Spiritual Chiropractic: The Law of the Load
Introduction: The Community Cure
We live in a world that is simultaneously atomized and codependent. On the one hand, our culture preaches a radical individualism that says, "You are your own, live your truth, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." This creates a world of isolated, sovereign little popes, each ruling over a kingdom of one. On the other hand, we have a therapeutic culture that encourages a perpetual state of victimhood, where everyone is defined by their wounds and no one is responsible for their own choices. Both of these are disastrous dead ends. The autonomous man is a myth, and the codependent man is a parasite.
Into this confusion, the Apostle Paul speaks a radical and bracing word. He lays out the Christian alternative, which is neither harsh isolation nor sentimental enabling. The Christian life is a life of rugged personal responsibility lived out in a context of deep, sacrificial, corporate solidarity. The Church is meant to be a community where individuals are strong enough to carry their own packs, and gracious enough to help a brother when his has become a crushing, unbearable weight.
This passage is intensely practical. It follows directly on the heels of Paul's instruction to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. What does a Spirit-filled community look like? It does not look like a place where sin is ignored in the name of "niceness." Nor does it look like a place where the wounded are shot. It looks like a spiritual field hospital, a team of medics who know how to bind up wounds, set broken bones, and do it all without catching the disease themselves. This is spiritual chiropractic: the art of restoring a man who has been thrown out of joint by his sin.
Paul is giving us the divine economy of load-bearing. There is a load you must carry yourself, and there is a burden you must help your brother carry. Knowing the difference between the two is a mark of true spiritual wisdom. Getting this right is how a church stays healthy, holy, and humble.
The Text
Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not 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 each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.
(Galatians 6:1-5 LSB)
The Task of the Spiritual (v. 1)
The instruction begins with a specific scenario and a specific command for a specific group of people.
"Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." (Galatians 6:1)
Notice first that sin is a community affair. When a man is "caught in any transgression," he is not to be abandoned. The word for "caught" implies being overtaken, surprised by a sin. This is not necessarily a willful, high-handed rebellion, but a brother who has stumbled badly. The responsibility for his care falls to "you who are spiritual."
Who are the spiritual? This is not some special class of super-saints. In the context of Galatians, the spiritual man is the one walking by the Spirit, the one exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit we just read about in chapter five. He is mature. He is not spiritual in his own estimation, but in his demonstrable character. And what is his task? To "restore" the fallen brother. The word is katartizo, a term used for mending nets or setting a broken bone. It is a constructive, healing action. This is not about punishment for its own sake; it is about putting a broken man back into a state of usefulness for the kingdom.
But the manner is crucial: "in a spirit of gentleness." Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, not a personality type. It is not weakness or effeminate niceness. It is strength under control. It is the spirit of a skilled surgeon who must cut, but does so with a steady hand and a precise goal of healing, not harming. A harsh, angry, prideful confrontation will only do more damage. It is malpractice.
And this work is dangerous. Paul immediately adds the warning: "looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." When you are dealing with another man's sin, you are in the immediate vicinity of a spiritual contagion. The temptation for the restorer is pride. It is the temptation to look down on the fallen brother, to think, "I would never do such a thing," and in that very moment, you are standing on the same banana peel. Humility is the essential protective gear for this kind of work.
The Law of the Load (v. 2-3)
Paul then broadens the principle from a specific case to a general rule of Christian community.
"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." (Galatians 6:2-3 LSB)
The sin in verse one is an example of a "burden." The Greek word here is barē, which means a heavy, crushing weight, a load that is beyond a person's strength to carry alone. When a brother is overtaken by a transgression, the guilt and consequences are a crushing weight. The spiritual are to get their shoulders under that load with him. This is the opposite of the Pharisee who, as Jesus said, "tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger" (Matt. 23:4).
In doing this, we "fulfill the law of Christ." What is this law? It is the law of love. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34). Christ is the ultimate burden-bearer, who carried the crushing weight of our sin on the cross. When we bear one another's burdens, we are walking in His footsteps. We are living out the gospel. This is not legalism; it is the natural, organic outworking of a heart transformed by grace.
Verse 3 gives us the reason why this is so important, and it circles back to the warning in verse 1. The man who is unwilling to stoop down and help is the man who "thinks he is something when he is nothing." He is puffed up. He is proud. And in this state, he "deceives himself." He is the biggest fool of all, because he is his own fool. He is living in a delusion of self-righteousness. True spiritual assessment begins with the recognition that apart from the grace of God, we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing. That is the only safe platform from which to minister to a fallen brother.
Your Own Pack (v. 4-5)
Now Paul introduces what seems like a contradiction, but is in fact a crucial clarification. He balances corporate responsibility with individual responsibility.
"But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load." (Galatians 6:4-5 LSB)
The proud man in verse 3 gets his sense of self-worth by comparing himself to others. He feels tall because he is standing on his brother's back. Paul says this is illegitimate. The proper standard of measurement is not your neighbor; it is the Word of God. "Each one must examine his own work." Test it. Is it faithful? Is it obedient? If it is, then you will have a reason for "boasting", not a prideful arrogance, but a legitimate joy and confidence before God in the work He has done through you. This confidence is "in regard to himself alone," meaning it is not dependent on the failures of others.
And this leads to the great principle of verse 5: "For each one will bear his own load." Wait a minute. Didn't he just say in verse 2 to "bear one another's burdens?" Is the Bible contradicting itself? Not at all. Paul uses a different Greek word here. In verse 2, the word was barē, a crushing weight. Here in verse 5, the word is phortion. This word refers to a man's personal pack, the kind of load a soldier carries for himself. It is the normal, day-to-day responsibility that each person has before God.
The distinction is brilliant. Every Christian has a phortion to carry: your own sanctification, your daily work, your family duties, your personal walk with God. You cannot outsource this. No one can repent for you, believe for you, or obey for you. This is your pack. But sometimes, a brother stumbles, and his manageable phortion becomes a crushing barē. A crisis hits, a sin overtakes him, a tragedy strikes. At that point, the community is to come alongside and help him lift the barē until it once again becomes a manageable phortion that he can carry himself.
This is the biblical balance. We are not a community of enablers, carrying the packs of lazy men who refuse to walk. But we are also not a community of individualists, who watch a brother get crushed under a weight and say, "That's his problem." We carry our own packs, and we help with the crushing burdens.
Conclusion: A Healthy Body
This is what a healthy church looks like. It is a body, and as Paul says elsewhere, when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. We are a fellowship of people who understand two fundamental truths. First, we are all sinners saved by grace, and therefore we are all just one misstep away from being the one with the crushing burden. This keeps us humble. Second, we are all responsible before God to carry our own load, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This keeps us diligent.
So we must ask ourselves, what kind of community are we building here? Are we a place where people can be honest about their struggles, knowing that gentle, strong hands will be there to help lift the weight? Or are we a place where everyone pretends to be fine, hiding their struggles for fear of judgment? Are we quick to see the speck in our brother's eye, while ignoring the log in our own? Are we comparing ourselves to others in order to feel good about ourselves?
The law of Christ is the law of love, and love bears burdens. It sets broken bones. It mends nets. It does not shoot its wounded. Let us be a people who are spiritual, who are gentle, and who are humble, always looking to ourselves, lest we also be tempted. Let us be diligent to carry our own packs, and let us be quick to help our brother with his burden. For in this, the world will see the love of Christ, and the law of Christ will be fulfilled among us.