significance sink into his mind, and then appropriates the revelation it brings by faith.[4] More specifically, these “commands” encompass all of Jesus’ words and teachings, which are God the Father’s words: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching... These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”[5]

The connection to bearing burdens emerges here: the commandments of the Old Testament have not been abrogated but rather internalized and reapplied through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. All commandments of God are now internalized—written by the Spirit not on stone but on human hearts.[6] Obedience flows from transformed hearts responding to Christ’s revelation, not from external legal compliance.

[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, “Law of Christ,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 543.
[2] Brian Vickers, Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair, ed. Robert A. Peterson, Explorations in Biblical Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2013), 178.
[3] Thomas R. Schreiner, Galatians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 397.
[4] A. B. Macaulay, “Keeping,” in A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: Aaron–Zion, ed. James Hastings (Edinburgh; New York: T&T Clark; Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), 1:926.
[5] Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014–2021). [See here, here.]
[6] B. Ward Powers, First Corinthians: An Exegetical and Explanatory Commentary (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 205.

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