Martin Luther, commenting on Galatians 6:1, once wrote:
Anyone who weighs the apostle’s words carefully will see clearly that he is not speaking about heresies or about sins against doctrine but about much less important sins, into which a man falls, not on account of deliberate malice or on purpose but out of weakness. Hence he uses such kind and fatherly words, not calling it error or sin but “trespass.” Then, to minimize and almost to excuse the sin and to remove the blame from the man, he adds: “If a man is overtaken,” that is, if he is deceived by the devil or by the flesh. Even the word “man” serves to minimize the matter. It is as though he were saying: “What is more characteristic of a human being than to be able to fall, to be deceived, and to err?” Thus Moses says in Lev. 6:3: “Human beings make a habit of sinning.” Therefore this is a statement filled with comfort, which once delivered me from death at the height of a struggle. In this life the saints not only live in the flesh but even, by some urging or other from the devil, gratify the desires of the flesh; that is, they fall into impatience, envy, wrath, error, doubt, unbelief, etc. For Satan is continually attacking both the purity of doctrine, which he seeks to destroy by means of sects and discord, and the integrity of life, which he pollutes through our daily transgressions and offenses. For this reason Paul teaches us how to deal with those who have fallen this way, namely, that those who are strong should restore them in a gentle spirit.
Luther’s Works, volume 27 “Lectures on Galatians 1535.Chapters 5-6; 1519.Chapters 1-6” page 109
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert