Giving Birth to a Snow Tire

Let's be honest.  The process of sanctification ain't pretty.  From the time God justifies us until He glorifies us, it is a long, slow, painful procedure.  And when you consider the raw materials the Lord has to work with, namely despicable me, it is easy to understand why.  

As unpleasant as sanctification is for the one on the Potter's wheel, it may be more agonizing for those who desire to see Christ formed in us, especially when we disobey God.  

That's what Paul is saying in these verses.  He poured his life into the Galatians during separate two visits on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:14-14:23).  

And now these new believers have apparently ditched the Gospel of grace for a counterfeit message peddled by a group of smooth talking spiritual hucksters (Gal 1:6; 2:4; 4:17).  

The apostle aches over what is happening in the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.  He loves these people and it kills him to see what they've been sucked into.

Paul begins by calling them "my little children" (v19).  He clearly wants to reassure them that despite everything that's happened, he still cares deeply for them.  They might be fools (Gal 3:1, 3), but they're his fools.  

While “children" is one of the Apostle John's favorite terms (Gr. τεκνιον/teknion), this is the one and only time Paul uses it.  He wants them to have no doubt about his love for them.

That's the good news.  The bad news is watching their sanctification is is driving him crazy.  "For whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" (v19).  First we see that this isn't the first time.  It's happening AGAIN!  

This is a reminder that we must be patient and encouraging to those we're discipling.  As the old saying goes, "Be patient, God isn't finished with me yet."  In his famous love chapter, Paul tells us that "love is patient" (1Cor 13:4).  

I love Ruth Bell Graham's humble attitude about her own sanctification.  Driving through a road construction zone, she saw a sign that summed it up.  

She loved it so much that she asked that it be her epitaph.  Her grave marker reads, "End of construction--thank you for your patience.”  

While we need to continue to encourage, we must all remember that each one of us is an active construction zone on this side of eternity.  Let's be patient.

Paul describes what it is like to be a spiritual father to these Galatian kids.  It's "the anguish of childbirth” (v19).  This English phrase is expressed by a single Greek term: ωδινω/odino.  It means to feel those dreadful labor pains of childbirth.  

I realize that the apostle is on a slippery slope as a man talking about the pain of childbirth.  Carol Burnett says that the best way for a man to understand the severity of the pain is for him to take his upper lip and then stretch over the top of his head.

The bottom line is that Paul says waiting and watching the Galatians to be in God's process is like giving birth to a snow tire.  It's just as painful for the apostle (if not more!) as it is for these new believers.

Paul longs for the day when "Christ is formed in you" (v19).  This is the goal of God's work in each of our lives.  He has predestined every believer "to be conformed to the image of HIs Son" (Rom 8:29).  

One day we we be mature, "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).  God promises to finish the project that He's started in each of us (Phil 1:6).  The apostle longs for that divine graduation day when he "may present everyone mature in Christ" (Col 1:28).  

We need to remember that while we are IN the process, this is GOD'S process.  He's the one sanctifying.  He's the one forming.  He's the one at work.  

What role do we play?  Tullian Tchividjian says that our part in our sanctification is to simply remember our justification daily.  

When we understand each and everyday of what Jesus did for us that we could never do, that's when God can do His greatest work in our lives.

We're reminded of that through the grammar of this phrase "until Christ is formed in you" (v19).  The Greek verb here is μορφοω/morpho'o.  It's the idea of morphing into something we're not.  Completely transforming from the inside out.  

But the verb here is passive.  We don't do the morphing.  We are the "morphee."  We're the ones being morphed.  Again, this is God's process.

Paul reminds us here that watching and waiting for that to happen in ones we love is like giving birth to a snow tire.

©2012

Jay Jennings

Don't Let the Smooth Talk Fool You

Who doesn't love it when someone makes a big fuss over them?  We all love to be told we're the greatest.  We all love to have our ego stroked.  We all love to have our itch scratched.  

That's exactly the tactic the Judaizers used on the new Christ followers in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.  Their flattery has indeed gotten them somewhere.  

But like that famous scene in the movie "Moonstruck," Paul uses this letter to slap the Galatians across the face and say, "Snap out of it!!"

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

The apostle has clearly gotten the word about not only the "what" of this situation (legalism and salvation by works; Gal 2:21; 3:2-4) but the "how" as well.  

These false teachers rolled into the Galatian churches telling these new believers EXACTLY what they wanted to hear.  "They make much of you" (v17).  

The Judaizers clearly poured it on thick and slathered on the flattery.  You're the best.  You're the greatest.  

These false teachers had simply baited the hook with the most tempting lure imaginable.  "It's all about me."  It's a subtle and deadly deception.  It's the same lie a satanic snake used in a garden.  

We are consistently seduced by the person in the mirror.  Even the most devout follower of Jesus can get sucked into Christian narcissism.  

"How am I doing?  How's my walk with Jesus?  How's the progress of my sanctification?"  And just like Peter walking on the stormy water, we take our eyes off Jesus.  

It's impossible for me to fix my eyes on "Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2) when I'm staring at my own navel.  As Tullian Tchvidjian says, "The Gospel frees us to realize that while we matter, we're not the point."

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

But these spiritual snake oil salesmen had an ulterior motive.  They had a hidden agenda.  An undisclosed plan.  A covert intention.  

Paul makes it clear that they did this "for no good purpose."  And reveals the Judaizers secret intention to their unknowing victims: "They want to shut you out, that you make much of them" (v17).  

In other words, the false teachers want to cut off these Galatian churches from the rest of God's people and redirect their worship.  They'll dupe them with flattery and attention, and before they know it, they're shut off from everyone else.

This is the same tactic used by cults today.  They find someone who is vulnerable and then pour on the praise and attention.  

"No one cares about you like me."  And then WHAM!  The trap closes shut and the victim doesn't even realize it.  The door of their prison is locked from the inside.

When he writes "they want to shut you out," Paul uses the Greek verb εκκλειω/ekkleio.  It simply means to exclude from something.  To shut out.  To cut off.  

The term was used to describe shutting a door and leaving something outside.  In this case, it's divide and conquer.  The Judaizers were cutting the Galatians off from truth so that they could feed them lies.  

Paul delivers a VERY similar warning in his letter to the Romans.  "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive" (Rom 16:17-18).  

That's EXACTLY what's going on in the Galatian churches.  The Judaizers are dividing them from the rest of God's people.  

They are putting up obstacles to the Gospel through legalism and rule keeping.  And they did it by buttering up these new believers.

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

Their end game was to be the object of Galatian praise, "that you may make much of them" (v17).  The false teachers didn't just want these new believers to ditch their newfound faith in Jesus.  

They wanted to be on the pole position.  They wanted the attention.  They wanted the praise.  They wanted the adulation and applause.  

This wasn't about following the truth at all.  They had duped the Galatians into believing they alone had the answers to salvation.  That way, the Judaizers would be seen as lofty men of God.

Let's back up a minute and realize what has happened.  Paul has told them the truth.  The HARD truth.  We're sinners.  We need a Savior.  Trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf is the ONLY way.  

These false teachers have tickled Galatian ears with smooth talk.  "You're not sinners.  You're good.  Paul doesn't know you like we know you.  He doesn’t love you like we love you.”  

That would explain why the apostle wrote, "Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal 4:16).  People who truly love us say what we NEED to hear, not just what we WANT to hear.

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

Let's be clear about one thing.  It's not a bad thing when someone pays you attention.  That's what people with compassion do.  

It's a wonderful thing to do when someone truly has the best interest of their friend in mine.  "It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose" (v18).  

But that includes so much more than flattery.  We need to hear difficult truth.  As Mark Driscoll says, "Soft words make for hard people.  Hard words make for soft people."  Difficult truth softens our hearts and makes us more compassionate.

In other words, don't let the smooth talk fool you.

©2012

Jay Jennings

You'll Put Your Eye out!

Paul continues to flip through the pages of the Galatians' spiritual scrapbook.  He hopes that remembering his amazing first couple of visits with them will make them realize what a huge mistake they've made in following the teaching of the Judaizers.  

The apostle has warned them that they are in danger of returning "to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world" (Gal 4:9). 

He's afraid that all God did through him among these people will all go down the toilet (Gal 4:11).  They have gone back to the slavery of legalism by celebrating Jewish holy days (Gal 4:10).  

And now he recalls how he stopped in Galatia in the first place.  He was sick (Gal 4:13).  God used his illness as an open door for the Gospel while the local people cared for the ailing apostle (Gal 4:14).

Once again, Paul walks the Galatians down memory lane.  "What then has become of the blessing you felt?" (v15).  He wants them to remember those incredible visits when he told them about Jesus for the very first time.  

It was during the apostle's first missionary expedition that he and Barnabas toured the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in what is now Turkey.  

Paul wants them to remember how the Gospel absolutely turned these towns upside down.  Dr. Luke allows us to sneak a peek on that amazing time in Acts 13 and 14.  

The apostle told them about how Jesus has not only fulfilled everything in Scripture as Messiah but has also swung open the door of salvation to the entire world.  

First of all, "many Jews and devout converts" in Pisidian Antioch placed their faith in the radical Rabbi/Carpenter (Acts 13:43).  Then non-Jews heard it and "began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord" (Acts 13:48).  

That's when things got crazy.  "And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region" (Acts 13:49).  The tsunami of grace swept into Iconium, "and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52).  Once again, "a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed" (Acts 14:1).  

God used Paul & Barney to do miraculous things among the Galatians (Acts 14:3, 9).  More people placed their trust in Jesus in Derbe (Acts 14:20).  

The Gospel of Jesus had rocked Galatia.  That's what Paul wants his friends to remember.

So what's become of that joy, that excitement and that buzz they felt?  Whenever we doubt our faith or feel far from Jesus, we should think back on that first moment when God rocked our world.  Go back to the beginning.  Go back to the start.  

Remember how Christ reached out to you and pulled you from the miry pit to sing a song of total life change (Ps 40:1-3).  

Throughout his letters, Paul continually encourages us to think back to the beginning of our walk with Jesus. "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (Col 2:6).  

When in doubt, pull out the spiritual scrapbook.

The apostle reminds the Galatians of just how sick he was during his first visit and just much compassion they showed him.  "If possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me" (v15).  

This sure seems to indicate that his "bodily ailment" was some sort of eye infection or illness (Gal 4:14).  

If it had been medically possible at the time, his Galatian caregivers were willing to donate their own eyes for transplant.  Why else would Paul say this if he wasn't suffering from an optical issue.  

His statement about his use of "large letters" at the end of this letter would seem to support this idea (Gal 6:11).  Don't forget that Jesus originally blinded Paul to get his attention outside of Damascus (Acts 9:8-9).

The point here isn't so much what was wrong with Paul but what was right with the Galatians.  They had such Christ-like compassion on the man from Tarsus that they were willing pop out their own eyeballs so that he could be made well.  

And for those who are grossed out by such talk, that's EXACTLY what the original language tells us.  He uses the Greek verb εξορυσσω/exorusso.  It literally means to dig out.  The word was used to describe how you would toss the dirt out of a trench you were digging.  Yeah, gross, right?

This wasn't the mom in "A Christmas Story" warning Ralphie about the dangers of the Red Rider BB Gun.  Paul wanted the Galatians to remember the lengths of their love, care and compassion for him when he was with them.  

They would've put their eyes out for him!  Maybe that will trigger the memory of what God had done right before their eyes.

The apostle wants them to remember just how much they cared for him because apparently someone has thrown him under the Galatian bus.  "Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (v15).  

Somehow, someway, the false teachers who've infiltrated the Galatian churches have convinced them that Paul is their spiritual nemesis.  

Most likely they've told them that this so-called apostle had gone rogue and was spreading a counterfeit gospel.  The Judaizers accused him of not telling folks the full truth.  

According the, Jesus may have gotten us into God's kingdom but it's up to each of us to stay there.  And they said we do that through obedient rule-keeping.  

It was this spiritual snake oil that led the Galatians to fall prey to legalism and self-salvation, which is NO salvation at all!

The Galatians have clearly come to see Paul as their enemy thanks to the false teachers.  The apostle wants to know how telling them the truth about Jesus makes him their spiritual adversary.  The Greek word here is εχθρος/echthros.  

It means more than just an opponent playing for the other team.  This is more than simply agreeing to disagree.  There is hatred involved.  There is hostility involved.  

The Judaizers have stoked the flames of Galatian hatred toward the man they once loved so much.

Telling the truth does that.  That's why the people repeatedly rejected the prophets οφ God.  Who in the world wants to hear about how bad they are?  Who wants to hear about their own sin?  Who wants to hear about their need for a Savior?  

But the truth must be told.  People may not like it but how else will they ever know Jesus?  

We must remember to speak hard truth dripping in love (Eph 4:15).  

We must express the tough truth of our sinful situation while standing under the waterfall of God's grace (Jn 1:14). 

©2012

Jay Jennings

Road Sick

Paul continues to talk the Galatians from the brink.  The Judaizers have duped them into believing the apostle's Gospel was wrong.  

These false teachers convinced them that Jesus may have saved them, but the ball's now in their court to stay saved.  And that's done through obedient rule-keeping.  

Once he received the horrible news of their situation when he was back in Antioch, he fires off this sledgehammer of a letter.  There's nothing subtle here.  The situation is too dire, too desperate, too disastrous.

Starting in Galatians 4:6, Paul flips open the scrapbook and reminds them of what happened during his two visits to Galatia.  These are the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Derbe and Iconium in what is modern day Turkey.  

Acts 13:13-14:23 tells us that Paul and Barnabas stopped twice in each city of the region.  One thing that Luke doesn't describe in Acts is the apostle's physical condition.  According to the apostle's letter to the Galatians, it wasn't pretty.

"You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you at first" (v13).  Scholars have invested years and spilled oceans of ink speculating on Paul's illness.  

Was it malaria?  Was it an eye infection?  Is this the same thorn in the flesh he pleaded with God to remove in 2 Corinthians 12:7?  

In many ways, it really doesn't matter.  If it did, the Holy Spirit would have made sure to let us know specifically in the Bible.  

When it comes to what's in Scripture, we're on a "need to know" basis.  If God needs us to know, He'll make sure we do.

Paul reminds the Galatians that this illness was the whole reason he stopped there in the first place.  The ESV calls it a "bodily ailment."  

The literal translation of the Greek is "weakness of the flesh."  The original text uses the word ασθενεια/astheneia, or "not" (α-/a-) strong (-σθενεια/-stheneia).  

At first glance, we might think that the apostle may have just been wiped out from being on the road.  But the following verses let us know that this weakness was much more than that.  

Paul's condition placed a heavy burden on the Galatians (v14).  And it must have been some sort of infection or illness impacting his eyes.  Why else would these new believers have been willing to offer him their own eyes (v15)?  

He was sick.  He was hurting.  He was "road sick."  There are few things worse than feeling badly while traveling.  Ugh.  

And let's face it, we're talking about the first century here.  It's not exactly like Paul could swing by the local "doc in the box.”  

The apostle was clearly hurting.  But despite his "bodily ailment," that didn't stop him from telling them about Jesus.  

As a matter of fact, it doesn't take much to see the sovereign hand of God at work here.  Paul says that it was precisely because he was sick that he shared the Gospel with the Galatians.  

The Lord is in complete control of our lives.  He will most certainly accomplish His purposes (Eph 1:11).  He'll use things in our fallen world to get things done.  That includes sickness and disease.  

It appears that Paul and his crew had no plans of stopping in Galatia.  Apparently the Lord had something else in mind.  

As a result of this unscheduled stop, the apostle decided to make the most of the opportunity and tell them about the radical Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth (Eph 5:16).

This verse absolutely humbles me.  Too often I use the hangnail issues of living in 21st century America stop me from sharing Jesus with others.  I'm too tired.  I've got a headache.  

The Apostle Paul was so consumed with compassion for a lost and dying world that he didn't let a little thing like being flat on his back stop him from sharing the Good News.

Let's not breeze right past his statement, "I preached the Gospel."  This letter is all about the importance of the Gospel.  The Good News.  The GREATEST News!  

And what is that news?  God has personally made the ultimate rescue mission to save us.  Something we could never do for ourselves in a million years.  

As Jesus, He not only came to fulfill all of the prophecies and promises of the Messiah, but to perfectly obey the law that we could never obey.  

Christ has thrown the door of salvation open wide, not just for Jews but people everywhere!  We don't save ourselves.  That's impossible.  

Face facts.  "By works of the law no one will be justified" (Gal 2:16).  Law no.  Jesus YES!  "A person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ" (Gal 2:16).  That's the Gospel that the apostle proclaimed in the Galatian church network.

Paul also confirms the fact that he visited the churches in Galatia not once but twice.  He describes how his physical issues caused him to stop there "at first" (v13).  The Greek grammar let's us know that he is talking about the first of two stays in Galatia.  

In other words, it was only because he was sick that he stopped there that first time.  Dr. Luke tells us that Paul and Barnabas hit those same towns again on their way home.

The apostle must not have been a pretty sight on this first visit to Galatia.  His sickness took a toll on his hosts.  "My condition was a trial to you" (v14), literally "my trial in the flesh.”  

Paul admits that instead of being a blessing, he was a pain in the rear.  It's clear that the Galatians went to great effort and expense to care for the sick missionary.

Despite that, his hosts didn't see this as any great burden.  It would have been understandable to look down on their Galatian noses at this dude.  

But they didn't.  Paul says that they "received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus" (v14).  

The term "angel" is the Greek αγγελος/angelos, which can mean a divine being but also a messenger or envoy.  They clearly saw this sick man as having been sent on a divine assignment by God.  

The small phrase "as Christ Jesus" is also very telling.  This perfectly describes an apostle.  

In the first century, an apostle was a designated representative of another who had full legal rights and authority.  When someone's apostle is there, it's just like the one who sent him is there.  

There's a story in Ancient Greece of an apostle who was able to divorce his boss' wife while her husband was away.  That’s the kind of authority they were given.  No word what happened when the boss returned home to find out he was now an ex-husband.

God had chosen Paul as an apostle (Gal 1:1; Acts 9:15-16).  He knew it.  And so did the Galatians.  They saw it as a privilege to care for God's apostle.  This is exactly what Jesus told His disciples (Mt 25:35-40).

If Paul hadn't gotten sick on the road, he would have never stopped in Galatia.  It appears that he and Barney would have blown right through to take the Gospel somewhere else.  

But God had other plans.  Sometimes He opens doors so we can tell others about Jesus and we don't even realize it (Acts 14:27).  He certainly moves in mysterious ways.  

We just need to always be ready to tell others about Jesus.  No matter place.  No matter the time.  We must keep our eyes open to those divine appointments He has for us.  Even when we're "road sick.”

©2012

Jay Jennings

Ain't Too Proud to Beg

Paul continues to bring the Galatians back from the brink of a HUGE mistake.  During his visits to them on his first missionary journey, he told them how Jesus had thrown the door of salvation open wide to both Jew and Gentile.  

Immediately after he hit the road, the Judaizers rolled in, bringing their counterfeit gospel of self-salvation with them.  

The Galatians bought their spiritual snake oil.  They believed that Jesus may have saved them, but it was up to them to continue saving themselves.  

For Jews, that meant staying VERY Jewish.  For non-Jews, that mean converting to Judaism.

Paul opens his apostolic scrapbook to remind the Galatians of just how it went down when he was with them.  "Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.  You did me no harm" (v12).  

He begins by simply calling them brothers.  That's HUGE.  Not too long ago, he hammered them by calling them "foolish Galatians" (Gal 3:1).  He went so far as to wonder just how foolish they had become (Gal 3:3).  

It appears that the apostle wants to reassure the Galatian posse that he hasn't thrown them under the biblical bus.  Things might be dire, but he still sees them as brothers and sisters in Christ.  

As a matter of fact, his hard words for them come out of his love for them.  They are his brothers and sisters.  They are worth the fight.

Do I have the same compassion for my brothers and sisters in the Lord?  Am I willing to fight for them?  Am I willing to say hard words to them out for my love for them?  

Jesus, help me see others with Your eyes.  Help me love with Your heart.  My brothers and sisters and worth fighting for.

Paul pleads with the wayward Galatians.  "I entreat you, become as I am" (v12).  The apostle uses the Greek verb δεομαι/deomai.  It means to plead, long for, beseech, ask urgently or beg.  

In other words, he ain't too proud to beg.  He loves them that much.  Their situation is that dire.  He's begging them.  He's pleading with them.

The man from Tarsus begs his Galatian friends to "become as I am" (v12).  In other words, when it comes to the legalism that they are now pursuing, he's been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.  Remember, Paul readily admits that he's a former Pharisee (Phil 3:5).  

He knows firsthand the emptiness of self-salvation.  Trying to follow the law is a dead end street.  It wasn't meant to save.  It was meant to bring us to our knees and realize our need for a Savior.  

He begs and pleads with the Galatians to "become as I am," to put that behind them and trust in Jesus alone.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ" (1Cor 11:1).  In other words, if you don't know what to do, simply watch Paul.  Do what he does.  He's not your Savior but he is following Him.

The apostle is also desperate for the Galatians to know the freedom that he has in Jesus.  He wants them to have what he has.  He wants them to know what he knows.  He wants them to feel what he feels.  

Do I have that same desperation for the people in my life?  O Lord Jesus, please make it so!

Paul then reminds them, "I also have become as you are" (v12).  Yup.  Been there.  Done that.  He knows what it's like to try save yourself through obedience to an impossible standard.  

This is also a reference to how Paul identified with the Galatians when he met them.  "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...To those outside the law I became as one outside the law...I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some" (1Cor 9:19-23).  

Because he was free in Christ and not worried about damaging his own standing with God, Paul stepped into the lifestyle and culture of the Galatians.  He did so with a purpose.  He did so as a missionary.  

This is a reminder to me to do the same.  My freedom in Jesus is the ultimate protection when stepping into the lives of those around me in order to love them with the love of Christ.

The apostle reminds them that when he identified them, "You did me no wrong" (v12).  He's letting them know that this bold step into their culture had no lasting impact on him and his relationship with God.  

The days of trying to save himself by religious rule-keeping is in his rearview mirror.  Reaching out to the lost didn't damage his own salvation.  They did him no harm.

Paul pleads with his brothers and sisters to do what he has done, to become as he is.  He ain't too proud to beg.

©2012

Jay Jennings