Galatians 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.… The warning implies a liability to deception or error: in this case the deception appears to be, that a man may be sowing to the flesh, and yet be hoping to reap of the Spirit, or that for him might be changed the unchangeable order which God has ordained — "like seed, like harvest." But, he says, "there's no such thing as mocking God." The expression is a strong one, taken from that organ of the face by which we express careless contempt. The verb μυτκηρίξω, from μυτκήρ, is to turn up the nose at, to sneer at, to mock. Men may we imposed on by a show of virtue on the part of one who all the while scorns their weakness; but God cannot be so mocked. Let him sow what he likes, that and that only, that and nothing else, shall he also reap. The reaping is not only the effect of the sowing, but is necessarily of the same nature with it. He that sows cockles, cockles shall he also reap; he that soweth wheat, wheat also shall he reap. It is the law of God in the natural world — the harvest is but the growth of the sowing; and it illustrates the uniform sequences of the spiritual world. The nature of conduct is not changed by its development and final ripening for Divine sentence; nay, its nature is by the process only opened out into full and self-displayed reality. The blade and the ear may be hardly recognized and distinguished as to species, but the full corn in the ear is the certain result and unmistakeable proof of what was sown. And the sowing leads certainly, and not as if by accident, to the reaping; the connection cannot be severed — it lies deep in man's personal identity and responsibility. (John Eadie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.WEB: Don't be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. |
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