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