Galatians 4:12-20. The Potter's Hands

How you are right now going into 2019 is a result of the choices you have made in 2018. Your fitness, knowledge, compassion and ability to show mercy is a result of how you have cultivated those disciplines in 2018. What is formed in you is a result of how you have allowed yourself to be formed. If it has been through external pressures or internal complacency, then the result is probably a mixture of apathy and distraction. Yet a life surrendered to God, nourished by His word, controlled by the Spirit and seeking to be conformed to Christ, is a saint that is both useful and honoring God.

In Galatians 4 we see how the Galatians who has started so strong in the things of the faith, succumbed to the external pressures from the Judaizers and they so quickly abandon the godly resolve they once had, to backslide into old habits. Paul has scalded them for their folly for he had explained patiently the difference between law and faith; shown them the panorama of God’s redemptive purpose in Christ; and stirred up memories of former times, when they had embraced the true gospel. Now he makes an impassioned personal appeal (Edgar H. Andrews. Free in Christ: The Message of Galatians. Evangelical Press. 1996. p. 222).

Before Advent, in November, we looked at leaving behind the old unproductive ways and embracing helpful spiritual disciplines. This week we look at the essentials of the how this can be done. How can we become what God wants of us in 2019? How can 2019 be a productive, fruitful year for you? It won’t just happen. This all requires a particular direction and objective. Without this, we will be adrift in distraction, interruption and business.

In order to have Christ formed in us, we look to Galatians 4:12-20, where the Apostle Paul shows: 1) The Godly Example. (Galatians 4:12a.) 2) The Godly Focus. (Galatians 4:12-16 3) The Deadly Distraction. (Galatians 4:17-18) and finally: 4) The Godly Objective: (Galatians 4:19-20)

In order to have Christ formed in us we first look at:

1) The Godly Example. Galatians 4:12a.

Galatians 4:12a [12] Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. (You did me no wrong). (ESV)

Paul’s appeal to his Brothers/brethren in Christ was for them to recognize and live by the spiritual freedom all believers have in God’s grace. He is not speaking of a theoretical teaching from a type of removed doctrine, but as a fellow brother of one who struggles yet has a particular aim.

Paul says, I entreat/beg of you, … become as I am. Here he is summarizing the teaching he gave them and his life, free from trying to earn salvation by keeping the law and free from having to live by its outward symbols, ceremonies, rituals, and restrictions. Expressed here in the Greek present middle imperative, Paul directs that they should keep on becoming as he was. Don’t give up grace for law, but get all the way out from under the law and come all the way under grace (KJV Bible commentary. 1997, c1994 (2392). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

• Don’t settle with where you are with Christ. Complacency is the death to growth. Paul is implying that we need to keep on becoming like Christ. We are not to fall back into a life of doing things to try to make God happy, but embrace His grace as a means of growing in Christ.

Please turn to Philippians 3

The reason for Paul’s appeal is also personal: because he says: I also have become as you are. When he came to Christ he had torn away every shred of legalism, in which he had been enmeshed more tightly than perhaps few other Jews of his day (see Phil. 3:4–6). He had left a life of trying to earn God’s favor. He had become like the Gentiles, embracing grace, and abandoning the legalism of the Judaizers, of trying to earn God’s favor.

Paul expressed his Previous Status:

Philippians 3:4-8 [4] though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5]circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; [6]as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. [7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (ESV)

The Jewish believers in Galatia knew well that Paul had abandoned his former subservience not only to the rabbinic traditions but even to the ceremonial law of Moses (Acts 21:21). Many of those believers, like Paul himself, had paid a dear price when they turned from Judaism to Christ, being ostracized from their families and synagogues and treated as if dead.

• Here is the challenge we all face going into 2019. Everyone wants more of you. Your work wants you to put in more hours. Your friends want you to go out more, your spouse wants you to do more activities. The message that God gives, it that doing more of all these things will not bring happiness.

Quote: Paul could point people to become as he was, because of a faithful testimony for Christ. Paul frequently encouraged his readers to imitate him as he in turn imitated Christ (1 Cor. 4:14-16; 11:1 ; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6). John Stott said: “embedded here is a principle of far-reaching importance for ministers, missionaries and other Christian workers. It is that, in seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us (as we are in Christ), while the means to that end is to make ourselves like them. If they are to become one with us in Christian conviction and experience, we must first become one with them in Christian compassion. We must be able to say with the apostle Paul: ‘I became like you; now you become like me”.(Stott, J. R. W. (1986). The message of Galatians: Only one way (p. 113). Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

In order to have Christ formed in us we must have a:

2) Godly Focus. Galatians 4:12b-16

Galatians 4:12b-16 [12] (Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are). You did me no wrong. [13] You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, [14]and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. [15] What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. [16] Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? (ESV)

Paul now makes a rather abrupt change of emphasis reminding the Galatians of how rich and deep their personal relationship with him had once been. They not only had done him no wrong but had openly and lovingly received him while he was in extremely adverse personal circumstances. “How then,” he was wondering, “could you reject me now, after being so accepting of me then?”He is making a personal appeal that they would now do him no wrong. Why else might Paul declare that the Galatians had done him no wrong? He was speaking works of correction. Paul had to declare that his words of correction were not out of a strained relationship, but one of love.

• The most loving thing we can do for someone is to endeavor to help them grow. It is a selfish thing to keep observations to ourselves. The key of course is to help them grow is to not point out faults from a sense of superiority, but in genuine love for them, seek that they would become more like Christ.

It was, in fact, as it says in verse 13, because of a bodily ailment/illness that Paul had preached the gospel to them at first. On his first missionary journey Paul apparently either became seriously ill while in Galatia or else went there to recuperate. Some think it may have been an attack of malaria or epilepsy, or perhaps ophthalmia, an Oriental eye disease prevalent in the lowlands of Pamphylia. But whatever it was, it occasioned Paul’s preaching the gospel to them (cf. Acts 13:13–14). Although malaria can be terribly painful and debilitating, those effects are not continuous. If Paul did have that disease, he would have still been able to still do some preaching and teaching between attacks of fever and pain. This explanation is plausible. (KJV Bible commentary. 1997, c1994 (2392). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

• Sickness has struck several of you as of late. Some of it minor, for others more serious. It is naturally frustrating and it can have a major affect on your plans. Although it often necessitates a change in ministry from before, it does not mean an end of ministry altogether. God still has work for you to do regardless of your age or condition. In times of sickness or infirmity, it may mean a new avenue of ministry for you given your condition. Don’t sit on the fence until something happens. Resolve to be a useful instrument for God regardless of your age or condition. Kids, don’t think that doing God’s work is only for adults. God still wants you to be a godly witness and serve Him

Whatever the illness Paul had, it was as it says in verse 14, a trial to the Galatians, because his bodily ailment was such that the normal response to it was revulsion. But the believers there did not scorn or despise Paul’s affliction, repulsive as it was. The meaning here to “despise” is to count as nothing or worthless, and the term behind scorn/loathe literally means “to spit,” which was often done as an act of contempt. Paul was treated neither as worthless nor with contempt.

In ancient times, without benefit of good medicines, sterile bandages, and other such modern care, diseases were often disfiguring and their stench nauseating. To most ancients, including Jews, physical affliction was considered a form of divine judgment. Jesus’ disciples asked Him about the blind beggar in Jerusalem, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” (John 9:2). Theirs was the same assumption Job’s three friends made regarding his tragedies (Job 4:7–9; 8:1–6; 11:13–20) and that the natives of Malta made regarding Paul’s being bitten by a deadly viper (Acts 28:3–4).

The fact that Paul’s affliction was not a barrier to his credibility either to the Jews or Gentiles of Galatia was totally unexpected. The apostle was amazed that they even received him as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. They did not question what he said or the way he looked. They had no doubt that he was God’s messenger and the apostolic representative of the Lord Jesus and were grateful beyond measure for the blessing of spiritual life they had received because of his ministry.

• There is an important application here in terms of Pastoral ministry. My desire in preaching is not that you might like my sermon, but hear what I am saying as God’s words. One of the hardest things for me is to make personal observations because the last things I want is for people to like what I say and forget what God is saying. That is why I try to focus on what exactly God is saying. Make a concerted effort therefore when you listen to the word of God to take it as that and not what someone is saying about it.

In Galatians 4:15, Paul reflects on His relationship with the Galatians: “What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me”. Makarismos (blessing) can also be translated “happiness” or “satisfaction” and implies a feeling of joy, fulfillment, and contentedness. “From the beginning you were satisfied and happy with me and with the message of grace I preached,” Paul was saying. “What made you lose that satisfaction? Why have you turned against me and against the gospel of grace?” He refreshed their memories that once they loved him so much as in such graphic figure of speech said that you would have gouged/plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Paul may simply have been using a common hyperbole, an exaggerated figure of speech, suggesting that the Galatians would have given up their very eyesight, the most precious and irreplaceable of the physical senses, if doing that could have helped him. If, as some interpreters speculate, Paul’s bodily affliction was a form of eye disease, he may here have been referring to the Galatians’ willingness to have literally exchanged their eyes for his, had such a transplant been possible in those days. Whatever the specific nature of Paul’s illness, his primary point here is clear: the Galatians had loved him with a love that would have compelled them to make any sacrifice on his behalf.

• In examining our own spiritual condition, have you noticed a change in your zeal. Was there a time when no effort was too great for the advancement of the Gospel? Were you so on fire and excited with what Christ has done that no person was off limits? Did you not worry about what others thought, just about the exciting things that God was doing?

For the Galatians, after only a few years, however, the situation had radically changed. Now Paul asked in bewilderment in verse 16, “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”. The Galatian believers who had succumbed to the Judaizing heresy were guilty of spiritual defection. God continually gave everything He could possibly give to His chosen people, Israel, including His own incarnate Son. They called themselves by God’s name, but they refused to obey His will or come to Him in faith to have their sins forgiven. Yet throughout Israel’s rebelliousness, God’s gracious offer of forgiveness stood as a beacon to call her back to Himself.

Hosea 14:1-2 [14:1] Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. [2] Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. (ESV)

• God doesn’t want you to wallow in mediocrity. He wants to bless you with tremendous forgiveness and richness of power. All that He asks is that you don’t take his forgiveness for granted, but truly confess your sins and be open to have Him use you and lead you wherever that may be.

Please turn to 2 Timothy 4

The implication of what Paul is saying in Galatians 4:16, is that on a second trip to Galatia by Paul, some of the church members there had already come under the influence of the Judaizers and had begun to doubt the truth of salvation by faith alone, which they had learned and accepted from him. The false gospel of legalism had become more attractive to them than the gospel of grace, and the man who had been their beloved friend had become to them like an enemy.

This is what Paul told Timothy to expect:

2 Timothy 4:2-4 [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3] For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4]and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (ESV)

• It’s a lot easier to listen for teachers to give you an easy message of self-fulfillment/actualization in new year considerations. A kind of motivational self-help.The truth of the matter that any real growth means effort and often pain. It means getting out of a comfort zone. You never reach second base while still standing on first. Do you see a difference in yourself over this past year than the year before? “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got”. If you really desire growth in 2019 it will mean doing something different that what you have done in 2018.

Illustration: Having the mind of Christ is the only way forward. May the song “May the Mind of Christ, My Savior” be our heartfelt prayer to the Lord today and in the days to come. “May the mind of Christ, my Savior, Live in me from day to day, By His love and power controlling All I do and say. May the Word of God dwell richly In my heart from hour to hour, So that all may see I triumph Only through His power. May the peace of God my Father Rule my life in everything, That I may be calm to comfort Sick and sorrowing. May the love of Jesus fill me As the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing, This is victory. Crucifixion with Christ—exalting him—abasing self—this is victory!” (Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (pp. 153–154). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.)

In order to have Christ formed in us we must avoid:

3) Deadly Distraction. Galatians 4:17-18

Galatians 4:17-18 [17] They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. [18] It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, (ESV)

Paul again warns the Galatians about their real enemies, the Judaizers (cf. 1:7 9; 2:4). They make much of youreagerly seek you, but for no good purposenot commendably. The phrase “make much of/eagerly seek” carries the idea of taking a serious interest in someone and was often used of a man courting a woman. “The Judaizers talk like they really care for you,” Paul was saying, “but they are false suitors who have no genuine love for or interest in you or your welfare.” The Judaizers had no interest in the Galatian believers beyond entrapping them in legalism. They were like the scribes and Pharisees to whom Jesus said, “You travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matt. 23:15). The Judaizers true wish and objective was to shut … out the Galatians from God’s grace and gain recognition and acceptance for themselves (implied in the phrase that you may make much of them).

Please turn to Isaiah 55

Much of what passes for “expert motivating help” are efforts to ensnare people to buy books, CDs and attend seminars. The genuine motivation is not to help the individual, but sell more product. Take great care in what you read and listen to, as to their objective. There is a broader implication of the warning of shutting out, beware of any activity that isolates you from your other factors of life. This would mean caution with anything that takes you away from being the spouse, parent, sibling, friend, worker or Christian in general.

The counter to anything that would isolate you or profit from you, the free offer of the Gospel, to those who realize they have nothing to offer:

Isaiah 55:1-3a [55:1]"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. [2] Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. [3] Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; (and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.) (ESV)

• Don’t spend another year accumulating things that will not endure or spending on what does not satisfy. As Jesus said in: Matthew 6:20 [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (ESV)

Paul specifies in verse 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, (ESV). Paul himself had eagerly sought them when he first preached the gospel in Galatia. It was for a good purpose/in a commendable manner, out of love for Christ and a deep desire for their salvation. And such enthusiastic concern was appropriate.

• Enthusiastic zeal is a good thing going into a new year. We should be excited, and hopeful, but the key here is related to that “good purpose”. Being blasé and lukewarm is a sin (Rev. 3) but on the opposite end, undirected enthusiasm can be come easily discouraged.

Illustration: We ought never to think that unbelief and heresy will always come to us in an unattractive garb. At Marburg University in 1905, J. Gresham Machen encountered German liberal Protestantism in the form of Wilhelm Hermann, the Professor of Dogmatics. Machen was quite captivated at first, and wrote to his brother, ‘Herrmann affirms very little of that which I have been accustomed to regard as essential to Christianity; yet there is no doubt in my mind but that he is a Christian, and a Christian of a peculiarly earnest type … It is inspiring to see a man so completely centred in Christ, even though some people might wonder how he reaches this result and still holds the views that he does about the accounts of Christ in the New Testament.’ It took Machen some time to see that this was religious zeal built upon the airy foundation of human imagination. ( Barnes, P. (2006). A Study Commentary on Galatians (p. 207). Darlington, England; Webster, New York: Evangelical Press.)

• Without theological soundness, false teachers have to accommodate this lack with great charisma. Be careful that your assurances are based on the facts of scripture and not the charisma of the speaker.

Finally, in order to have Christ formed in us we must have a:

4) Godly Objective: Galatians 4:19-20

Galatians 4:19-20 [19]my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! [20]I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. (ESV)

Speaking like a mother, Paul now addressed the Galatian believers as my little children, for with whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. He was not arguing like a lawyer before a skeptical jury but pleading like a parent to a wayward child. Children is from teknion, a diminutive that was used figuratively as a term of special affection. The Galatian believers were extremely dear to Paul but were acting like infants who refused to be born.

With the Galatians, after having spiritually nursed them in their new life in Christ, Paul is again in the anguish of childbirth with them. “That is abnormal and unnatural,” he implies. “You have already experienced the new birth, but now you are acting as if you need to be spiritually born all over again. You make me feel like a mother who has to deliver the same baby twice.” Paul’s presentation of himself as a woman in labor is meant to indicate the degree of love he has for his converts, but it also indicates the pain and difficulty he is having in bringing them into a fully Christian lifestyle (Witherington III, B. (1998). Grace in Galatia : A Commentary on St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians (318). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

• Don’t listen to anyone who says that being a Christian is easy. With temptations, distractions and the challenge of sanctification, the metaphor of childbirth is a good one. With any great achievement, there is great struggle. The result, like that of birthing a wonderful new life, is profound.

Striving for striving sake is not the answer. But, many people become distracted and give up because they do not have the ultimate objective as their motivation and direction. The ultimate objective that Paul has for them and the ultimate objective you should have for yourself this new year is that you should strive for spiritual maturity until Christ is formed in you. The forming here, is from the word (Gr morphoō) means to give outward expression to one’s inward nature (KJV Bible commentary. 1997, c1994 (2393). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

Please turn to 2 Corinthians 3

It is not enough to be confident internally of being a Christian. There needs to be the outward manifestation of this inward nature. We are not to have our private activities, family activities, work activities and godly activities. Christ formed in you is God’s objective in all that you do. God has predestined believers “to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29).

It is the greatest sign of love and thanksgiving we can show to Him.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)

• This is not a straightjacket to restrict our lives, but one of liberation. It does not happen from self-will but confessing restricting sin and having the Holy Spirit work in us. That is the difference between so called self-help programs and Christianity. We do not work to be pleasing to God, we confess sin and have the Holy Spirit work in us. It does not mean standing back and doing nothing, but living a life of faithful obedience and as we do, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us in transforming us into the image of Christ.

They Key to Christ being formed in you, is what is formed on the inside manifesting outside. The Judaizers were advocating doing a bunch of external things. Christ formed in you, occurs through a series on inward disciplines. It is for you to think the things He thinks, hate the things He hates, and love the things He loves. When all these things truly occur, they result in a life that works like Christ did.

• This kind of spiritual formation does not happen overnight. Paul used the analogy of birth to describe it. It takes an embryo to grow into an infant, and then, for a child to grow into an adult. In the same way, the Spirit gradually uses God’s word to make God’s children like God’s Son. (Philip Graham Ryken. Galatians: Reformed Expository Commentary. P&R Press. 2005. p. 178)

Most people derail their best intentions by loosing the perspective on this forming. We must see where we are now to understand how we are going to get to the place of Christ formed in us. We can have for example the objective of learning Greek, but our first step must be to learn the Greek alphabet. Having the end goal without understanding were we presently are does not help us move closer towards it. Secondly, the time to reach our objective must be considered. Paul himself spent years of training before his ministry. Change must be factored in degrees. Thirdly we must chart our course. A written plan provides direction and defined end-points, which are junctions at which you can re-evaluate and re-configure towards Christ being formed in us. The Book of Galatians itself is a written plan of direction and end-points for the Galatians. We need a written plan to take the direction and end-points and write specific ways and objectives for us to get there. Fourth, it’s helpful to have outside evaluation. Paul reflected on the present spiritual state of the Galatians. Often we become blind to our strengths and weaknesses. God has put us in community. When it functions as it should, healthy encouragement and correction occur. The most healthy place you could be with yourself right now is to be dissatisfied. Not that you wish you could have more things, or go more places, but you would better resemble Christ. The more you study and desire to have Christ formed in you, the greater you will be used by God and bear fruit for Him. The rest of our study in Galatians chapter 5 & 6 will show how this forming can be specifically done. The difference between Paul and the false teachers should now be clear. The false teachers were seeking themselves to dominate the Galatians; Paul longed that Christ be formed in them. They had a selfish eye to their own prestige and position; Paul was prepared to sacrifice himself for them, to be in travail until Christ was formed in them (Stott, J. R. W. (1986). The message of Galatians: Only one way (pp. 116–117). Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

Finally, Paul’s great desire in verse 20 was to deal more directly with these issues that would require him to be present with the Galatians in person and to be able to change his tone with them. He hardly knew what more to say or how to say it, because he was so perplexed about them. This verb perplexed (aporeomai) means to be at one’s wits’ end. He could not understand how they could have been taught the gospel so well, believed it so genuinely, and then appeared to have forsaken it so quickly (cf. 1:6).

• I would love to be present with you in your decisions with family, work and personal holiness. To that degree, to be present with you in those situations is up to you. The more you choose to involve me in those situations, the greater we can work together to have Christ formed in you. Nevertheless, it won’t always be possible and there will be times when, like Paul, it is just you alone with God.

• The key success this year is to have God’s objective foremost in your mind this year, to have Christ formed in you. See that as your aim in all you think and do this year and you will have the greatest blessing and lasting fruit from God.

(Format note: Some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (1996, c1987). Galatians. Includes indexes. (113). Chicago: Moody Press.)