Galatians 6:7-8 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
In the third verse of this chapter, we are told that if we think ourselves to be something when we are nothing, then we deceive ourselves. Now we are told that not to be deceived. The Greek word translated as “not” in this phrase carries the idea of a “qualified negation (see Strong’s)” as opposed to an absolute negation. The negation is qualified in that man has demonstrated his ability to deceive himself.
The indication here is that when we deceive ourselves we are, in effect, attempting to mock God. In order for us to deceive ourselves, we must ignore or deny what the Spirit has taught us. This was the condition of the Galatian churches. After having been called by the Spirit into the liberty of Christ, they were aligning themselves with the bondage of men.
I say we are only attempting to mock God because the scripture says “God is not mocked.” Unlike the word “not” in the first phrase of verse seven (which is a qualified negation), the word translated as “not” in the second phrase is “an absolute negation.” To put it in our terms today, “it ain’t going to happen!” God is never going to allow men to mock His work, His word, or His purpose.
Sowing and reaping is a theme taught throughout the Bible. It is clear that our self-deception is a direct result of sowing to the flesh. When we sow (spend our labors) on the things that are important to our carnality we are going to reap a carnal harvest. The word “corruption” is defined by Strong’s as “decay, that is, ruin.”
God is not mocked: ruin is the only harvest that we will ever have of the flesh. Paul had already instructed the Galatian brethren that those who had adversely affected them did so that these brethren might be excluded unless they conformed to the bondage of the law (Gal 4:17). The loss of their peace and consolation in Christ would be the price for sowing to (trusting in) the flesh.
Sowing and reaping are not optional life choices. We do sow and we do reap: either we sow to the flesh or we sow to the Spirit. Sowing and reaping are not activities that we have the option of non-participation. Sowing to the flesh yields a harvest and so does sowing to the Spirit. Just as surely as sowing to the flesh yields ruin, sowing to the Spirit yields everlasting life.
It should be noted here that reaping everlasting life from our sowing to the Spirit is not about making ourselves good enough to go to heaven. Our eternal salvation was bought by the blood of Christ which He freely shed on the cross: that is not our field to sow in. The everlasting life that we reap as a result of what we sow is our life in the kingdom of heaven here. Our harvest is the realization of the peace and consolation in Christ in our daily lives.
May we sow to the Spirit and reap a life worth living instead of sowing to the flesh and reaping the loss of our consolation in Christ!