“Jan 16, 2024 - Have I Become Your Enemy?”

Monday, January 15, 2024

Have I Become Your Enemy?

Reading:  Galatians 4:8-20
    
    In this deeply personal section, Paul pleads with the Galatians not to “turn back again”(Gal 4:9) to something inferior to following Jesus.  While Jewish Christians were previously enslaved to the Law of Moses (Gal 3:23, 4:3), these Gentile believers “were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.  But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”(Gal 4:8-9).  Beginning to keep Moses’ Law now is a retreat.  Intriguingly, Paul says that it will be the same as regressing to their former pagan polytheism.  He spells out the concern:  “You observe days and months and seasons and years!  I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain”(Gal 4:10-11).  By keeping the Jewish calendar (along with Jewish rules and regulations), they are signing up for a new way of being saved in which Jesus is dangerously absent.

    Then Paul pulls out all the stops.  He reminds them of their past together (Gal 4:13-15) and how warmly they received him despite his “bodily ailment.”  “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”(Gal 4:16).  He questions the goals of the teachers influencing them (Gal 4:17-18).  He opens his heart:  “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!  I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you”(Gal 4:19-20).  Paul trades on all his credibility with them:  Don’t do this!

    “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”  It is a bitter experience to watch friends become enemies.  Harsh words are said.  Past joys are tarnished.  We are bitter and angry all at once.  Paul’s words show us that gospel matters carry deep emotions with them.  It hurts when we disagree about spiritual things.  Yet there is also hope here that we don’t have to be enemies!  With open hearts and the humility to reconsider, we can often come to positive resolutions that preserve our relationships with both God and our brothers.

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One Thing to Think About:  How would I approach someone who began to believe or practice something false?

One Thing to Pray For:   The humility to reconsider whether I am right
 

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