Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.
All Commentaries on Galatians 6:1 Go To Galatians 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass.
Forasmuch as under cover of a rebuke they gratified their private feelings, and professing to do so for faults which had been committed, were advancing their own ambition, he says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken. He said not if a man commit but if he be overtaken that is, if he be carried away.
You which are spiritual restore such a one,
He says not chastise nor judge, but set right. Nor does he stop here, but in order to show that it behooved them to be very gentle towards those who had lost their footing, he subjoins,
In a spirit of meekness.
He says not, in meekness, but, in a spirit of meekness, signifying thereby that this is acceptable to the Spirit, and that to be able to administer correction with mildness is a spiritual gift. Then, to prevent the one being unduly exalted by having to correct the other, puts him under the same fear, saying,
Looking to yourself, lest you also be tempted.
For as rich men convey contributions to the indigent, that in case they should be themselves involved in poverty they may receive the same bounty, so ought we also to do. And therefore he states this cogent reason, in these words, looking to yourself, lest you also be tempted. He apologizes for the offender, first, by saying if you be overtaken; next, by employing a term indicative of great infirmity ; lastly, by the words lest you also be tempted, thus arraigning the malice of the devil rather than the remissness of the soul.
