“Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 5:6f).
There are many appeals to men that he not be deceived or deluded. We are to let no man deceive us with vain speech (Eph. 5:6); we are not to be deceived into believing that the unrighteous can inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9). We are not to be deceived by believing that we can have evil companionships and not be affected by them (1 Cor. 15:33). The appeal in Galatians six is that we not deceive ourselves into believing we can mock God. The word “mock” here means to “sneer;” thus to deride. Any attempt on man’s part to mock God would be to think that we can sow to the flesh and not suffering any consequences for doing so.
There is no passage any clearer nor more positive than the text before us. We will reap what we sow. Yet, the doctrine “once saved, always saved” denies this and is believed by so many! Those who so affirm are in essence “sneering” at God — saying we cannot do what God says we can do! Whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap. This is an essential principle for order in our world. Who would be willing to sow if he had no promise that what he reaped would be what he had sown? Our agricultural world could not, would not function. What cattleman would stay in business if he did not know that whoever stock he bred would produce offspring of the same kind? Our world was fashioned on the principle that every seed would reproduce after its kind. It still functions on that principle.
Why should we think or believe that it is any different in spiritual things? Why should one teach that once a person is saved, he can never so sin so as to be lost? If we sow to the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption! Elsewhere Paul wrote, “If we live after the flesh, we shall die.” All know that flesh ultimately decays and goes back to the dust. If we sown to fleshly desires we will experience the same results! “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?” Paul asked in 1 Cor. 6:9. Peter’s warnings are similar. “For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For it were better for them never to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. It has happened unto them according to the true proverb: the dog turning to his own vomit again and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire” (2 Pet. 2:20-22). Some brethren return to their drinking, fornicating, honky-tonkying and forget God’s warning. “Why will ye die, Oh house of Israel?” Indeed, Why Oh Why?
If we sow to the Spirit we shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. Such ones have counted the cost and determined to crucify the world and the lusts thereof. They determined to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Such ones have counted the cost. Such ones still believe they have a soul that will spend eternity somewhere; still believe there is a judgment before which they will be summons, still believe there is a place called hell that is as eternal as the place called heaven. So, these deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. These folks believe and follow the apostles, exhortation, “And let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).
Jim McDonald
