Galatians 4:19-20
"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," Galatians 4:19-20. In these verses, Paul continues to pour out his pastoral heart. We must remember that Paul is not being hard on them just for the sake of being hard; no, he is broken hearted and he knows the end result if they continue heading in this direction. They are being taught to trust in themselves in their walk for the Lord. "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Galatians 3:3. Remember, false teachers always take your focus away from Christ and put your focus on your flesh; your own power. The result is that you will try to live the Christian life in the power of your flesh. This will result in failure. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live for Christ. When it comes to spiritual things, our flesh is weak.
Conversion is just the beginning of the Christian life. We had no part in our conversion. That was totally a working of God. He quickened us and enabled us to repent and believe the gospel (Ephesians 2:1; John 1:12-13). By His grace He granted us saving faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our conversion was a choice God made before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-23). We are now the children of God, the bride of Christ, and we are waiting for Christ's return, or our going to Him.
When the Lord saves us, positionally we are made perfect in Christ Jesus, but practically we are still on this earth in this sinful flesh. All of our sins have been forgiven by the finished work of Jesus Christ. We have been set free from the bondage and the penalty of sin, yet we are still in the presence of sin. This fleshly body is actually drawn to sin. "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members," Romans 7:16-23. Even after the Lord saves us, we are in a battle with this sinful sin loving flesh, but, the difference is that we now have the Holy Spirit living in us empowering us to live a sanctified life. We are dependent upon Him to live this life of sanctification, not ourselves.
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you," Galatians 4:19. I have never given birth, nor will I ever give birth to a child, because I am a man. Men do not get pregnant. It is my understanding that giving birth is the easy part when compared to raising a child. Paul views the Galatians as his little children. "Little children" in this verse is the Greek word "teknion" and is used only once by Paul. It is a term of affection by a teacher to his disciples. It means darlings (Christian converts). Though Paul did not save them, he was the instrument that God used to proclaim the Gospel to them. Proclaiming the gospel during Paul's day was hard work, and life threatening. But it was actually the easy part. The hard part is teaching, preaching, and leading in the sanctification process. The sanctification process is just as painful as the birthing process, except the pain never goes away. We see here again Paul pouring out his heart as a pastor. This is truly the heart of every God called pastor. There are many people who think they know what it means to be a pastor, but they really have no idea. Being a pastor is the most rewarding job, and at the same time the most heartbreaking job. It is rewarding when the Lord is saving people and when you see the church growing in the Lord. It is heartbreaking when you see people you have invested your life into begin to fall away. For a true pastor, the people he pastors are not just numbers. He loves the people God has entrusted him to pastor, and he wants to see them mature as a Christian. He wants to see the congregation as mature saints. He wants to see Christ formed in them. This means to form, fashion. Found only in Galatians 4:19 where the Christian is described as a little child who needs to mature until his character and conduct project the very image of Christ.
All of us are a work in progress. All of us mature at different rates. We mature as we grow in our understanding of the Scriptures, and as we obey the Scriptures. This is why it is so important that we stay in the Word, and that we sit under sound preaching and teaching. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them," Ephesians 2:10. Turn to Ephesians 4:17-5:20. When Christ saves us, He transforms us. We love Him more than ourselves, and more than our sins. If we want to check ourselves in our walk with the Lord, how are we doing with our little sins? We know to stay away from those "big" sins, but we tend to play with those "little" sins. We can't blame the devil; he can't make us do anything. We need the Lord's help in this sanctification process.
"I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you," Galatians 4:20. Paul wants to be there with them, and see them casting out the false teachers. His desire is for them to obey the Scriptures and fall more in love with Christ. If they were to do this, he would be able to change his tone with them. He really wants to change his tone. It is not joyous when the pastors have to deal with someone who is not living right. If we would all press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, how different would our churches be? May the Lord help us in helping each other mature in Christ. May we do this all for the glory and honour of Christ Jesus our Lord. Sanctification is the life of the Christian. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
