Have I now become your enemy?
Paul is writing to the Galatians and questions their conversion because they have fallen into false doctrine. He recounts how when he was with them, he poured into them and they loved him for the truth he delivered.
Galatians 4:15-20 (NKJV) 15 What then was the blessing you [enjoyed?] For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.
It is largely believed that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” might have been cataracts or some other issue of partial blindness. To which he acknowledges how deeply the Galatians loved him in that they would have given him their very eyes had he have requested it.
16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
But now they are upset and defensive over the fact that he is questioning their conversion.
17 They zealously court you, [but] for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.
“They” here refers to those who have crept into these peoples lives bringing another message. Paul says, “they court you”, as a suitor, only revealing as much as they want you to see. He says, “they exclude you”, a tactic used by many who manipulate to isolate and prevent the truth from entering in. He says, “they want you to be zealous for them”, revealing that their heart is not for you to come to know Christ but rather to be controlled by them.
18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.
Paul is not against zeal though. To be zealous for the truth, to be zealous for the Lord, is a good thing.
19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,
Paul says he is now back at it, laboring for their souls again. The fact that he says he labors “until Christ is formed in them” acknowledges the fact that he doesn’t believe that Christ was truly formed in them, despite their profession, based on the fact that they are gradually sliding back into their previous pursuits. He confirms this in the next verse. But this brings up an interesting point. No one can come unless he is drawn, yet there are trials, temptations and difficulties that take place before Christ is formed in us. This is confirmed by the parable of the sower wherein Jesus speaks of those who “believed for a while” yet during time of temptation or testing, fell away (Luke 8:13). This is further confirmed by Proverbs 21:16 and Hebrews 6:4-6, which warn of the dangers of returning back to our old pursuits after we have had our eyes opened to the truth.
20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.
Paul says, he longs to be with them in person delivering a different message, but he has doubts and concerns about whether they truly have been born again.
I want us to focus on one thing here:
Paul’s says: “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?”
No one likes to hear bad news. No one likes to be questioned. But does that then make that person your enemy? Paul’s heart is not to control. His heart is to make sure that they’re not living in self deception. To make sure they haven’t gotten off the path, and taken another path, just to avoid a difficulty. Paul’s heart is set on their highest good, their salvation.
Does this make him an enemy? The first question we have to ask when confronted with a situation like this is: does this person truly love me? Have they demonstrated that they genuinely seek my highest good?
… because he brought them the truth? The second question we have to ask is, is it true? Is the rebuke or correction that is brought about true? We have to separate our own defensive response to the question and look honestly as to whether we have truly fallen into error.
The final question we need to ask is in alignment with the second. Is it biblical? The one bringing on the correction might truly love us. They may even be correct about the offense. But if the matter being discussed is not biblical, then it matters not.
The slide into error is just that… a slow gradual descent. But it’s a descent into hell which demonstrates that Christ was never truly formed in us. This is not a loss of salvation. It’s a pseudo-faith that Jesus pointed out would never withstand the trials of this life. Paul’s greatest concern was that those whom he taught and labored for would have a genuine faith. A faith evidenced by perseverance. A faith evidenced by love. A faith evidenced by obedience to truth.
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