Galatians 4:12-16

Summary retelling of Galatians 4:12-16

Paul now turns to words of encouragement that they should once more become spiritual as he is.  He reminds them that they haven’t ever treated him badly.  He also reminds them that the reason that Paul spoke the Gospel to them at all was because they cared for him when he had some kind of sickness.  They heard about grace because of their willingness to care.  Now Paul wonders what happened to their happiness.  Paul talks about their willingness to sacrifice being to a very high level.  Then Paul asks the Galatians if he is to become an enemy to them on account of the truth.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul is speaking pretty bluntly here.  Yes, he is trying to talk to the Galatians honestly and remind them of some of the good times, but also notice that he asks some pretty hard questions.  Being spiritual and effecting change in people’s lives means being willing to ask questions that are hard to answer and even harder to process in the first place.  Spiritual people cannot be afraid of the difficult tasks in life.  We must be willing to have the difficult conversations and trust that God will work through them.

How many truly hard spiritual discussions have you had in your life?  Have you been the recipient of most of them or have you been the teacher in those conversations?  How can you live so that your opportunity to be the teacher comes more and more often?  (In other words, how can you live to set yourself up so that you are prepared to make disciples?)

Second Thought:

Paul speaks to them about compassion and hospitality.  He is clear.  It is their compassion and hospitality that drew Paul to them in the first place.  Christianity is about compassion and hospitality and love and grace, not rules and regulations and mandates.  Yes, Christians should be obedient to God; but we are obedient as a response to grace, not as a means to earn grace in the first place.  Paul’s point in this passage is that the more people make demands and obligations on other people’s behavior, the less we are a people of the Holy Spirit and the more we are a people of the Law.  Changes to our behavior should come naturally out of our spirituality, not because of some human mandate.

How do you respond when people force you to do something?  How do you respond when people talk to you about why you should do something and try and help you see why change is necessary?  How does this conversation tie into the Law and how we as Christians should use the Law?

Third Thought:

The final sentence in this paragraph is haunting.  Paul asks if he is genuinely going to become their enemy.  These are a people he loves, yet he speaks as though he is on the verge of becoming an enemy to them.  However, this is how it has to be.  Paul believes that there is only one way to God, through the grace that comes in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ on the cross.  In no other way can we earn God’s love or grace.  However, if there are people out there that make necessary mandates in addition to Jesus’ death – mandates like requiring circumcision (or baptism), eating and not eating certain foods, who you can hang out with, how you have to worship, etc – then those people are an enemy to Christ.  Jesus Himself says there is only one way to the Father, through Jesus Christ.  Anyone that asserts anything different is preaching a Gospel different than what Christ Himself preached.  Paul is willing to stand up and become an enemy to even friends if they desire to add anything to the cross of Jesus Christ.

What do you think about Paul in this part of the letter?  Is he being too forceful?  Is he doing what he should be doing?  How willing would you be to let go of some relationships if they started to turn from the truth and proclaim something else?

Passage for Tomorrow: Galatians 4:17-20