6:7, 8 The principle of sowing and reaping was known to everyone in a largely agricultural society. It is a vain attempt to “mock” God for a Christian to think that if he sows to his flesh he can escape the harvest of destruction and judgment that comes upon those who participate in sin (5:19–21; Hos. 8:7). Corruption is a term used for a field in which the produce is too rotten to harvest (see Heb. 6:8). Some interpret corruption to imply eternal destruction, either through losing salvation or through never having been truly saved at all. Others understand a tragic loss of rewards for the carnal believer (see 1 Cor. 3:12–15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12). He who sows to the Spirit will … reap everlasting life does not mean that eternal life is earned by works. Rather, Paul is saying that everlasting life is the glorious end of those who follow the guidance of the Spirit (see Rom. 6:22).

2. The use of money (6:6-10)

The second area to which Paul seeks to apply the life of the Spirit in a practical way is the use of money; indeed, few things more clearly disclose the priorities of the heart than this. While many commentators hesitate to relate this entire section to the use of money, and while it is true that the section as a whole goes beyond that topic, at least three factors indicate that Paul was thinking primarily of money. First, the phrase "do good to all" (v.10) is certainly a euphemism for giving alms, so that a concern for financial matters never entirely leaves Paul's mind. Second, v.7 is a proverb that Paul used on at least one other occasion to encourage generous giving (2Co 9:6). Finally, giving was important to Paul at this time, for the collection for the Jerusalem poor was part of his policy and the admonition to proceed with it was fresh in his mind as a result of the Jerusalem council (Gal 2:10). This passage may even be alluding to the collection.

Three uses of money are mentioned: (1) the support of the teacher in a Christian congregation, (2) the use of money to build up the life of the Spirit rather than to feed the flesh, and (3) the spending of money to help others, particularly Christians. The principle that ties all three points together is that enunciated in the proverb: reaping is in proportion to sowing.

10-11 In v.6 Paul observed that the person who sows sparingly will reap a meager harvest. Now he develops the imagery of sowing and reaping to reinforce the point that generosity pays handsome dividends. He argues from God's bounty in nature to his even greater liberality in grace. The crops of the generous person are always full and his harvests rich. If God supplies us with the seed needed to produce a harvest of grain, and thus food (cf. Isa 55:10), he certainly will supply and multiply all the resources needed to produce a full harvest of good deeds ("your righteousness"; cf. Hos 10:12).

Verse 11a restates v.8. God continues to enrich benevolent people so that they can go on enriching others by their generosity (cf. 1:4). The greater the giving, the greater the enrichment. The greater the enrichment, the greater the resources to give. Paul then adds a statement (v.11b) that he will develop in vv.12-15. The Jerusalem saints, as the grateful recipients of the liberal gift administered by Paul and his colleagues, would express their thanks to God, the source of all good gifts (cf. Jas 1:17).