Sunday, February 12, 2017 Lesson: Galatians 4:8-20; Time of Action: 48 A.D.; Place of Action: Paul writes from to the church in Galatia from Syrian Antioch Golden Text: But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? (Galatians 4:9). I. INTRODUCTION. The person who has accepted Jesus Christ as his or her Savior has been given a birthright of freedom. Knowing that the religious system the Galatians knew under paganism was imperfect in that it could not make a person righteous, Paul pleaded with the Galatian believers to remain firm in their trust in God and not to revert to another form of slavery bondage to the law. Faced with evidence that these believers were sliding into the legal system of the Judaizers Jewish legalists who claimed to be Christians Paul continued his letter by reminding his readers of the contrasts between their former and present lives.
II. LESSON BACKGROUND. Galatia was a Roman province in Asia Minor, what is now modern-day Turkey. Those whom Paul was writing to were not Jews but converted Gentiles. Now, Jewish legalists, those who still followed the law but professed to be Christians, were trying to bind the Galatian believers to Jewish laws. Paul sought to correct the erring Galatians through a series of scriptural arguments that proved the Mosaic Law didn t bind them. He had argued that Abraham s faith is the pattern for believers (see Galatians 3:6-9). The law, on the other hand only brings a curse (see Galatians 3:10-14) and in any case cannot void God s gracious promises to Abraham (see Galatians 3:15-18). The law had a valid, though temporary role in God s plan, restricting the Jewish nation until Christ came (see Galatians 3:19-25). Now that Christ had come, the law was no longer unnecessary. Both believing Jews and Gentiles had been granted the status of adult sons of God (see Galatians 3:25-4:7). However, Paul knew that it was quite possible that arguments alone might not convince his readers, no matter how scriptural and logical they might be. Therefore, he made a personal plea for the Galatians not to return to the kind of bondage they had known under paganism or the worship of idol gods.
III. THE GALATIANS PROBLEM (Galatians 4:8-11) A. The Galatian believers had forgotten their previous spiritual bondage (Galatians 4:8). Our first verse says Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. With the words Howbeit then, Paul began to remind these Gentile Christians in Galatia that there was a time when ye knew not God. Before they were converted to Christianity, these Gentile believers didn t know anything about the true and living God. At that time they did service unto them which by nature are no gods. The words did service means more than worship. It means to serve as a slave. They were enslaved to false gods who were by nature are no gods, meaning they were nothing more than man-made images. Like slaves, they served these gods attempting to do works for them that could never result in salvation. But now, the believing Galatians were offering intelligent worship to the Father, who had redeemed them by grace. It was be ludicrous for them to go back to being slaves to idols. Note: In the same manner, the Jewish believers before they were converted to Christianity were enslaved to keeping the Law replacing it as the way to salvation instead of faith. Likewise, great numbers of people today, like slaves, continue to follow certain practices that they or others have created with the mistaken hope that keeping those practices will make them acceptable to God.
B. The Galatian believers were returning to a new form of spiritual bondage (Galatians 4:9-10). 1. (vs. 9). Incredibly, those who had been delivered from one spiritual bondage were now forsaking their spiritual freedom for another bondage. Therefore, Paul asked in this verse But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Paul described their salvation and freedom from bondage as ye have known God. It s true that to know God is to be born again to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ (see John 17:3). This happened to the Galatians when they responded in faith to the preaching of the gospel. Note: Paul visited Galatia on his first missionary journey (see Acts 13:51; 14: 8, 20; Iconium, Lystra and Derbe were situated in southern Galatia), and also on his third missionary journey (see Acts 18:23). However, even though there is no record of his labor in planting these churches, he still could have founded them. On his second missionary journey Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach there (see Acts 16:6). In one sense the Galatians had come to know God, ending their spiritual ignorance. To keep them from thinking that their knowing God was simply a matter of their own effort, Paul declared more importantly that instead of them knowing God, they are known of (or by) God. They needed to be reminded that God took the initiative and graciously chose them out of love, claiming them as His own (see John 15:16; I John 4:10). Knowing this, Paul asked the Galatian believers how turn ye again to the weak and
beggarly elements? The elements Paul referred to were not their old paganism but the Jewish law (see Galatians 4:3 where the term we refers to the Jews). The term elements refers to elementary ideas and practices suited to training a child or one who is immature. The Law had done this for Israel before Christ, but the Gentile Galatians had no reason now to submit to it. Paul went on to describe the elementary principles of the law as being weak meaning they didn t have the power to justify sinners and grant them new life. The elementary principles of the law were also beggarly meaning they were impoverished. The law couldn t provide the spiritual wealth or rich inheritance that Christians have by faith. Only faith in Jesus Christ can provide that spiritual wealth. The Apostle Paul used the word again twice in this verse which may be a bit puzzling because the Gentile Galatians had never lived under the Jewish law before. However, their way of life under paganism was similar to the Judaistic bondage they were beginning to adopt. Their paganism included rules, warnings, threats, and punishment for any violations. Therefore, they were exchanging one form of bondage for another. Note: The followers of Judaism in Paul s day were still clinging to the weak and beggarly elements just as most Jews do today. The weak and beggarly elements for both unsaved Jews and Christians, who choose to follow them, are those religious rites and rituals, and binding observances that can never lead to the adoption of sons or son-ship (see Galatians 4:4-6). Those works are like what a servant would be required to do. And we are not servants but sons (se Galatians 4:7). The observances of Judaism which can never save include such things as the wringing of a chicken s neck
on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In a tract Rachmiel Frydiand wrote, Jewish people who observe Yom Kippur will take either a rooster for a male of a hen for a female and turn it about the head. They hope to obtain pardon for sin as they recite: this is my substitute. This is in exchange for me. This chicken will die instead of me, so I may obtain life instead of it (see: Yom Kippur: Feast or Fast, Messianic Literature ). How ridiculous does that sound? Another example of the weak and poor elements that can never save is the Sabbath observance. The Talmud (a large collection of writings containing a full account of the civil and religious laws of the Jews) says If the whole of Israel were to observe only two Sabbaths according to the Halachah, they would at once be redeemed (see Grunfield, The Sabbath: a Guide to its Understanding and Observance, Feldheim ). This of course is simply a man s opinion of what would happen. There is no strength in it, or in the observing of the Sabbath itself. We need to be very careful that we don t fall into such bondage. No works of any kind can ever obtain salvation for a person; nor can the special items of dress or the reciting of prayers out of the prayer book or the observing of holy days gain any favor or merit with God. We cannot persuade God through these types of things. One thing counts with God faith in His Son, Jesus the Messiah. If we reject Him, there are no sacrifices for sins and no salvation. To return to legalism is to give up our spiritual strength and riches. Don t fall for the hokey doke! Beware of Christian leaders who declare that there is something we must do to obtain God s favor. Remember, we obtain God s
favor only by His grace and sometimes favor is not fair. 2. (vs. 10). In this verse, Paul goes on to list some of the weak and poor elements that the Galatians were being tempted to follow. He said Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. Apparently the Galatians had begun to observe the Jewish calendar leading Paul to describe some of the weak and miserable principles that they were turning to. Paul said that Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. The days no doubt refer to the weekly Sabbaths. The months referred to the new moons. The times or seasons refer to the seasonal festivals, and the years were the sabbatical and Jubilee years. God had ordained these observances establishing them by the Law of Moses for legitimate purposes. However, those purposes had now been fulfilled in Christ. To observe them as a means of gaining merit from God was wrong (see Romans 10:4; Colossians 2:16-17). Note: Evidently the Jewish calendar had been instituted in the Galatian churches. They were planning to observe the regulations for weekly Sabbath days, monthly new moon festivals, annual festivals like Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, and the sabbatical years. They must have been led to believe that their observance of these holy days and festivals would draw them closer to God. What foolishness! How could people who have already received adoption as children of God and are praying Abba, Father and who know God and are known by him, start to depend on the observance of holy days for their relationship with God? Isn t this obviously a return to those weak and
miserable principles that characterized their lives in paganism before they came to Christ? Merely observing some of Israel s feasts was not wrong, but the idea that these practices were required of believers to gain or maintain God s acceptance was wrong. This was replacing faith with legalistic practices or works (see Acts 15:1; Colossians 2:16, 20-22). Our outward acts are not near as important as our inward attitudes (see I Samuel 16:7). If we do things because we think they will gain us some kind of spiritual advantage before God, then we are legalists. We are abandoning God s grace for our own righteousness and abandoning liberty to return to slavery. C. They were discounting Paul s teaching and work (Galatians 4:11). The apostle continued to say in this verse I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Paul treats the change of direction in the Galatian churches as an extremely serious matter. He s deeply troubled and upset. He even wonders if all his efforts in planting these churches would be in vain. The phrase I am afraid of you means that he feared for them. He had their welfare, not his own in mind. Since the Galatians were attempting to keep the Jewish law, Paul was concerned that maybe he had bestowed upon you (them) labour in vain. In other words, he even wondered if all his labour or efforts in planting and preaching in these churches will turn out to be in vain or worthless. If anyone who had come to Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel,
whether Jews or Gentiles continued to keep the Jewish ceremonial law believing that they would gain some spiritual benefit, this would mean that Paul s labor or efforts to establish churches in Galatia based solely on the gospel of salvation by faith would have been for nothing. Note: If Acts chapters 13 and 14 are indicative of Paul s efforts among the Galatians, then he had given himself completely to his ministry and almost lost his life doing so (see Acts 14:19-20). Although he was absent from them, he still agonized over them in prayer, especially since he had heard of their error. Are we as grieved as Paul was when our churches begin to put the observance of law and ceremonies at the center of their life and worship? Are we so troubled when Christians put more emphasis on keeping certain traditions rather than on growing in their relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit? Does our lack of concern for Christians who have become law-centered rather than Christ-centered indicate that we don t even recognize that a change has taken place or understand how destructive such a shift of focus can be? IV. THE APOSTLE S PLEA (Galatians 4:12-19) A. Paul s plea based on their previous acceptance of him (Galatians 4:12-15).
1. (vs. 12). In this verse Paul says Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. As part of his effort to correct their doctrine and purify their faith, Paul, who was a man of utmost integrity and by God s grace had conducted himself in a pure and upright manner when he was among the Galatians. Therefore, he could appeal to them on the basis of what they already knew about him. So, he could say Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am. In other words Paul s plea with the Galatians was Fellow believers, I beg of you, be just like I am (free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances). He is calling for the Galatians to imitate him in his loyalty to the truth of the gospel (see Galatians 2:5, 14). He s challenging them to die to the law so that they might live for God (see Galatians 2:19-21). He is pleading with them to be as free as he is from the control of the law, and to enjoy with him all the benefits of the gospel (the Spirit, righteousness, blessing, adoption and inheritance of the promise) which are already available by faith in Christ (see Galatians 3:6-4:7). Paul is demanding that they resist the false teachers who are trying to bring them under the control of the law. In essence, Paul appealed to the Galatians to follow him as an example of his identification with them. One reason Paul gave for them to follow his example was for I am as ye are or I became like one of you. Paul didn t preach at them from a distance. He entered into their culture, adapted to their ways and became one with them. Even though he was a Jew, trained as a Pharisee to be totally separate from Gentiles, he lived like a Gentile in order to reach the Gentiles for Christ. His practice of identifying with those to whom he ministered illustrated the principle he presented in his first letter to the Corinthians (see 1
Corinthians 9:19-22). Note: The same practice of identification is necessary today, if we are going to communicate the gospel effectively to people. We must put ourselves in their place, eat what they eat, dress as they dress, talk their language, experience their joys and sorrows, and enter into their way of thinking. If we want people to become like us in our commitment to Christ, then we must become one with them and meet them where they are. Paul s identification with the Galatians served as a compelling reason for them to be like him in his commitment to Christ and freedom from the law. After all, if Paul as a Jewish Christian was willing and able to live like them, then it was clear that living like a Jew or a Gentile is not what matters. What matters is simply faith in Christ. Paul concluded this verse saying ye have not injured me at all meaning You have done me no wrong. Since he moves right on to remind them how well they treated him when he was with them the first time, Paul was reminding them that there were no barriers to friendship among them while he lived free from the law and taught them justification by faith even though many of them were in bondage to Judaism. Sometimes when a friendship is strained in a time of crisis, it is helpful to stir up memories of the initial warmth of the relationship. That s what Paul does here. His description of the way he was received by the Galatians sets forth an admirable pattern for the way all true ministers of God ought to be received. 2. (vs. 13). The Apostle continued to say in this verse Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. In order to
emphasize the friendship he had been shown by the Galatians during his first visit, Paul declared Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. The phrase infirmity of the flesh refers to some physical illness that Paul had. The term infirmity refers to a physical defect or illness. We are not told what the issue was, nor is it mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, but whatever it was the Galatians still welcomed him. However, even with his affliction, Paul said I preached the gospel unto you at the first. Note: Of course there have been many attempts to determine what illness Paul had. Some say he had malaria; others suggest epilepsy. If Paul had all the illnesses that many commentaries say he had, he was a very sick man indeed. The truth is, we have insufficient evidence to make an accurate diagnosis. But we should not let all the speculation about the nature of his illness distract us from Paul s perspective that even his illness was an opportunity to preach the gospel. It is common to view illness as a hindrance to preaching the gospel or an excuse not to do our duty. But Paul realized, as he says in a letter to the Corinthian church, that God s grace is sufficient for us in our weakness in fact, God s power is best expressed through our weakness (see II Corinthians 12:9). Any attempt to identify Paul s infirmity will be speculation, and we would do well to avoid undue concern over it. He mentioned his weakness only to remind the Galatians that they had not let it hinder them from receiving Paul and the message he preached.
3. (vs. 14). In this verse Paul went on to say And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. The words my temptation or trial, refers to Paul s physical affliction. His physical weakness presented a temptation to the Galatians to reject him. This was because the Greeks in general placed emphasis on a speaker s appearance and delivery almost as much as they did on the content of his speech. However, the Galatians accepted Paul s appearance as noted in his words my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected. The word despised means to consider something to be of no account. Rejected means to spit out. Whatever Paul s ailment was, it could have made him repulsive to these Galatians, but they had resisted that temptation. In fact, they had given Paul the highest honors. He declared that they received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Even if angel here is understood as simply a messenger, it still means that the Galatians had considered Paul God s personal representative. More than this, they had received him even as Christ Jesus. In other words, if the Lord Himself had come to them, they could not have given Him a finer reception than they had given Paul. Of course Paul does not mean that the Galatians actually regarded him as an angel of God or as Christ Jesus himself. The repeated use of as in this verse introduces two exaggerations comparing how the Galatians first welcomed Paul to the welcome they would have given an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself. Paul was like an angel of God, since he was an apostle sent from God (see Galatians 1:1), so the Galatians were right to give him a welcome due
to an angel of God. And Paul was so identified with Christ (see Galatians 2:20) that those who welcomed him also welcomed Christ himself. Note: In the Galatians reception of Paul we see a wonderful example of the way to receive a messenger from God. In our day, people want to listen to someone who has a good TV image. If preachers outward appearance is appealing, they get a big audience. But if they were ugly and sickly, as tradition tells us Paul was, then most people would switch channels to find a more attractive image. But the Galatians reception of Paul was not based on outward appearances. If they had responded to Paul simply on the basis of his physical attractiveness, they would have rejected him with contempt. Instead they evaluated the messenger on the basis of his message and then welcomed him with open arms. For his message, which was the only thing that mattered was the redemptive love of God expressed in Christ Jesus. 4. (vs. 15). Paul then said in this verse Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Since the Galatian Christians were turning to legalism and forsaking salvation by faith, Paul reminded them of the joy they shared together when he preached the gospel of faith to them. He asked Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? In other words, he was asking What then has become of that sense of blessing and the joy that you once had (from your salvation and your relationship with Christ), and that happy spirit that we felt together? With this question Paul looks
back longingly to those joyful days when he first preached the gospel in Galatia. Still referring back to that time, Paul went on to say for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Paul reminds them that they would have gone to any extreme to help him during those days. How fickle people can be! They are easily drawn into contempt for those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and affection. Paul declared that these Galatian believers would have torn out their eyes for him if they could have done so. Since the eyes were considered the most precious parts of the body, this is a graphic, idiomatic description of the Galatians devotion to Paul at the beginning of their relationship. But now their relationship had turned sour because false teaching was bringing them again into sorrowful bondage. Note: Although the Bible does not tell us what Paul s affliction was, we still often wonder what kind of illness Paul had. The suggestion that he had some kind of eye problem is supported by his statement in this verse that the Galatians were so concerned for him that they would have given him their own eyes if they could have done so. And Paul s use of the words large letters when he wrote (see Galatians 6:11) is also taken as evidence that he had eye trouble along with the fact that he often used a secretary to write his letters (see Romans 16:22). Personally, I haven t had any real eye trouble, but if Paul did, I m encouraged by the thought that this great apostle was able to do so much even though he may have had major eye trouble. Based on what little information the Bible provides, this may have been Paul s infirmity. However, I must admit that there is not enough evidence to be
sure about this theory, and that s all it is a theory. Paul s statement that the Galatians would have been willing even to give him their eyes is probably a proverbial way of complimenting the Galatians for their compassion and generosity towards him. And his use of large letters when he wrote may have simply been his way of emphasizing his point. B. Paul s plea based on his faithful teaching (Galatians 4:16-18). 1. (vs. 16). Paul had already hinted that something had changed in the Galatians estimation of him. Now he confronted this change with a direct question. Therefore, in this verse he asked Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? Here is a remarkable phenomenon. The apostle had not changed his teaching since the first time he visited the Galatians, and at that time they had given him highest honors. Now Paul wanted to know why they considered him to be your (their) enemy. He asked was it because I tell you the truth? No doubt the truth Paul refers to here is the truth contained in this letter: his rebuke for their desertion from the true gospel as a result of false teaching (Galatians 1:6), and their foolishness about the gospel (see Galatians 3:1). It s evident that someone had been at work changing the Galatians minds about both the gospel and its messenger. Note: The real enemy was not Paul but the Judaizers. Their motives and their message were badly flawed. False
teachers all operate the same way. They try to attract people to themselves rather than to the Word of God or to the Person of Jesus Christ. The dramatic shift from the Galatians warm welcome to their cold rejection of Paul serves as a sober warning to both pastors and their churches. Pastors should not be so naive as to think they will always receive a warm welcome if they consistently teach the truth. In fact, teaching the truth will always run the risk of alienating some people. And people in the church need to be aware that their initial positive response to pastors who teach the truth will be severely tested when the truth they preach cuts like a two-edged sword (see Hebrews 4:12). During such a time of conviction, people need to maintain their loyalty to their pastors precisely because they have the courage to preach the truth even when it hurts. 2. (vs. 17). In this verse Paul continued to say They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. The real reason for the Galatians change in attitude is implied in this verse. The word They refers to the false teachers, those who opposed the true message of the gospel of faith (see Philippians 3:18-19). Paul declared that these false teachers zealously affect you. This means that the false teachers had shown a keen interest in the Galatian believers. The Judaizers were flatterers who made the Galatians feel important by the interest they showed in them. Even though the false teachers had launched an aggressive campaign to win the allegiance of the Galatian Christians, Paul declares, that their motives were not well or not
honorable because they meant the Galatians no good. Paul went on to say yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. The word exclude means to shut out or isolate someone. In essence, Paul was saying to the Galatian believers, Those false teachers who are so anxious to win your favor are not doing it for your good. What they are trying to do is shut you off or isolate you from me so that you will pay more attention to them. No doubt these false teachers wanted to isolate the Galatian believers from Paul, but they may have also wanted the Galatians to believe that they were excluded or shut out from God s blessing if they didn t keep the law. In the last part of this verse, Paul stated that the reason the false teachers showed a keen interest in the Galatians was so that ye might affect them or that they might show a keen interest in the false teachers. To sum up this verse, the Judaizers showed great interest in the Galatian believers so that they would be cut off from Paul and his gospel of grace and as a result they would show great interest in the Judaizers legalistic teachings. Note: All too often leaders in the church seem to be more interested in the exclusive personal attachment of their followers to themselves than in the spiritual growth and unity of the entire body of Christ. Of course, as Paul admits in verse 18, it s not wrong to be zealous to win the affection of others, as long as it is for their welfare. But by the very way Paul states this general principle, he calls us to be careful lest we seek the affections of others for our own selfish advantage or we are sought after in the same way ourselves. 3. (vs. 18). Paul went on to say in this verse But
it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. The apostle made it clear that it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. The word good here means honorable. To be zealously affected or sought after for honorable reasons is not a bad thing, so Christians should not automatically avoid friendships and favors. However, we must stay alert enough to know when we are being manipulated for the gains of others. Paul had sought the best interests of the Galatians by preaching the gospel. With his words and not only when I am present with you Paul appears to be saying that the Galatians should always seek to affect people in a good way not only when he is in their presence. No doubt he wished that their loyalty to the gospel of grace had continued when he was no longer with them. Unfortunately, it seems that the Galatians had not only turned away from Paul, but also were turning away from the truth. C. Paul s plea based on his desire for the Galatian believers (Galatians 4:19-20). 1. (vs. 19). The apostle s honorable motives are revealed in his tender appeal to the Galatian believers. He said in this verse My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. Although he could be stern (see Galatians 3:1), Paul still regarded his Galatian readers as his spiritual offspring calling them My little children. He was their spiritual father, but he also
used motherly language when he said of whom I travail in birth again. He was speaking of the pains he experienced as he witnessed their birth into the family of God. Like a mother giving birth, he had experienced excruciating agonies when he first preached to them and brought them to Christ. The word again indicates that now he felt that he was going through the same agony of spirit again because of their defection to false teaching. Paul told his readers that his labor pains would last until Christ be formed in you (them). Paul wanted to see Christ fully formed in each of them. But just what does it mean to have Christ be formed in us? It means that there needs to be an inner change in the believer that results in a corresponding outer change. The Galatians were Christians so Christ lived in them (see Colossians 1:27). What the Galatians and every believer must do is demonstrate the characteristics that their new life in Christ should have already been producing. This was Paul s desire for the Galatian believers, and it would only happen when they fully embraced the grace of God and abandoned the works of the law as a means of gaining or maintaining their relationship with God. Note: In contrast to the selfish motive of the rival teachers, Paul expresses his own deep, heartfelt concern for his dear children. He portrays himself as a pregnant mother, again in the pains of childbirth. This rather shocking maternal image captures the extent of Paul s identification with these Christians. In his love for them, he has had to go through labor pains for them twice: when he preached the gospel to them the first time, and now again as he seeks to bring them back to the true gospel. This is more than any mother must go
through for her child. But Paul tells his children in the faith that he is willing to endure labor pains for them not just twice but until Christ is formed in you. Actually, here is a sudden shift of images. Paul views himself as a pregnant mother delivering her children, but then he views the Galatians themselves as pregnant people bearing Christ as an unformed fetus in their wombs. Paul is enduring the pains of childbirth for them until Christ is fully formed within them. From a scientific point of view this may seem like a very strange union of images, but Paul s point is clear: because he loves his converts with a sacrificial love, he will endure any pain until the full image of Christ is seen in them (see Galatians 2:20). 2. (vs. 20). In our final verse Paul said I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Given the circumstances the Galatians found themselves in, the apostle wholeheartedly declared I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice. If he were with them, he could change from his tone of rebuke for their past foolishness and give them parental counsel for their future conduct. In fact, he does that in his letter, which is a substitute for his personal visit. Up to this point in his letter, his dominant tone has been one of rebuke. But now he has called for a renewal of their friendship. No doubt Paul feared that he had sounded too harsh, and he was keenly aware that a letter couldn t fully express what he wanted to say to each of them individually. The phrase for I stand in doubt of you means that Paul was perplexed or confused about the
Galatians. In other words, he really didn t know how to deal with them. Should he be gentile or severe in addressing their temptation to follow the Jews law and turn from grace? Their condition puzzled and frustrated him. This very strong agitation in Paul s mind should remind us that he considered the Galatians error extremely serious. The gospel was at stake! May this picture of the apostle make us stop short when anyone tempts us to sell our birthright of freedom through grace for the stew of legalism (see Genesis 25:29-34). V. Conclusion. This week s study has presented us with some very important lessons. First, it reminds us of the critical importance of living by faith and not basing our relationship with the Lord on works (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Second, this lesson teaches us how important our personal integrity is when serving the Lord (see I Corinthians 11:1). Paul s plea to the Galatians would not have carried any weight if he had not been able to use his own commitment Christian living and preaching the truth to the Galatians out of a real and sincere concern for their salvation and spiritual growth. And finally, our lesson warns us to be aware of those who want and demand our complete allegiance to them and what they teach. Godly leaders will gladly point us to others who can also help us grow spiritually. They won t isolate us from others and claim that only they have the truth. Remember no one knows everything! We cannot help but be
moved by Paul s passion for his people. He feels their pain and he identifies with their struggle. He has the heart of a good mother caring for her newborn. Let s all pray that God raises up evangelists and pastors like Paul in our generation. ***The Bible Expositor and Illuminator, Union Gospel Press***