Tell Truth in Love

Main Point: True love does not allow error

I once had a friend make a comment to me. The comment made it very obvious they were not a parent

They said, “You should never yell at your child”

This wasn’t him commenting on my parenting, thinking about it now, maybe it was, but was in the flow of the conversation

We all know that’s not true, if not for nothing less than than preventing them from doing dangerous activities like putting a fork in an electrical socket

If we really love someone, we will tell them when they are in a potentially dangerous situation

This is not just for our children, and their life, but anyone we meet and there spiritual life

Today, Paul will address the dangers of not knowing God in a salvific way

Galatians 4:8–20

Paul has spent the first three chapters of Galatians correcting the theological errors of the Galatian church, here he explains why and what his motivation is

Here Paul addresses the question, should we correct those who are going astray?

The Importance of Knowing God

Verse 8

Before knowing God, we were enslaved

In America we understand the dire picture of being a slave

We understand how horribly an owner can treat a master

Paul makes the comparison that not knowing God is like being a slave

Not only does Paul compare being lost to being a slave, he tells us who the master is

“Those that by nature are not Gods”

This statement appears to speak to pagan gods; statues that are not gods

by nature they are nothing but man made figure

What’s interesting about this statement is that he’s not been talking about idol worship but about following the law

He’s actually drawing another comparison

not just are those that don’t know God enslaved, but those that try to work their way to God are worshiping and idol

verse 9

Paul speaks of salvation as “knowing God” and being “known by God”

The idea of “knowing God” is more than simply head knowledge

It’s more than just knowing the facts, or knowing who God is, it’s being deeply in relationship

The word for “to know” here is the the ginosko

It is the root word for Gnosticism

Gnosticism is a heresy that crept up in the first century, and is still around today

Gnosticism is a the belief that salvation comes through revealed knowledge, outside scripture and is very mystical

It’s a special knowledge, reserved only for certain people

This isn’t how Paul is using the word ginosko

It’s the same Greek word found in the Greek Old Testament of Paul’s day

The Greek Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Old Testament that was translated around the third century BC

It gives us interesting insight into the words Paul and other New Testament writers use

The first time we find the ginosko is in Genesis 4:1

Genesis 4:1 ESV

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”

This is more of how Paul is using the word “to know”

It’s a deep, relational knowledge

Not only is Paul saying we know God, but also that God knows us

This is Paul’s argument; Now that you know God, God knows you why would you turn back to a list of rules?

He refers to the list of rules as “Elementary principles of the word” again and warns that the Galatians are wanting to become their slaves again

observing days, months and seasons is a reference to the holy days of the Jewish religion

Why would you want to abandon a relationship with God, for tradition, holy days, and rules?

just saying that way show us how ridiculous the idea of salvation by works really is

Why Is This So Important to Paul

v11

Paul now admits why this topic is so important to him; He is afraid

He is afraid

he mentions here, the cause of his fear

That he worked for nothing, but we will see later on that his fear is not just that he “wasted his time” but that he cares deeply for the Galatians

When Paul first came to the Galatians, he came to them i ailment (v13) and preached the Gospel to them

His physical weaknesses were a trial to them

whatever it was Paul was suffering through were also a trial to the Galatians,

but they didn’t treat him with contempt, but accepted him, loved him

We all have an idea of what it might be like to care for a physically impaired loved one

The exhaustion, the physical and emotional drain

We can also understand how greatful we would be if we were the one needing care The Galatians did this for Paul

Many people Pau;’s ailment had to do with his eyesight and the Galatians loved and cared for him so much that they would have even given him their eyes

If we skip down to verse 19 we find out that he is in such pain over what they are believing he compares his pain to that of a woman in labor

Paul’s motivation here is not to be right, it’s not to be seen an authority or expert, it’s not even to convince them

His motivation for this letter is love

Tell the Truth in Love

v16

Unfortunately, sometimes when we tell the truth others will see us as the enemy

The beatitudes, John (they hated me)

That doesn’t mean we don’t tell the truth, it means we still must tell the truth

“Don’t judge”

v17

The judiazers were speaking highly of the Galatians, but only in order that the Galatians would bring them glory

How Do We Live?

Share the gospel in love

Share the gospel in person v20

Correct bad doctrine