6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
Next comes the positive example of what Paul has been saying. There is a significance in the order, for as long as vainglory, provocation and envy hold the stage in our lives, love does not have a chance to express itself. Indeed, the one cancels out the other. Which may explain why this compassionate work of restoration is often at a discount, and left undone. The force of the words is 'If, nevertheless, a man be overtaken…', i.e. in view of what has been said in the previous chapter there is nevertheless the possibility of sin and failure even for those who have been brought into the liberty of Christ. There is in fact no level of spiritual attainment we can reach from which it is not possible to fall. But it follows the thought of the previous chapter in another sense also. Notice the position of this tender appeal - after the teaching about the fruit of the Spirit. There is something important here. The work of restoration in the gospel is possible only after the establishment of grace in the believer. It is 'ye who are spiritual' - that is those living in the Spirit and controlled by His power - who alone can do this gracious, Christlike work. It is a measure of the importance Paul thought the preparation and equipment of a believer for service to be that he should have spent so much time instructing the Galatians in the deep things of the spiritual life before he could exhort them to do the work of spiritual rescue and rehabilitation. This should serve to remind us that spiritual qualifications are necessary for the care and cure of souls. Why should we glibly suppose that inexperienced and often brash young Christians are able as a matter of course to do this work, before ever they have had time to become established in the things of God. If we followed the scriptural pattern more and gave ourselves time to become grounded in the Spirit, we might avoid the costly dissipation of spiritual energies which has bedevilled so many young lives, and made them spent forces just when they should be starting out in the service of the gospel.