Galatians 4:12-20
A man dialed a wrong number and got the following
recording: “I am not available right now, but I
thank you for caring enough to call. I am making
some changes in my life. Please leave a message
after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are
one of the changes.”
Last week we talked about how sometimes in our lives
we get to a point where moving forward seems really
difficult so we want to turn back to the familiar. But God
doesn’t want us to return to our old life. He has rescued
us from the bondage of sin and set us free.
This morning we are going to see Paul shift the
conversation to a passionate plea for the Galatians to
return to grace.
Our text is Galatians 4:12-20
Galatians 4:12
Paul’s Appeal for Gospel Minded Living
I want you to notice the Pastoral heart of Paul’s words
here in our text this morning.
He calls them brothers.
He entreats or urges them to become as he is.
Paul’s heart is for people to come to know God and
receive His mercy, grace and forgiveness.
In fact, during his missionary journeys, he would often do
whatever he could do to identify with his audience to help
them receive and understand the gospel while never
compromising the message.
Listen to his words to the church at Corinth.
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself
a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
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.
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.
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. I do it all for the
sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in
its blessings.”
I Corinthians 9:19-23
The concept is called contextualization.
Communicating the gospel in a way that shares the whole
truth and allows the hearer to follow Jesus while
maintaining their cultural identity.
In the words of John Stott: “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.”
That is exactly what Paul had done when he brought the
gospel to the Galatian churches.
He rejected the law to become like the Galatians.
Now he wants them to reject legalism to live in grace.
Paul’s passionate plea for them to return to grace.
Notice what Paul writes next, you did me no wrong.
Clearly, by looking at our context, he is talking about
when he first brought the gospel to them.
Galatians 4:13-16
Paul’s Reminder of Their Grace Towards Him
When Paul came to the Galatian churches, he was dealing
with some unknown bodily ailment. He writes that this
ailment is the reason he ended up in their area.
There is much speculation about what exactly it was, but
the Bible doesn’t say so we can’t know for sure.
The ailment is not the focal point here.
Paul’s point is that the Galatians were more than happy
to look past his physical issues and hear the truth of the
gospel when he first came to them, but now the
Judaizers have turned them against him.
In those days it was thought that people with physical
ailments had them because of their sin. It was customary
for people to spit on the infirm person.
The Galatians did not treat Paul that way. Even though
his appearance would have been difficult for them to look
at, they received him with kindness, as an angel or as
Christ Himself would have received him.
Next, Paul asks two very pointed questions.
What has become of your blessedness?
Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Paul writes of the deep love the Galatians had for Paul.
When he was there sharing the gospel with them, they
would have done basically anything to help Paul.
But oh how the tides have changed.
Now they are listening to the Judaizers and have given up
their blessedness. They are trading grace for legalism.
Paul feels like they are counting him as an enemy rather
than the loving pastor that he really is.
Why do Christians sometimes stray from the
gospel?
1.Because they are not rooted in their faith. Most
times, it stems from a lack of discipleship. We
don’t need doctrine alone, we need to be discipled.
And then we need to make more disciples.
2.Because we are inclined to sin. We are born with a
sin nature and we have to daily decide to follow
Christ and deny our own desires. We must delight
ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires
of our heart. In fact, when we delight in Him, His
desires become our desires. The reason Christians
stray from the gospel is a lack of commitment to
Christ.
Galatians 4:17-20
Paul starts off verse 17 with the pronoun they.
Who is he referring to here?
He is writing about the Judaizers. We know that from our
context.
Here he contrasts the self serving attitude of the
Judaizers with his own self sacrificing attitude.
The Judaizers did not have the best interest of the
Galatians in mind.
They would flatter them with their words, but then they
would shut them out because they only really cared
about themselves.
Once again, Paul shares his pastoral heart with the
Galatians.
Paul’s Pastoral Heart
Paul refers to the Galatians as his little children.
They are, of course, his spiritual children because he
brought the gospel to them.
He truly cares about them and wants them to continue
living in the grace of the gospel, not the clutches of
legalism.
Paul writes about being in the anguish of childbirth again.
When he first came to the Galatian area, he endured
much.
To go on mission for God is to give up the comforts of
home, to give up your expectations, to trust in the Lord
for His plan to be accomplished.
Paul endured a lot during his missionary journeys.
But he did it so that more people would receive God’s
grace and forgiveness.
Now he is in anguish again because they have strayed
from the faith.
Paul’s desire is that Christ is formed in the Galatians.
Remember his words to the church at Rome.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by
testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans
12:1-2
Paul, like every pastor, wants his church to be
transformed.
He wants them to live gospel minded.
APPLICATION
My prayer for you church is that you,
Live a Transformed Life
I was praying for you yesterday asking God to help you
grow spiritually.
I was asking Him to help me grow spiritually so that I can
lead you in the way that He wants us to go as a church.
We can’t do this on our own.
We must depend on the Holy Spirit to guide & direct our
paths.
We need Him to convict us when we sin.
We need Him to discipline us so we don’t continue in our
sin.