Galatians 6:2

This means: "You have one deficiency but not another. The neighbor's case is the opposite. He has another deficit but not the one you have. You must bear his and he yours. For thus is the law of love fulfilled." By "the law of Christ" …

(Vers. 2.) Carry one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For sin is a burden, and the Psalmist testifies, saying: My iniquities have risen above my head, like a heavy burden weighing me down (Psalm 38:5). And Zechariah, in a vision, saw a weighty lead covering of iniquity (Zechariah 5). The Savior took this burden upon Himself for us, teaching us by His example what we ought to do. For indeed he carries our iniquities, and he grieves for us, and he invites those who are burdened by the weight of sins and the Law to the light burden of virtue, saying: My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Therefore, whoever does not despair of his brother's salvation, but extends a hand to the one who prays, and as much as he can, weeps with the one who weeps, is weak with the weak, and judges his own sins as those of others, such a person fulfills the law of Christ through charity. What is the law of Christ? This is my commandment, that you love one another (John 13:34). What is the law of the Son of God? Love one another, as I have loved you. How did the Son of God love us? Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Whoever does not have compassion, nor is clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears, although he may be spiritual, will not fulfill the law of Christ. But let us also connect this place with the previous ones. For we follow a twofold understanding. If someone is weak in faith and is still nourished with the milk of infancy, they cannot so quickly transition from legal observance to the spiritual sacraments: you who are stronger, bear their burdens, lest your knowledge cause your brother to stumble, for whom Christ died. […]

However, both the laws served the Word for the instruction of humanity, both that given by Moses and that by the apostles. What, therefore, is the nature of the training by the apostles, appears to me to require to be treated of. Under this head, I, or rather the Instructor by me, will recount; and I shall again set before you the precepts themselves, as it were in the germ. ... "If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not."

I Exhort thee in God, that thou add [speed] to thy course, and that thou vindicate thy dignity. Have a care to preserve concord with the saints. Bear [the burdens of] the weak, that "thou mayest fulfil the law of Christ."

"Bear ye one another's burdens." It being impossible for man to be without failings, he exhorts them not to scrutinize severely the offences of others, but even to bear their failings, that their own may in turn be borne by others. As, in the building of a house, all the stones hold not the same position, but one is fitted for a corner but not for the foundations, another for the foundations, and not for the corner so too is it in the body of the Church. The same thing holds in the frame of our own flesh; notwithstanding which, the one member bears with the other, and we do not require every thing from each, but what each contributes in common constitutes both the body and the building. "And so fulfil the law of Christ." He says not "fulfil," but, "complete;" that is, make it up all of you in common, by the things wherein ye bear with one another. For example, this man is irascible, thou art dull-tempered; bear therefore with his vehemence that he in turn may bear with thy sluggishness; and thus neither will he transgress, being supported by thee, nor wilt thou offend in the points where thy defects lie, because of thy brother's forbearing with thee. So do ye by reaching forth a hand one to another when about to fall, fulfil the Law in common, each completing what is wanting in his neighbor by his own endurance. But if ye do not thus, but each of you will investigate the faults of his neighbor, nothing will ever be performed by you as it ought. For as in the case of the body, if one were to exact the same function from every member of it, the body could never consist, so must there be great strife among brethren if we were to require all things from all.

Since, being human, it is impossible to be sinless, he urges not to judge the sins of one's neighbor harshly, but to bear with them, so that afterward another may also bear with his sins. He did not say: πληρώσατε, but: αναπληρώσατε, that is, fulfill …

But how they ought to act towards equals he shows when he says, "Bear ye one another's burdens". Here he admonishes them to support one another, saying, "Bear ye one another's burdens." And this is to be done in three ways. In one way by …

Bear ye one another's burdens - Sympathize with, and assist, each other, in all your weaknesses, grievances, trials. And so fulfil the law of Christ - The law of Christ (an uncommon expression) is the law of love: this our Lord peculiarly recommends; this he makes the distinguishing mark of his disciples.

Note, Though as Christians we are freed from the law of Moses, yet we are under the law of Christ; and therefore, instead of laying unnecessary burdens upon others (as those who urged the observance of Moses's law did), it much more becomes us to fulfil the law of Christ by bearing one another's burdens.

Bear ye one another's burdens,....

In the latter he revives the main design of the epistle, which was to fortify the Galatians against the arts of their judaizing teachers, and confirm them in the truth and liberty of the gospel, for which purpose he, I.

Bear ye one another’s burdens - Have sympathy; feel for each other; and consider the case of a distressed brother as your own. And so fulfill the law of Christ - That law or commandment, Ye shall love one another; or that, Do unto all men as ye would they should do unto you.

Since ye desire "the law," then fulfil the law of Christ, which is not made up of various minute observances, but whose sole "burden" is "love" (Joh 13:34; Ro 15:3 gives Christ as the example in the particular duty here.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

OBSERVE, dear Friends, that the Apostle says in the second verse of this chapter, "Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." These Galatians had been trying to bear the heavy burden of the Law of Moses. They had, as far as they could, put themselves, again, under the old Ceremonial Law. They had forsaken the Gospel way of justification by faith and had sought to be made perfect by their personal obedience to the Law of God. Now, the Apostle, as though he would expel one affection by another, says, "You want a law?

OBSERVE, dear Friends, that the Apostle says in the second verse of this chapter, "Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." These Galatians had been trying to bear the heavy burden of the Law of Moses. They had, as far as they could, put themselves, again, under the old Ceremonial Law. They had forsaken the Gospel way of justification by faith and had sought to be made perfect by their personal obedience to the Law of God. Now, the Apostle, as though he would expel one affection by another, says, "You want a law? You wish to be under a law? Well, here is the law of Christ—yield yourselves to it! Instead of observing the outward ceremonies of the Levitical law, here is a living law which touches the heart and influences the life—obey that law. You are Christians. You have come under law to Christ by the very fact that you are not your own, but have been bought with a price by Him—now see to it that you yield implicit obedience to the law of Christ." It is somewhat remarkable, I think, that many of those who are self-righteous and apparently pay much regard to the Law of Moses are usually quite forgetful of that which is the very essence and spirit of that Law. They are so righteous that they become stern, severe, censorious—which is being unrighteous—for the righteousness even of the Law of God is a righteousness of love, "for all the law is fulfilled in one word," that is, "love." A self-righteous man is not generally a man with a tender spirit.

Bear ye one another’s burdens - See the note at Rom 15:1. Bear with each other; help each other in the divine life. The sense is, that every man has special temptations and easily besetting sins, which constitute a heavy burden. We should aid each other in regard to these, and help one another to overcome them. And so fulfil the law of Christ - The special law of Christ, requiring us to love one another; see the note at Joh 13:34. This was the distinguishing law of the Redeemer; and they could in no way better fulfil it than by aiding each other in the divine life. The law of Christ would not allow us to reproach the offender, or to taunt him, or to rejoice in his fall. We should help him to take up his load of infirmities, and sustain him by our counsels, our exhortations, and our prayers. Christians, conscious of their infirmities, have a right to the sympathy and the prayers of their brethren. They should not be cast off to a cold and heartless world; a world rejoicing over their fall, and ready to brand them as hypocrites. They should be pressed to the warm bosom of brotherly kindness; and prayer should be made to ascend without ceasing around an erring and a fallen brother. Is this the case in regard to all who bear the Christian name?