Galatians 4:12-20

Introduction

Let’s start with prayer today

We are continuing in our study of Galatians chapter for today and we will cover vss 12-20.

This week we re going to look at Paul’s heart towards the Galatians and his ministry.

READ PASSAGE

Galatians 4:8–20 ESV

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. 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 your blessedness? 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? 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, 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.

Paul is embracing the Galatians here and reminding them of the relationship they had as he tries to stir their affections for him. Affections he still has for them in Christ, but because we can see in V16, that theirs has cooled remarkably since he has ‘become their enemy’ because he is telling them the truth. So Paul reminds them of the Joy they had when they first received the Gospel.

His appeal is not disconnected from the previous doctrinal discussion.We see the connection here between Theological content and pastoral concern. The truths that Paul has just expressed lead him here to make this appeal. We cannot throw the truth at people from a distance, to be unconcerned and detached from them and their hurts and struggles, but neither can we be all “care” without the doctrine. Paul was concerned because people he loved were in spiritual jeopardy because because they were deviating from sound doctrine.

Become as I am, for I also have become as you are.

This is the first imperative, the first command in Galatians that we run into.

When I first read these verses, I immediately thought of the passage in 1 Cor 9 where Paul talks about his ministry.

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 ESV

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Paul put off Jewishness in order that he might ‘become as they are’ without compromising the gospel. He loved them and shared his life with them, living transparently with them. He let go of his ‘jewish roots’ in order to meet them where they were. He became like them, identifying; lived with, ate with, played with, talked and walked with them. He got to knwo their world and lived in it appreciatively even though it was not his world. He entered as far as he could to their questions and problems, hopes and fears and peculiarities. All with out changing the gospel. Knowing their cares and concerns, being intimately acquainted with them, he engages them where they are.

John Stott, and I am quoting from the New American Commentary:

“In seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us, but 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.”

George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 322). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

His command here was for them to become like him. Not become Paul and adopt all his distinctives, but rather to become like him in his love for Christ, his dependence on Christ, his pursuit of Christ, and his freedom in Christ.

You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first -

Could refer to present case, or the case back when Paul came to them; as it follows on in story in next verse. This 2nd statement is my preference as it 1) tense reflects a past event, 2) the follow-on story is how Galatians treated Paul; Remember you did me no wrong when I came to you originally; you accepted me even though it was a trial to you because of your great joy in your reception of Christ. This statement should not be taken as one where they weren’t wronging him now, because they clearly were, and Paul is not glossing that over.

Paul says that he had no intentions of coming to this place on this journey first time. But he was brought here by God in order that the Galatians might hear the gospel. Paul had plans and this sickness came along and derailed those plans.

Romans 8:28 says that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. And in this case many lives were changed because God allowed Paul to contract an illness. And God also thwarted Pauls well-thought-out plans and used the circumstances to bring many to know Christ.

God doesn’t promise to remove suffering from our lives (in fact Jesus promised we would have it.. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world) but to bless us through the suffering.

In 2 Cor 12, Paul talks about a thorn, that God would not remove despite many prayers. But Paul said that this happened for his good that his dependence would not rest on himself, but on Christ, and the sufficiency of Grace.

We are reminded here that ministry doesn’t happen strictly according to our plans. Paul had not targeted here, but God interrupted his journey and brought him here. WE need to use the wisdom God gives us to plan, but we also must be relaxed and let God change our plans, even greatly.

Though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me; but received me as an angel of God, as Jesus Christ.

This is where I think the original statement of “you did me no wrong” comes to play. Paul came to a pagan people, who were worshiping the emperor or one of the Roman or greek pantheon of God’s, They welcomed him and the word of truth even though at this point they would have had more cause to treat Paul as an enemy than at any point in the future as Paul had not wronged them.

This disease must have made Paul “repulsive to look at” because Paul commends them for their reception. Many folks wish Paul had been more explicit here about what the condition is. Is it related the thorn of 1 Corinthians? Is it malaria? An affliction of the eyes? we don’t know.

This was not anything based on outward appearance. We should be accepting God’s servants, not based on outward appearance but as these people did, as those who represent the Lord and bring his message.

The Galatians openness to God’s word, their desire for it caused a fervency in their relationship with Paul that has an astonishing description ....

what then has become of your blessedness. you would have gouged your eyes out

‘blessedness’ or happiness & overflowing joy because of their reception of the Gospel and God’s word from Paul, created a fervency in their relationship that flowed between Paul and these believers. \ They received the word of God in the gospel “as an angel of God” or “Jesus Christ’, welcomed it with openness. There was such love here that they would have gouged their eyes out for Paul. Hyperbole, maybe, but I can think of no costlier gift to be expressed to give someone than that which is your vision. And speaks to the mutual love and willingness to sacrifice. Pauls illness, a trial, he speaks of was taken on willingly by the Galatians and with much love and joy.

By trusting in the ceremonial law of the jews as their righteousness, Christ no longer had value for them.. They have gone back to their pagan ways, and have traded the joy of the blessing of relationship with Christ and with Paul.

They Traded it for a self-satisfied joy based on their own works, and they too joy in those works themselves for what they meant to them, rather than Glorying in God. This is a ‘joy’ that will never satisfy and puts distance between them and Christ because they refuse to ‘TRUST’ Christ for that which he came to give them as a free gift.

This also will keep them always guessing about whether God was pleased with them or not, guessing about what their Judiazer friends would say about them. Joy stealing works based righteousness had supplanted the joy they had and turned them against Paul. So much so that Paul now says to them:

have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Paul has not moved in his affection for the Galatians as proved out by this letter. However, the Galatians love for Paul has cooled considerably by virtue of Paul’s use of the word enemy here and the question.. Meant to maybe shock them into questioning why the present state of their relationship given what it was before.

I think the other thing that is interesting here. Paul was willing to risk being called an enemy by them to lead them back to the truth. He was “harsh” and “entreating” to them; telling them the truth so that they might come back into freedom. He is willing to risk the relationship with them in order to see them walking in the truth and according to the gospel. How great is his love for the Galatians that he is willing to risk them becoming angry with him or rejecting him.

Do we withhold the truth from ones we love because we aren’t willing to risk their anger?

Are we willing to even risk the relationship we have with someone to tell them the truth that they need to hear? What about the gospel itself?

Paul speaks not just truth, but truth in love.

They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out (from Christ, from Me), so that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you

What we have here is insight into the motivation of the Judaizers. Paul’s goal is the opposite of the goal of Judaizers (because of the ‘that you’ which indicates a purpose) is that the Galatians will flatter and make much of them, that they will be zealous for them. They are flattering and making much of the Galatians so that the Galatians will flatter and make much of them.

When the gospel is the reason for the ministry, it seeks to please God, not the making people who are emotionally dependent on the leaders. They need their converts to need them, to be wrapped up in them. Only then can they be sure that they are good and great believers.

How does Paul make much of other believers?

1 Thess 1:2-7 => Paul makes much of the Thessalonians for their obedience to Christ, for their love; egging them on in their relationship with Christ. For their ‘independence’

Phil 1:3-7 => Paul makes much of the Philippians because of his Joy at what Christ is doing and how they stood with him, as partakers of grace, in Christ and in their witness.

It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you.

Philippians 2:12 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Paul showed that he was the one whom loved them b/c he had become as they are and identified himself with them. He showed himself to be a true servant of God b/c he didn’t try to use them to build himself or his work; He ministered to them to help them know Christ better and to exhort them onto Glorifying Christ. Paul showed his true spiritual leadership b/c he worked to get them to know and love Christ, not to promote himself. Continuing to work hard towards Christ on their own, much more even in Paul’s absence.

Are we moving forward into liberty or backward into spiritual bondage as were the Galatians. Are we worshiping Christ more freely today? Are we finding joy in your salvation or in our spiritual works? Or are we sliding backwards away from Christ and into legalism/bondage or bondage of rejection of Christ and relationship with him?

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov. 27:6). Paul had proved his love to the Galatians by telling them the truth; but they would not accept it. They were enjoying the “kisses” of the Judaizers, not realizing that these kisses were leading them into bondage and sorrow. Christ had made them sons and heirs, but they were rapidly becoming slaves and beggars.

My little children, whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

The idea of pregnancy is an apt metaphor for this situation. No mother want’s their baby to stay inside them forever, but they want them born and alive and growing towards maturity, living independently of the mother and growing towards that which it was created for. They want this even if they have to suffer for it. And this is what Paul wanted for the Galatians and was willing to suffer for it.

HE was not telling them the things they wanted to hear but the things they needed to hear in order to be grow in Christ-likeness. He was telling them the truth in order that they might be set free to grow in Christ dependence (the goal of the Gospel).

The Gospel should free us from the need for people’s approval and adoration so we can confront the anger in the people we love if that is what’s best for them. Although telling people the truth doesn’t always work it is the only type of communication that changes people.

IF we love people so selfishly that we cannot anger them, we’ll never tell them the truth they need to hear. On the contrary if we aren’t shy about telling them the truth but do it harshly and not with the pain as someone who loves them they aren’t going to listen to it.

However, a ministry like Paul’s here, a gospel based ministry is marked by loving honesty, not flattery and imagery. IF we speak the truth with lots of love evident at the same time there is a great chance that it is going to penetrate their hearts and heal. It is eternally worthwhile that we do this and emulate Paul in this.