Paul reminds them of their Affection for him in the
Beginning
Galatians
4:12-15 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are:
ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I
preached the gospel unto you at the first. 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. 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. KJV Paul now begins to reminisce, think back, and recall the past when he first met these Galatians and he affectionately calls them “brethren” harkening back to the very beginning when he preached the Gospel of Christ to them, even in great sickness and affliction. Many Bible Commentators have grappled with what exactly was this affliction Paul suffered when he first met the Gentile Galatians on one of his missionary journeys. Perhaps it was malaria as some suppose or some sort of eye disease that some suppose Paul refers to as his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7), but I choose to do no such speculation because Paul does not tell us specifically what this “infirmity” was that caused him such great pain and suffering in his physical body. However, Paul writes now in this section of his letter begging or imploring them to “be as I am” and it is as we stated in the last message (that Paul still observed Jewish feast days) as documented from the Scripture (Acts 18:21), yet Paul now pleads with them to become as he is totally free from the slavish observance of the Jewish legal system, that use to be his life before he met Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul knew that these Jewish Ceremonial laws were rubbish or garbage compared to knowing our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ intimately as Paul wrote to the Philippian believers with these words, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:2-14).
Paul (as a Jewish Pharisee before knowing Christ) lived this slavish and futile observance of every requirement of the Jewish Ceremonial laws and he found that it never brought him closer to God, not even to God at all. Therefore, Paul wants them to be as he is now regarding the Jewish Law and that is to consider it as good because God gave it to the Jews, but in no way were they to seek to grow closer in their relationship to Christ by observing these laws. Paul wants to gain their full attention to his warnings of the Judiazers by reminding them of their strong affection and regard for him when they heard the Gospel through his preaching and were born again by God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit had so poured out or shed abroad the “love of God” (Romans 5:5) in them that they did not despise Paul’s outward appearance due to his “infirmity”, but instead received and welcomed him as an “angel of God”, this work could have only been accomplished by the Spirit of God. Likewise it is only the same Spirit of God that can grow them in their relationship to Christ Jesus and not any Jewish Ceremonial Laws.
Paul wants them to know that he is not injured by their present rejection or turning away from the true Gospel or any of this present air of contention with him because he recalls what God the Holy Spirit worked in their “inner man” and “inner woman” and this is what motivates him to write this entire letter to them, the hard confronting parts as well as the compassionate loving parts as he wrote in like manner to the Corinthian believers with these words, “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).
Paul wants them and him to meet again together in that same mutual love that they both once expressed for one another prior to these Judaizing men entering into the picture. Paul declares his love for them to be the same as it was from the beginning and it is out of this very love that this epistle is being penned to them (2 Corinthians 2:4). According to the account given of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts 13 and Acts 14, it appears that Paul had not intended to sojourn in the region of Galatia, but due to this crippling “infirmity” in his flesh he was rendered incapacitated, yet while there he then proclaimed Christ to these people and God the Holy Spirit did His work of convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8) and salvation spread throughout this region, even when the Apostle Paul was so ill in his physical body. Paul reminds them that they were so overjoyed with their sins washed away by the blood of Christ and this new nature they had received from God the Holy Spirit through Paul’s preaching that they were willing to do anything for Paul, even if they needed to pluck out their own eyes and give to him, this is how deep their love and affection for Paul was at the very beginning of their relationship. Paul wants them to remember the beginning.
My own Personal Note: Paul could have left these Galatian believers to wallow in the proverbial “Ceremonial Mud”, but instead he recalled the love in Christ he once shared with these brethren and pouring out from that love he penned this epistle with rebuke, warnings, affection, affirmation, and would not give up on them until “Christ be formed in them” (Galatians 4:19), as we will hear him say in the next message. What great self-less and sacrificial love did he show to these Galatians who had been deceived by the Judiazers into feeling contempt for Paul.
“They showed a great deal of respect to him, he was a welcome messenger to them, even as though an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself had preached to them; yea, so great was their esteem of him, that, if it would have been any advantage to him, they could have plucked out their own eyes, and have given them to him. Note, How uncertain the respects of people are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how easily they are drawn into contempt of those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the eyes of those for whom they would before have plucked out their own! We should therefore labour to be accepted of God, for it is a small thing to be judged of man’s judgment, (1 Corinthians 4:3). Time was when you expressed the greatest joy and satisfaction in the glad tidings of the Gospel, and were very forward in pouring out your blessings upon me as the publisher of them; whence is it that you are now so much altered, that you have so little relish of them or respect for me? You once thought yourselves happy in receiving the Gospel; have you now any reason to think otherwise? Note, Those who have left their first love would do well to consider, Where is now the blessedness they once spoke of? What has become of that pleasure they used to take in communion with God, and in the company of his servants?” Matthew Henry
“‘Because of an infirmity of the flesh’ (physical weakness), is the truer rendering of Galatians 4:13; and ‘your temptation in my flesh’ the genuine reading of Galatians 4:14, restored by the Revisers. Sickness had arrested the Apostle’s course during his second missionary tour, and detained him in the Galatic country. So that he had not only ‘been with’ the Galatians ‘in weakness,’ as afterwards when during the same journey he preached at Corinth; (1 Corinthians 2:3) but actually ‘because of weakness.’ His infirmities gave him occasion to minister there, when he had intended to pass them by. Paul had no thought of evangelising Galatia; another goal was in view. It was patent to them-indeed he confessed as much at the time-that if he had been able to proceed, he would not have lingered in their country. This was certainly an unpromising introduction. And the Apostle’s state of health made it at that time a trial for anyone to listen to him. There was something in the nature of his malady to excite contempt, even loathing for his person. ‘That which tried you in my flesh ye did not despise, nor spit out’: such is Paul’s vivid phrase. How few men would have humility enough to refer to a circumstance of this kind; or could do so without loss of dignity. He felt that the condition of the messenger might well have moved this Galatian people to derision, rather than to reverence for his message.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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