The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 18

Paul Agonizes over the Spiritual Condition of the Galatians

Galatians 4:16-20 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. KJV

As we concluded the last message or study in this great epistle written by Paul to the Galatian believers, we saw that Paul wanted to draw them back to the intimacy they once shared with him and had for him as a messenger of God. However, now because of the Judaizing teachers that have come in and taught them that they needed to add circumcision and observance of the Jewish Ceremonial Law to “faith in Christ”, they have become cold toward Paul. Therefore, Paul now askes them (in his letter) is it because he tells them the truth that they consider him now their enemy, who once they referred to as an “angel of God”. The English word truth Paul uses here is translated from the Greek word aletheuo which fully and completely means to be true in doctrine (teaching) and profession. Paul declares with this question that it is he that is speaking or writing and telling them the truth as it is from the Word of God and far from this making them see him as an enemy, but it is concrete proof that Paul loves them and cares for their spiritual condition as it is written in the Proverb here, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6).

These Galatians were headed down a dark spiritual road of legalism that would lead to the dead end of no intimacy with God the Father, no fellowship with God the Son, and no power (in their lives) from God the Spirit. It was the truth of the Gospel that Paul brought to them in the beginning that made them have such love and dear affection for him, but now they have allowed these Judaizing men to steal away their affections and they have done it under false pretense. Paul knew that these men only sought to “zealously affect” or the Greek word zeloo meaning to have warmth for them or desire for them or to earnestly covet them all for selfish motives and not from their sincere and earnest love for them. Paul means that these men came to these Galatians with the purpose of affectation, which means a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display. This is the manner the Judiazers were coming to these Galatians as Paul writes here in verse 17.

Paul wanted the Galatians to see these men for who they really were, so he un-masked their true purpose and desire toward the Galatians. Because Paul knew these men and their true nature and character as he proclaimed to the Corinthians with these words, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), he wanted also here with these Galatians to get them to see that their courting them was for the expressed purpose to draw them away from intimacy and fellowship with Christ Jesus our Lord through the Holy Spirit into the drudgery, draining, and damming ritualistic worship of God that was not worship at all. Bluntly, these men were doing the devil’s work as Paul proclaimed to them from the very beginning of his letter when he wrote, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different Gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a Gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a Gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-9).

From the very beginning of Paul’s letter to the point we find ourselves at right now we see, hear, and even can feel his agonizing over these Galatians as if his soul were being pulled in four (4) different directions north, south, east, and west until the extremely painful result of his soul being torn into four (4) separate pieces. Paul cannot stand by and watch this catastrophe go on any longer and thus we find him now intensifying his agony by speaking of himself as a metaphorical Mother to these Galatians telling them that he is “travailing in birth again until Christ be formed in them” (Galatians 4:19) and here we can feel his agony over their souls as he compares his spiritual pain to the physical pain a Mother experiences when she is in labor getting ready to give birth to a child. Likewise, Paul is in like spiritual pain and agony of soul over the wayward spiritual condition of these Galatians. Paul was so distraught that he was apart from them physically and saw that this letter was not enough to quench the mental anguish he felt over their spiritual condition. Paul finds himself perplexed being full of difficulty, confusion or bewilderment and utterly puzzled as how he can gain entrance into their hearts with the truth they once so fervently loved and believed.

My own Personal Note: Paul at this point in his letter is almost to the point of surrender, for it has appeared to him that neither his stern rebuke nor his tender affection to them has reached them thus far. Paul at this point in his letter has very little confidence in them or their spiritual condition and this makes him have a strong desire to be present with them in the flesh so that then maybe he could reverse the extreme damage the Judaizing teachers had produced among their Churches.

“One of the Marks of a false teacher is that he tries to attract other men’s converts to himself and not simply to the truth of the Word or the Person of Jesus Christ. A true servant of God does not ‘use people’ to build up himself or his work; he ministers in love to help people know Christ better and glorify Him. Beware of that religious worker who wants your exclusive allegiance because he is the only one who is right. He will use you as long as he can and then drop you for somebody else and your fall will be a painful one. The task of the spiritual leader is to get people to love and to follow Christ, not to promote himself and his ministry.” Warren Wiersbe

“Whether the Apostle’s entreaty prevailed to recall them or did not, we cannot tell. From the silence with which these Churches are passed over in the Acts of the Apostles, and the little that is heard of them afterwards, an unfavorable inference appears probable. The Judaistic leaven, it is to be feared, went far to leaven the whole lump. Paul’s apprehensions were only too well-grounded. And these hopeful converts who had once ‘run well,’ were fatally ‘hindered’ and fell far behind in the Christian race. Such, in all likelihood, was the result of the departure from the truth of the Gospel into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn. Whatever was the sequel to this story, Paul’s protest remains to witness to the sincerity and tenderness of the great Apostle’s soul, and to the disastrous issues of the levity of character which distinguished his Galatian disciples.” 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…