Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Fruitful Farming

⁷Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  ⁸The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Discussion Questions

-How would you describe the principle that Paul states in verse 7?

-Why would not agreeing with that principle equate to “mocking God”, and being deceived?

-Read verse 8.  What are some examples of how you could sow to please the sinful nature and/or sow to please the Spirit?

-In the farming described in verse 8, what are the two kinds of harvests?  Do you think those are referring to life on earth, in eternity, or both? 

-Where does the harvest of destruction that you receive from sowing to please the sinful nature come from?  What does that say about who is ultimately to blame for that result?

-What about the harvest of eternal life that you receive from sowing to please the Spirit?  Does that come from the same place?  What does this say about who gets the credit for that outcome?

-Verse 9 describes how it is that we sow to please the Spirit.  How does this relate to our common notions of what it means to “be spiritual?”

-According to this verse, what is the important thing to accomplish in regards to doing good in order to make sure we reap the harvest? Why do you think that is?

-According to verse 10, when do we do good to people? Do you think that negates the importance of planning on ways to do accomplish good things for people?

-Why do you think we are told to focus our good deeds for people especially on fellow believers?  How can we be “sowing to please the Spirit” in our own lives?

Leaders' Guide

This lesson explores the phrase “a man reaps what he sows”, and asks how we can be sowing in ways that please God and allows us to reap the harvest of eternal life. 

-How would you describe the principle that Paul states in verse 7?  

            This is an opener to allow people to express in their own words what the principle that “a man reaps what he sows” might mean.  The basic idea is that you have control over what you ultimately receive in this life based on what you put into it initially (as well as throughout the seasons of planting and harvesting).

-Why would not agreeing with that principle equate to “mocking God”, and being deceived?

            The point Paul is making here is that this is one of the  universal principles that govern the world.  It isn’t that God doesn’t enjoy being mocked, or would prefer that you not do that.  It is that he cannot be in regards to attempting to circumvent these kinds of basic laws.  In that sense, if you think that you can somehow do that, you are deceived. 

-Read verse 8.  What are some examples of how you could sow to please the sinful nature and/or sow to please the Spirit?

            Later in this study we will see what the text itself says about sowing to please the Spirit.  The sinful nature, of course, is anything that is self centered rather than God centered.  Especially those things that are self-destructive.  However, in the long run, anything that is all about you and your own pleasures and passions rather than about developing your relationship to God and obedience to him will be self-destructive.  That’s what this text is all about.

-In the farming described in verse 8, what are the two kinds of harvests?  Do you think those are referring to life on earth, in eternity, or both? 

            The harvests are destruction and eternal life.  While some people automatically assume that we are talking about our ultimate destiny after we die, do not dismiss the current implications of these two kinds of sowing.  A lot of what we do to please our sinful nature really is destructive, even though some people also live their whole lives eating, drinking and being merry without any apparent harm. By the same token, living to please God will often result in a healthier, more fulfilling life even though in some cases you could end up getting burned at the stake or hung up on a cross.

-Where does the harvest of destruction that you receive from sowing to please the sinful nature come from?  What does that say about who is ultimately to blame for that result?

            This text affirms that the destruction we reap from sowing to please our sinful nature comes from that very nature.  In other words, you can’t blame God or the Devil if your destiny becomes destruction.  A man reaps what he sows, not what some outside spiritual force imposes on him against his will.

-What about the harvest of eternal life that you receive from sowing to please the Spirit?  Does that come from the same place?  What does this say about who gets the credit for that outcome?

            On the other hand, eternal life comes from the Spirit.  We can destroy ourselves, but we cannot save ourselves.  Only God can do that and he gets the credit.  There is room here for being responsible for your own destruction, but no room for being proud about being able to accomplish your own salvation.

-Verse 9 describes how it is that we sow to please the Spirit.  How does this relate to our common notions of what it means to “be spiritual?”

            The flow and grammar of this text make it clear that this verse is designed to explain just how it is that we sow to please the Spirit and reap the harvest: by doing good.  This might be different than some of the answers that were given at first in regards to how to do that, which may have included things like prayer and meditation or other commonly understood “spiritual disciplines.”  This text certainly doesn’t negate the importance of those, but it does remind us that doing good to other people is also a key way that we are truly spiritual people.

-According to this verse, what is the important thing to accomplish in regards to doing good in order to make sure we reap the harvest? Why do you think that is?

            Reaping the harvest is predicated on not giving up, according to this verse.  Some people might find in this a basis for being able to lose salvation itself, but it is probably better to think of this as one of the texts in Scripture that underscores our eternity to be about more than whether we get there or not.  There are treasures in heaven God wants to pile up for us based on how we do good to other people in our lives here.  When applied to life in Scripture, the adjective “eternal”  is about the quality of life as well as its duration.  Sowing to please the Spirit certainly increases that in our lives here, and perhaps in eternity as well.  There is also the issue about Christ finding us with our lamps lit and using our talents for his kingdom when he returns (see the Olivet discourse in Matthew 25).  He certainly won’t find us doing that when he returns if we have already given up.

-According to verse 10, when do we do good to people? Do you think that negates the importance of planning on ways to do accomplish good things for people?

            This says “as we have the opportunity.”  There are many examples in Scripture of doing good being the result of planning as well, so we cannot deny the legitimacy of that.  Here we affirm that a full life of doing good to all people will include being willing to take advantage of all the opportunities God gives us on a daily basis, not just what we predetermined to do in our own understanding.  Remember that this is sowing to please the Spirit, and that Spirit is always at work putting circumstances and people together in ways that we could never accomplish or understand.  We just need to be available to the Spirit to be used at his discretion.

-Why do you think we are told to focus our good deeds for people especially on fellow believers?  How can we be “sowing to please the Spirit” in our own lives?