Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: So we're in Galatians. So you can flip over to Galatians 4.
Now we'll try to do a brief review.
So can anyone summarize to the best of your ability, the basic flow of arguments or what Galatians is about.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: You.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Know, a sentence or two. You don't have to say everything.
What is Galatians about?
[00:00:35] Speaker C: Isn't it writing to a church that's being too like.
I guess they're adding stuff onto the law and trying to follow people's law?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: They're being legalists.
They are. The Galatian church are legalistic adding requirements.
For instance, you must be circumcised to be in the family of God and to be in the church, you had to adopt Jewish customs from the Old Covenant in order to be a part of the New Covenant.
What is Paul's answer to this?
Yes.
Yeah. Saved or justified by faith alone, not by works of the law. That's right. He said no.
No.
And just as a reminder, he kind of builds this argument by reminding them that he preached to them the gospel he was called by God himself. This gospel was not made up by him. It was even affirmed by the big three apostles, the pillars, as he calls them, Peter, James and John.
He even opposes Peter. When Peter's life is inconsistent with the gospel and Peter eventually repents of that.
He reminds us of Abraham and how the promise given to him was before the law and even on belief of the promise, hundreds of years before the law, Abraham was justified.
And we need justification. Right? What is justification?
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Made right or declared righteous before God's eyes. It's his legal declaration that you are justified, you are holy, you are righteous.
And this is by faith. Because we can't earn it by works of the law, we cannot actually be justified in ourselves. We have to have the righteousness or perfectness of Jesus credited to us.
And the means that that credit gets to us is through faith.
That's what he's arguing now. Last week, in the first part of chapter four, he is, you know, he's talking about heirs inheriting the promises. And he's kind of making this kind of helping them. Think about how children, they're under managers, he says, guardians, they. Which is. Or this was two weeks ago now, but which is set for a time. And so what he's saying is Israel, they were like the children.
The manager was the law.
The law was to over look over them until they came to maturity. Well, the maturity of the people of God is now because of Christ.
And so that guardian is not necessary for them being kept in the people of God. Now they're kept in the people of God by Christ.
The people of God have come to maturity.
In the last section, verses 8 through 11, we see Paul is concerned for them.
God has become known to them. He's revealed himself to them, which means they also know Him. They're no longer enslaved to sin and to the world.
Yet the way they're living is inconsistent.
I think we can understand this.
You yourself, if. If you've come to Christ, you've probably even already experienced inconsistency in your own walk.
I think that's true for all of us, or we've seen it in others.
See people saying that they're Christian and. And really not looking anything like it. This is what Paul is seeing with them.
Inconsistency.
What they profess has nothing to do with how they're actually ordering and living their lives. And so he's concerned. He's wondering if he's labored over them in vain.
And so in that context is where he picks up. So look at verse 12. We'll read through the section we hope to get through.
He says, formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
I started in verse eight. We'll just read and keep going. 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong, you know. It was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. 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.
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. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them.
It is always good to be made much for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth. Until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
Okay, we'll walk through this. Verse 12. He starts with saying, brothers, I entreat you become as I am, for I also have become as you are.
Now, the way that.
Well, let me start by saying, does anybody, as they read their Bible, is that verse jumbled up in any way? The wording, brothers, I entreat you become as I am, for I also have become as you are. Or is that pretty standard? Anyone have something different?
Significantly different.
I'm sorry, what does it say?
Okay, yeah, that is a little different.
But so I want us to listen. So just real quick. We won't get into the depth of Greek, but the word ordering in Greek is a lot more free than in English.
Now, it doesn't have no rules at all, but it can kind of move around. And sometimes even the placement of the Greek words show the author's emphasis.
Listen to this verse. If it was translated more in the order of the Greek words.
So if you kind of just took where the Greek word and tried to translate right above and kept it in that order, sometimes it's not coherent in English, so they have to mix it up. But listen to it. In this case, he would have said, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. Brothers, I entreat you.
So that beginning part is really at the end. So what do you notice about Paul's emphasis?
What's the emphasis?
[00:08:26] Speaker C: The emphasis is on the them.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's the imperative.
What's an imperative?
Yeah, yeah, a command.
It is actually the first imperative he is directly given them in the entire book.
It's at the beginning of this section. I think typically when we're addressing people, we address it at the beginning of the sentence. That's why the translators put it there.
But I think it kind of softens this imperative that he puts up front. He says, I'm afraid I've labored over you in vain. Become as I am. That's how he says it. And so I want us to realize that this is really important. This is what he wants to command that become as I am. For I also have become as you are.
Now we have to ask the question, what does that even mean, become as I am? That could mean a whole lot of things.
We might think of 1 Corinthians 10 as he becomes all things to all people.
But now let's look at.
Looking at the context, how should they become as he is? What do you think he means?
Think of the context of the whole Book. Sorry I interrupted you.
Be renewed. Yeah, that's right.
What else might he mean? Oh, you have an answer?
I'm sorry.
Live like Christ. Yeah, that's true, too.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't be legalistic. Yeah, I think that those are all right. And I think the most specific way for them to actually be renewed, or at least to live like it, to follow Christ, is to become free from the law, to free themselves of the chains that they're putting on their own hands.
They're putting themselves back in the chains of the law when they can be free by the law of faith, just as he is. And so he's telling them, be free, be free from the law. Christ fulfilled it on your behalf. If you believe in him, so believe in him.
He then adds, you did me no wrong. Which I think as we read on, we'll kind of understand what he means. Because that really kind of fits better with the next couple of verses, 13 and 14, where he says, you know, it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. 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.
What's a bodily ailment?
[00:11:33] Speaker B: Illness.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: An illness? Yeah, it could be an illness or an injury or, you know, something chronic even.
And how do you think that led to him preaching the gospel to them? How is that connected?
Yeah, it could be an urgency.
That's what I think it is a little hard to know exactly.
I think he was ill or weak, partly. It's hard to answer because we don't really know what the ailment is.
People have guessed different things. For example, some people have guessed maybe has something to do with an eye disease. That's why he mentions that they might gouge out their own eyes for him.
But even that, it is a little speculative. So we don't really know the ailment. But I think we can know that he probably remained with them longer because of it. He wasn't taking a sick day, but instead of traveling, as traveling would be really difficult on the body, he probably stayed put with them and just continued to preach to them the gospel and help them to understand what that means for their lives. And so he got to spend more time than he had planned teaching them.
Why did they receive him through the ailment.
See, he seems kind of.
He likes that. He's encouraged by the fact that they received him despite the ailment. Why would they do that?
Simple answer probably.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: He was preaching to them, and they evidently believed it. He was preaching to them the good news.
They understood him to be sent by God as a messenger of Jesus Christ, just as he reminded them at the beginning of the book. So he's just reminding them they know these things.
So all that he explained at the beginning, they knew this. They encountered him and they believed what he was preaching. And so they took care of him. They kept him around.
So I want to ask, how can we behave the same way?
What are some ways that we can behave like the Galatians did.
[00:13:52] Speaker C: Talking about, like, caring for our ministers and senses?
[00:13:56] Speaker A: I'm.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: What?
[00:13:57] Speaker A: Whatever you. However you think it might apply, I think that's a good example.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: What?
[00:14:01] Speaker A: Can you repeat what you said?
[00:14:02] Speaker C: Like caring for the people who perform minister duties or minister to us in the church.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: So caring for ministers or pastors or teachers.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: But what.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: You know, how could we care for or how could you care for them?
[00:14:33] Speaker B: Mm.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: Yeah, you can definitely pray for them.
They and me, we all appreciate being prayed for. We believe prayer is mighty.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: I think giving financially so that our pastors can continue to pastor full time and devote that sort of time to the people.
That way they don't have to work another job and then be less available for the shepherding. That's a great example.
One of the key things we do when we are giving to the church is but freeing up people to do that work.
Any other ways?
[00:15:21] Speaker D: I think serving with a caring part, because, like, how it says that his condition was a trial. So Paul's saying it was a trial to you. You did not scorn or despise me, but received me.
So I think, like, the outward action should match the inner workings of our hearts.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: Instead of looking upon people that might be struggling with an ailment, physical or mental or emotional, as a burden, we joyfully love them and care for them and serve them. However that might look. It could look a lot of different ways.
Or when we think of our elderly members, especially those who are homebound and unable to come, how can we pray for them and encourage them and not look at them like a burden, you know, as something gross, not to be near. I don't want to be. You know, you want to just hang out with people that make you comfortable. It might be uncomfortable to do something like that.
But we should not despise them or scorn them. We should love them like we would anybody else.
Those are all great examples.
Continuing in verse 15, he says, what then? So after they received him as an angel and as Christ, not thinking that he is Christ, but as if he was Christ, they accepted him and loved him so well. He says, 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. Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Okay, so what makes Paul think they've lost their blessedness?
[00:17:17] Speaker C: Maybe their temperament has changed, making the church something hard to get into. Unless he said he kind of like showed up, had obviously an illness and they cared for him. And now it's being very still. Probably on the topic of legalism, like, you have to, like, be like, fit into a cookie cutter pretty much.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Whereas they received him in his illness.
Now they're. Someone comes in and they say, maybe are you circumcised before they'll let them in?
Or what food do you eat? Do you eat pork? You know, they might be asking these sorts of questions, being more shut off. I think that's at least part of it. I think that's a wise answer.
Is there any other thing that might make Paul think they've lost this blessedness, as in the way that they were blessing him?
I think in a related way, they really have turned from the truth of the New Covenant, even causing Paul to wonder if he's labored over them in vain.
So previously when he was there, he points out with the gouging of the eye thing that he thinks they would have given up anything for him.
But now not only are they maybe more shut off to other outsiders, they're rejecting his teaching of the gospel they received him so lovingly, and now the very thing he delivered to them lovingly, as precious as the gospel, they are throwing it aside and again putting back on their own chains and tossing aside the freedom he showed to them in the gospel.
So that also might be what he means by lost their blessedness.
What might make someone reject the true teaching of the gospel after first receiving it?
Becoming too hard to live that life for them.
You said becoming too hard for them to live it out.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
[00:19:53] Speaker C: False ideologies, people that do their own thing.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: False ideologies, maybe even given to them by false teachers that have persuaded them.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: That's huge. Old habits, sins and temptations that we've been enslaved to previously don't always disappear after conversion.
[00:20:23] Speaker D: Struggles, like lack of. Like geological struggles, like lack of reigns.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: Like that, causing famine or something like that.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: So you're saying, you know, Physical, natural issues, you know, from a drought, I would even add all the way to poverty, which isn't like a natural disaster. But, you know, just things happening physically can cause people to lose faith.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Right.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Now, is this surprising to us, seeing? No, I think maybe in some cases it might surprise us, but we can't be surprised altogether. Right.
Is anybody very familiar with Jesus parable of sowing seeds?
What happens to the seed in rocky soil?
Does anyone know?
[00:21:20] Speaker C: Yeah, sprouts quickly, then dies out because it has no root.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it sprouts quickly and dies because it has no root.
So Jesus wouldn't have been surprised that this sort of thing happens.
And so we want to be sure that we are rooted in the Gospel.
We see these Galatians have sprouted up, but now it seems that their root is. Was not as deep as Paul had thought.
So I think he's wondering, are they going to be scorched by the sun with no root?
This is very sad and we want to look out for this. In fact, this even makes me think of a friend of mine for the reason Liza said wanted to quit walking with the Lord because it was too hard.
And a lot of that was probably because of unfair standards even set by myself and my friends for one another that he wasn't ready for.
And, you know, having run from Islam now, just decided that nothing was better than having to follow rules.
And, you know, that's horribly sad after seeing someone sprout up. So we want to make sure that we are consistently sowing the gospel, even with new believers to set that root good and deep.
Now, verse 17, they make much of you, but for no good purpose.
They want to shut you out that you may make much of them.
Now who are they?
Feels like a little foreign. Kind of out of nowhere he starts talking about them.
They.
Who are they?
Is there they? Is he just talking about just figure.
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Of speech referring to false prophets or other churches?
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Yeah, he could be. And I think in a way false prophets are false teachers.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Well, I mean, they could. And I think you could even say that false teachers often have demons.
I think maybe my best guess is probably a little bit more than a guess is the Judaizers. Has anyone heard that term before?
Anybody? Anybody know what a Judaizer is?
Well, the Judaizers were the people doing exactly what the Galatians are doing.
They were Jewish, at least professing Jewish Christians, but they were trying to make all the Christians follow Jewish customs. They said, well, you know, we believe in Jesus now, but we still do Jewish things.
And you need to also. So Gentiles, if you want to actually follow Jesus, you need to become a Jew.
That was the Judaizers, the false teachers.
And so I think that's what he's saying isn't the Judaizers, they make much of you? You know, they're making much of you, but really what they're doing is they're shutting them out.
So how are they shutting them out in order to make much of themselves? What does that mean?
Yeah, I think they do think they're better.
I mean, they are Jewish. The Galatians are not.
How else are they doing this?
Like, what are they shutting them out from?
Paul and the Gospel. Paul says, become as I am, become free from the law by faith in Jesus Christ. He's offering them freedom in Christ.
And the Judaizers are trying to shut them out.
And this makes much of them how?
Makes much of the Judaizers how?
What's their motivation for doing that?
Yeah, build their numbers.
I think Paul is trying to point out, I don't know that Judaizers, Judaizers ever would have said this aloud, but Paul seems to call them out by saying that they really just want to be made much of. They really just want to be praised and honored and revered by the, you know, the second class gentile Christians.
I think he's accusing them of that. He, he said, look, Galatians, they just want you to look up to them and to praise them and to honor them. They don't have impure motives.
They want to be made much of. They're selfish and are dragging God's people back into the old covenant for their own selfish gain.
Not only are they teaching something false, but they're doing it for a despicable reason.
Are there types of teachers that do that today?
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:03] Speaker A: Can you think of. You don't. I mean, you don't have to think of a person. You could. But can you think of an example of a type of teacher or preacher that does this?
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Are there any near us?
Yes, yes, I know that's a little silly, but it's important to know that it is really easy to be pulled aside, especially when something pleasing is being taught to you. Something that might promise wealth or prosperity of any kind.
Because that's what we want. We don't want to be unhealthy, we don't want to be poor.
And that makes sense.
And so it's easy for, you know, a snake oil salesman to come in and con us to follow them to that, really. They may be built up.
They may be made rich, they may be made much of by dragging you into chains, by dragging you into a false belief.
So yeah, that can happen.
Now verse 18, he says it is always good to be made much of for a good purpose rather than a bad purpose. And not only when I am present with you. So what is Paul saying?
[00:28:23] Speaker B: He.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: He's saying being zealous. Like the Judaizers is good, right? They're zealous. Being zealous. What does zealous mean? Do we know?
[00:28:33] Speaker C: Excited and passionate.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Excited, Passionate, huh? It's like kind of like zealous, like excited, passionate about like study.
I mean, I don't know if it has to have studied in it, just like generally, but I think to, to be a zealous Christian, you have to be, you should be studied in some way. But yeah, they are passionate. You know, passionate is probably the word we would most use instead of zealous. But I like the word zealous. I just think zeal sounds cool.
So it's good to be zealous if it's for a good purpose, only if it's for a good purpose. The true gospel, they.
They are zealous for themselves, but they should follow Paul's teaching because he's not zealous for himself.
He's zealous for Christ and for freedom in Christ.
Paul's not trying to get praise and honor for himself.
And that's what he wants to point out.
In verse 19, he says, My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
Why does Paul call him his little children?
Yeah, they're new believers.
[00:29:56] Speaker B: Right.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: So I, and I think that's hitting on, on something. I think he's really not just using some phrase of endearment, but is really reflecting on his relationship with them.
He is what we say. He beget them in the faith, he preached the gospel and they came to faith, and then he raised them on the milk of the gospel. He saw them in their infancy. So he sees himself as, in a way, their spiritual father and them his children.
And he wants, I guess by saying this to remind them what he labored through for them, the love and care he has for them. Many of these Galatians probably had children and can easily relate the sort of love and self sacrifice that a parent will make for children.
And he wants them to remember that.
But then he says he's again in the anguish of childbirth.
Why do you think he uses childbirth as an illustration?
He's a man. Can he even do that.
But why do you think he does that?
Well, I mean, can he make the comparison? Can he, you know, point it out? Yeah, you're right. He can't. He can't do that physically.
I mean, childbirth is used often as an illustration in the Bible. Why?
I think we all know the answer. It's not something complicated.
Yeah, we largely, as a. People consider it like the pinnacle of pain, like the most painful type of. At least the most painful type of regular experience any person can have.
And as well, it kind of comes with the, you know, the new birth that comes with salvation. So there's kind of a double part for this metaphor he's using. It's the pinnacle of pain. It illustrates how much this hurts him.
But also imagine having a child, if you can, and then that child enters again into the womb to be born a second time. And not to be confused with John 3 and Nicodemus, you know, and being born again. This is not like a good type of having to give childbirth to these people again.
All the pain of childbirth again and for the same child.
It's kind of ridiculous to imagine, you know, because it just doesn't work this way.
But they need to actually be spiritually born again and given the milk of the gospel again.
Clearly, Christ has not taken root like Paul thought.
And if they had, they wouldn't be turning away from the Gospel.
So thus at the end, he's led to say, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone from perplexed by. You see, he still has the same care for them as a parent does for his or her child.
[00:33:14] Speaker B: He.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: He's frustrated and perplexed, but he still desires to go to them, to nourish and feed them in the Gospel. He even wishes to change his tone to console them, you know, via letter, as you might know via text. It's hard to communicate tone, how he actually is talking to them. He wants to change his tone to console them, win them back from the Judaizers.
It is hard for us to imagine the pain he feels, especially if we haven't had a child or walked with someone to faith and then seen them turn away and felt that horrific pain.
We should minister with the love that Paul has now. Ministering is not just for people who have that in their job title. It's what Christians do to one another and to others.
They minister the Gospel to other people.
Charles Spurgeon once preached on this text and discussed this sort of love and the effects it has on the lost.
He says, I believe that if we preach Christ crucified with crucified hearts, if we set forth Christ with earnest longing that men may see him, they will see Him.
I believe, than addressing teachers in the Sunday school. I believe that if Christ is taught in the classes earnestly and prayerfully, the children will receive Him.
Ask those who have tried it. They would tell you that though they may have been at times slack in service, God has never been slack concerning his promise. His word has not returned to him void. It has accomplished what he pleased and prospered in the thing for which he sent it.
Let there not be listless indifference, no falling back upon the sovereignty of God as an excuse for half heartedness.
Do you minister like this? Full hearted, giving the gospel to people, trusting that if you do this, God will save people?
That's the type of faith we need. That's the sort of love we should show for others.
Full fledged gospel to them.
And with that I want to leave you with that as a model for how you should minister to other people around you. Let's pray.
Father, thank you for the Word and God. We pray that we would have the love that Paul has for the Galatians in this text. Loving people in the church, out of the church, sharing the gospel with them, not ashamedly, but the full message. God, protect us from false teachers and teachings that may want to persuade us to fall away or to turn to a different Christ to put ourselves back into chains. Lord, free us from that. And we pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.
