Gal 4:8–20 — Until Christ Is Formed in You

Review

We have been spending quite a bit of time in Galatians 3, that dense theological passage where Paul is getting into the weeds of redemptive history and talking about the Abrahamic promise and the coming of the law 430 years after the promise, until the offspring should come. Wonderful, rich theology. Now in chapter four of Galatians, we are beginning to turn to the application of that theology to the specific situation that the Galatian Christians are confronting, and Paul’s pastoral care and concern for his flock comes out in this passage. The Apostle Paul is now beginning to turn directly to his audience.

In chapter three, he’s been somewhat seemingly academic. He’s been like a professor in the seminary classroom, and he’s thrown up his charts on the wall and saying, here’s the whole flow of redemptive history from the promise to the law to the coming of the offspring. And he’s been giving very detailed examination of Scripture and its redemptive historical flow. I think it’s somewhat interesting.

Sometimes there is a general feeling out there in the church where you will hear people complaining about pastors whose sermons are just too theological, too doctrinal, and not enough practical application, not enough spiritual enjoyment and help in the practical realities of the Christian life. The Apostle Paul doesn’t seem to be that worried about that, does he? He doesn’t just go right to the specific problem that the Galatian Christians are facing, which is that they’re being tempted by the Judaizers, who are these false teachers coming into the church and telling them that they need to be circumcised and commit themselves to keeping the Mosaic law. And they’re listening to that, and they’re saying, hmm, maybe that’s true. Maybe faith in Christ is not enough.

Maybe we do need to do these things. Interestingly, we even saw somewhat of that in our text that we just read. Remember where it says there, in verse 10, that they’re already observing the Jewish calendar. They’re already observing days, like the Sabbath, and months, like the new moons, and new moon festivals, and seasons. Those would be the annual festivals of Israel, like the Feast of Unleavened Bread and so on. They’re already doing some of the law.

And so Paul was worried about them. He’s worried that they are tinkering with the false doctrine of the Judaizers and that they’re being tempted to listen to them, being swayed and attracted to their teaching. And so you might think that as a good pastor who’s got this practical emphasis, who wants to really help his people to grow in Christ, you might think that he would just go right to that and just start Maybe this whole letter could have started right here in this passage that we read in Galatians 4.

But Paul doesn’t approach it that way. Paul actually spends quite a bit of time in the first three chapters dealing with some more academic and doctrinal matters. In fact, in the first two chapters, he spends many time just showing his credentials.

What is the basis of his authority? Why should they listen to him and not to the Judaizers? He tells the whole story of how God converted him and called him and commissioned him to be an apostle. And how he has the gospel directly from Christ himself. And that his gospel that he is teaching is not man’s gospel. It’s not just Paul’s own opinions. It’s directly from Christ himself. He spends two whole chapters going into detail about his biography, his story, and proving that he is indeed a genuine apostle of Christ. And then in chapter 3, He has this long section that we have labored over in the past eight weeks in detail going over all of these detailed issues about the law and the promise and the purpose of giving the law. Why did God give the law?

He goes into doctrine. He goes into the details of seemingly academic dry theology. Before he gets to the pastoral application, because Paul believes that the pastoral practical application, the bottom line for the Christian life, cannot bypass doctrine. Doctrine is critical. Doctrine is important for us to understand. It’s really mind-blowing when you think about it. The audience that Paul is writing this letter to, just think about who they are.

They’re not like us. We have the whole Bible. We have the entire canon of scripture. We also have the whole history of the church teaching us theology. We have creeds and confessions. We’re fairly well educated theologically. We have a whole tradition of Christendom and Christian theology that’s embedded in our creeds and confessions. We have many knowledge.

Compared to these Galatian Christians who not that long ago, maybe a year or two ago, were just pagans. Worshiping the Greek gods, worshiping Zeus or Artemis or whoever it was. They’re complete pagans, and they’ve just come to know the Lord. The Apostle Paul came to the cities in Asia Minor that are called the cities of Galatia. Those would be the ones that he went to in his first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14. And he has preached the gospel to them. They have heard the gospel. They’ve believed in the gospel. And they trust in Christ, they’ve been baptized, they’re believers, they love the Lord, they’re filled with the Spirit, but they’re not super educated.

They probably don’t know all that much about the Bible and theology. Back in those days, they didn’t even have, the average person in the pew wouldn’t have their own copy of the Bible. It was very expensive to have a Bible. You would hear the Bible in church, or if you were a Jew, you would hear it read in synagogue.

But these Gentiles, in spite of their low level of education, in spite of their probably not super familiarity with the stories of the Old Testament, Paul nevertheless takes the time To walk them through the details. To talk to them about God’s covenant promises with Abraham. To talk to them about the law that was given at Mount Sinai. And why it was given. And how it all points to Christ. He gets into the weeds. He gets into some detail. He quotes scripture with them. And he explains it to them patiently and lovingly.

I think one thing that helps us to somewhat reflect on this idea is that we should imagine that when these letters came to these churches, let’s say this letter of Paul to the churches in Galatia, but all of his other letters as well. The letter to the Romans, for example. We should imagine that it wasn’t just simply read once in one service and then they just moved on and heard other sermons and disregarded that letter. I think that they received that letter and probably treasured that letter. And read through it multiple times. And maybe even paused over certain sections and paragraphs to really meditate upon it.

And maybe the local pastor of that church would spend time explaining in detail what these words meant. I’m sure it was not easy for these former pagans who were not terribly familiar with scripture. I’m sure it took effort. It takes effort for us, even here, with all of our knowledge and all of our understanding. It takes effort to really parse the words of Paul and to understand what he means.

Paul uses compact phrases that require careful reflection and meditation to draw out their implications. The Galatian churches likely treasured this letter, read it repeatedly, heard sermons on its various sections, reflected upon it, and allowed it to shape their minds and hearts so that they could grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul set his doctrine, theology, and gospel in writing while combining them with his pastoral care for the church. We see that here in our text. The ESV heading before verse 8 is “Paul’s Concern for the Galatians.” Another suitable heading, drawn from verse 19, might be “Paul’s Pastoral Anguish for the Galatians.”

My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Don’t you just love to overhear and to get a feel, a sense of Paul’s pastoral heart? His love for his flock, for these baby Christians who are struggling because of these false teachers who are beginning to sway them. And he’s passionately caring for them and saying, how I wish I could change my tone. I wish that you were so strong and steadfast in your faith in Christ that this was not an issue, that you were not being swayed and tempted by these false teachers. Paul loves his people, he cares for them.

He even describes himself as a pregnant mother who is giving birth. And it’s painful. It’s a hard job to give birth. But there’s something blessed in that reality of giving birth to a child. And that’s how Paul is viewing his teaching ministry to the Galatians. Not only when he was there initially planting the church, but also his continuing ministry as expressed now in writing this letter to them. He’s in the pains of childbirth again. Now, he’s interestingly saying that when he first preached the Gospel, it was like childbirth.

When he first came to them, let’s say we go back in time a couple of years before, before this crisis with the Judaizers coming in and tempting them to false doctrine, and to a false gospel. He’s saying that at the beginning, when He first was among them, in Acts 13 and 14, that first missionary journey to the Gentiles in Asia Minor, when He was first among them and preaching the gospel to them, And in a sense, almost, of course, only the Holy Spirit can convert someone, but it’s almost as if he’s saying that he was converting them. Of course, he knows it wasn’t him. He knows it wasn’t his own efforts.

It was the work of God, the Spirit, working through him. But nevertheless, the preaching of the gospel and the teaching of the gospel and teaching Christ to them was this good, labor. It was the labor of childbirth. Yes, it was hard work. Yes, it was painful. But it was a joyful pain because he was giving birth to them through the gospel.

And now he’s saying, here we are a few years later, the Judaizers have come in and are beginning to tempt them to stop listening to Paul and now to listen to their understanding of the gospel, which is a false gospel. And he’s saying, now I feel like I’m going through that anguish of childbirth all over again. Because now I have to write to you this letter in order to warn you from these false teachers and to bring you back to the true gospel, my little children for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth. The again there shows us that the first preaching was like childbirth and now he feels like he’s doing it all over again because he’s so concerned about their faith. And you can imagine why.

Because if these Galatian Christians actually listen to the Judaizers, and not only practice the Jewish calendar, but even go further and subject themselves to being circumcised with the understanding in their minds, the minds of the Judaizers and their own minds, that doing so is necessary for salvation, If they do it under those terms, submitting to circumcision as if it was necessary for salvation, then they have denied the Gospel. They will have fallen away from Christ. He says this later on in Galatians 5.

In Galatians 5 verse 2, he says, Actually, this verse here in Galatians 5.2 is somewhat the heart of the whole letter. He just gets right to the heart of it and says, this is what I’m saying. I’m just going to put it out there. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, under these terms that the Judaizers are trying to foist it on you.

If you do that, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You’re putting yourself back under the law as a covenant of works, as if keeping the law is what justifies you and saves you. Now circumcision itself as it was given originally to Abraham back in the Old Testament did not mean that. Circumcision as it was originally given was a sign and seal of the righteousness of faith. It was a sign of the promise of God received by faith.

Paul says that in Romans 4 verse 11. But in the current context with these false teachers coming into the church and beginning to sway them and say, you, you Gentile Christians, you’re not really right with God yet. It’s wonderful that you believe in God now. It’s wonderful that you don’t worship the idols anymore. Praise God for that. We’re thankful that you’re not pagans anymore. But you’re not really fully right with God.

You’re not yet fully included within the people of God until you get circumcised and commit yourself to keeping the law. In that context, not in the original context as given to Abraham, but in this context now in the first century with the Judaizers coming into this church and saying, you have to be circumcised in order to be saved. In that context, circumcision has become not a sign and seal of the promise, not a sign and seal of God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ, but rather it’s become a badge of law keeping and of being saved, attempting to be saved, attempting to be right with God by keeping the law. And so if in this particular context, in this particular situation with what the Judaizers are saying about the necessity of circumcision, If they were to submit to that now, at this point, then Christ would be of no more advantage to them, and they will have fallen away from the Lord. They will have fallen away from grace.

And so that’s why the Apostle Paul then, going back to what I was saying in verse 19, that’s why the Apostle Paul is saying, I’m so concerned about you. I’m really worried about you because you’re on the cusp of falling away from the Gospel. And so I feel like I am in the anguish of childbirth all over again. Just like at the beginning when I first preached the Gospel to you. I’m in the anguish of childbirth all over again because I want to see you fully grounded in the Gospel.

Fully grounded in the assurance that Christ is enough. And you don’t need to add to it all of these attempted works. All of these false ideas that by being circumcised and keeping the details of the Mosaic Law that you can then be right with God. I want you to be fully assured of your standing in Christ and Christ alone. And not tempted by the Judaizers. Not tempted by their persuasive logic. Not tempted by their strong words of saying, you have to do this.

Besides, isn’t it actually written in the Bible? Remember at this time, their Bibles would be the Old Testament only. The New Testament had not yet been fully finished and turned into the canon of Scripture. So they could easily, the Judaizers could easily say, it’s right there in the text. Just read Genesis 17.

God says circumcision is necessary. God says that the one who is not circumcised shall be cut off from the people. So the Judaizers have a legitimate claim. They have a legitimate argument. It’s right there in the Bible. You should get circumcised. And so Paul is saying to them, don’t listen to what they’re saying.

And that’s why the Apostle Paul takes the time to not just get right to the application and not just simply encourage them to not listen to the Judaizers, but he goes into the details and the weeds of doctrine. That’s why he explains the relationship between the Abrahamic promise and the coming of the law, which was 430 years after the promise. That’s why he explains the purpose of the law in redemptive history. The purpose of the law in redemptive history was not to provide a way of salvation, but rather to show us our need of Christ. He says it very clearly in Galatians chapter three and verse 23.

Before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we may be justified by faith. The law was our custodian. To lead us to Christ so that we might see our sinfulness and be shut up unto Christ. He uses this word being imprisoned or shut up, like you’ve gotten to the point now where you just stand before God and you say, you’re right, God, I am guilty, I am a sinner.

I know that I cannot be right with you by my efforts to keep the law. I know that I can only be right with you through faith in Christ and what he has done. The Apostle Paul loves his flock and he cares for them and he labors for them, not only with his pastoral heart of exhorting them and pleading with them, but also with his doctrinal mind and his academic teaching, going through the teaching of God’s word in order to establish them in the faith so that they might understand why. They might not just simply go, Paul is really saying don’t do this, but I don’t really know why. No, he’s saying, I’m going to explain why. I’m going to answer all of the arguments that the Judaizers are coming up with.

And I’m going to show you from Scripture itself. In fact, if you keep reading, we didn’t read it today, but if you keep reading in verse 21, he returns again to the Old Testament. He says, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons. And then he gives this whole allegory of Isaac and Ishmael. And we’ll get into that starting next week, but he explains again scripture to them.

Exposition

Galatians 4:8–12: How Can You Turn Back Again?

He’s reasoning with them from the Bible itself, from scripture itself, to say this is why you should not listen to the Jews. You shouldn’t just take my word for it. You shouldn’t just simply be swayed by my emotional appeal to you. You should understand from scripture why it is that we are rooted in Christ. Let’s just briefly go through our text here, beginning in verse eight.

He says, formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not God. So he’s referring to their life as pagans. Before they came to know the Lord, they didn’t know God. They were enslaved to the false gods, to the idols, to those Greek gods that they were worshiping. It was a form of slavery.

Because you had to always do the right sacrifices to pay off the gods, to get their favor. If you did something wrong and you didn’t know why, why am I sick? Why did I have this terrible tragedy happen in my life? Maybe it’s because I forgot to pay the right sacrifice to the right God. And so you go to these temples and you pay these sacrifices. It’s a very quid pro quo. Quid pro quo relationship. You just pay the gods, and then they will hopefully give you good luck in return. It was a form of bondage. It was a form of slavery.

He says, formerly, when you didn’t know the true God, you were enslaved to false gods, to those that by nature are not really gods. But now that you have come to know God, when they were converted, or rather, Paul says, to be known by God. Interesting, that he somewhat throws in that little Calvinistic point there, it wasn’t that they came to know God, it was actually that God knew them. God saved them by His sovereign grace. 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.

He’s saying this, he’s saying if they were to put themselves back under the Mosaic law, if they were to put themselves under the Mosaic law by being circumcised and committing themselves to keeping the law as their righteousness before God, that would be like turning back to their former legalistic bondage of paganism.

It would be just the same. Now, of course, the Apostle Paul is not saying that the laws that God gave to Israel are bad or evil laws. Obviously, those laws were holy and just and good. But in this current situation, if they turn away from Christ to the law as if it were their salvation, as if it was their means of being right with God, it would be the same as turning back to the legalistic bondage of worshiping the pagan gods. And Paul here says that these weak and worthless elementary principles of the world are not only tantamount to paganism, but they’re weak, they’re worthless.

There’s no spiritual benefit. They’re doing all these things from the Mosaic law. That before Christ came were good, they were the means that God gave to God’s people in their minority as spiritual infants before the coming of Christ, to be the means of grace to point them to Christ. But now that Christ has come, if we go back to the ceremonial law, if we go back to circumcision and the clean-unclean distinctions and the Jewish calendar, if we do these things, Now, after Christ has come, and we do so with the thought that somehow these things will help us to be better, and help us to be more pleasing to God, the more we do all these rituals, even though they were given by God, but now that Christ has come, the types and shadows are fulfilled. And so going back to the types and shadows in this age, in this time, after Christ has come, is like returning to the weak and worthless principles of paganism.

The law, in Paul’s understanding, it was good for that time, but it was a temporary thing. It was a temporary guardian until Christ came. And to go back to it now, is trying to be saved, trying to be justified, that is right with God, and trying to be sanctified, growing in holiness, through these weak and worthless, Rules and regulations.

These rules and regulations are weak. They seem godly, they seem pious, but they’re weak. They don’t have the power to transform you. They don’t have the power to change your heart. They don’t have the power to sanctify you. Only Christ in the gospel has that power.

Verse 10, he says, you observe days and months and seasons and years. You’re observing the Jewish festivals, the Jewish calendar, the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day of the week. Of course, we as Christians believe that the underlying moral principle of the fourth commandment continues, but it continues in the form of the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day is the day that God has set aside for us as Christians to worship God and to fellowship with one another. We should not observe the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day as if there’s some special sanctity in that observance of the Jewish Sabbath.

He’s concerned about them. Verse 11, I’m afraid. When I see that you’re already beginning to observe the Jewish calendar, I’m afraid for you. I’m worried. I feel like you’re just about on the cusp of going all the way and being circumcised and falling away from Christ. I’m afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Verse 11.

Verse 12, brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, meaning that Paul is no longer a Torah observant Jew. The Torah meaning all of the Mosaic law and all of the details of the food laws and the dietary restrictions and the calendar, all of those requirements. Paul himself was raised to do that, but now that he’s become a Christian, he is no longer doing those things as if he needs to do them in order to be right with God.

Now it is true that there were occasions, you can read in the book of Acts, there were occasions where he would, for the purpose of advancing the gospel, accommodate to his audience and he did circumcise Titus that one time. He also went into the temple and took a vow. But that was not being done by him as something that he felt he had to do. He wasn’t doing it because he felt that he was under the Torah and that if he didn’t do those things that he would not be right with God. He was doing them simply as a missional accommodation to his audience in order to have an opening for the gospel.

So he’s saying, I entreat you, brothers, become as I am, that is, as a non-Torah observant Jew, for I also became as you are. Meaning that he lives a lifestyle that looks more close to the Gentile lifestyle. Of course, without the idolatry, but he’s not observant. He’s not a Torah observant Jew. You did me no wrong. And so he’s pleading with them to become as he is, to become as one who is free from the observance of the details of the Mosaic law.

Of course not, we know very clearly that Paul is not saying that the Ten Commandments are no longer required. He’s going to talk about that later in Galatians 5, that the whole law is fulfilled by the love command. So he knows that we should still keep the 10 commandments. But he’s saying that in terms of this whole structure of all of the rigid ceremonial laws and all of that burdensome yoke that God gave to God’s people before the coming of Christ, that that was temporary. And he is no longer required to do that.

Galatians 4:13–20: A Pastor’s Anguish over His Spiritual Children

So in this passage then, in verses eight through 11, we have somewhat the heart of Paul’s exhortation to them, calling them to become as he is, to become as a non-Torah observant person. But because his faith and his trust and his identity is in Christ, not in all of those ceremonial laws. Then in verses 12 and following, verses 13 and following, I’m sorry, he then gives his pastoral anguish over his spiritual children. Verse 13, you know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

What was this bodily ailment that he had? The commentators don’t know, and it’s been this constant speculation, but it could be an eye issue, some kind of a literal eye issue. And the reason why people suggest that is because later on, In verse 15, he says, So we don’t know what it was for sure, but that does seem like a reasonable thing. That when he first came to them and preached the gospel to them, he had an eye condition. Maybe he had a hard time seeing, and it was hard for him to preach the gospel to them in this way.

And yet, they did not despise that. They didn’t despise the fact that he had this physical condition that might have been off-putting. They received him as an angel. They received him as Christ himself. They were so rejoicing in the gospel message that Paul brought to them in spite of his own suffering and physical disability.

Verse 16, have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? He’s speaking the truth to them in this letter. This letter here is a very clear statement of the truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth of why the Judaizers’ understanding of the gospel is false and why it is to be rejected. He’s speaking to them very truthfully, very honestly.

He’s pleading with them not to fall away from Christ by being circumcised. But he’s doing so, not because he’s an enemy, not because he hates them, not because he’s opposed to them, he’s doing so out of love for them. He loves them, he cares about them. He doesn’t want them to fall into the hands of the Judaizers. And it’s not just simply out of his own pride.

If Paul was a false teacher, then he would have been upset that his former converts have been disloyal to him and are now listening to some other teachers. And he would have said, I want my disciples back. I want my followers back. And I’m jealous of the fact that these intruders have come in and are beginning to sway you.

That’s not Paul’s heart. He’s not just trying to keep them loyal to himself as opposed to the Judaizers. He cares for them. He cares for their spiritual good. He wants them to be rooted and grounded in Christ. He wants them to be so solidly committed to Christ and understanding who they are in Christ that they will have the strength to be able to resist what the Judaizers are saying.

He’s saying, I’m not your enemy. Yes, I’ve spoken some very harsh words. Yes, I’ve been very direct with you. Yes, I’ve really warned you against the error of what you’re potentially going to do. But I’m not your enemy. I’m saying these things out of love for you.

Verse 17, they, that is the Judaizers, the false teachers who are infiltrating the church, they make much of you. Meaning that they’re, the NIV says, they are zealous to win you over. They’re making much of you, they’re trying to court you, they’re trying to get you on their side. They’re seeking to gain you as their disciples.

But for no good, for no good purpose. Their purpose is simply to gain disciples in that fleshly way. Not like Paul’s love for them, for their spiritual growth, for their being rooted and grounded in Christ is not out of love for their spiritual good. It’s that they just want to be able to have a notch in their belt and saying, yes, we went in there and we got all these former Pauline churches to come to our side and to hold to our doctrine. And to be able to boast in the fact that they won these disciples to themselves.

They’re zealous to win you over, but for no good purpose. Interestingly, they want to shut you out, it says. Verse 17b, they want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. Isn’t that interesting? What does that mean that they’re trying to shut them out? You would think it would be the opposite, that they’re trying to win them over. Actually, it’s a very clever technique that cults use. And we could think of these Judaizers as essentially a cult. What do cults do? What do sectarian groups do in order to try to attract people to them?

They establish such restrictive boundaries that everyone else is treated as an outsider. Yet exclusion can subtly make people desire admission into the narrow group or inner circle whose members appear to have everything in order. Once admitted, they may adopt the same arrogant attitude toward those who remain outside. This is a psychological tactic: rigidly define who is inside and outside so that exclusion itself draws people toward the group.

Drawing tight boundaries and saying only the circumcised are truly a part of the people of God. Oh, we’re thankful that you former Gentiles are no longer worshiping Zeus and Artemis, and we’re thankful that you believe in God in some general way, but you’re not really saved yet. You’re not really truly part of the in-group. You’re not really a part of the people of God until you get circumcised.

So they’re trying to shut them out for the very purpose of trying to win them over. Verse 18, it is always good to be made much of for a good purpose. And not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Paul himself is making much of them, trying to win them to his teaching, but not for his own pride, not to have a notch in his belt, but because he cares about them. He’s in spiritual labor pains, striving for their spiritual birth through the gospel. And then verse 20, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Application: Christ for Us and Christ in Us

He’s perplexed because they’re dabbling with Mosaic legalism, and that is potential apostasy. If I were to ask you, so let’s just get to the application here. If I were to ask you, before you had studied the book of Galatians in any depth, before we’ve been going through this book, if you were just to somewhat think in your mind, what is Galatians essentially about, we would think of Martin Luther and the Reformation. We would think of how God used this book in Luther’s life to help him to recover the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

And that is correct. That is the main thrust of this letter. That is the main point of it, is to say that we are righteous in the sight of God. We are counted as righteous, not by doing the works of the law, but by faith in Christ. And Christ is our righteousness.

That superficial, at-a-glance view of Galatians as merely Luther’s recovery of the gospel and justification by faith alone is somewhat misleading, because another theme emerges strongly in this text, especially in verse 19.

My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed. What’s the preposition? Until Christ is formed. In, in you. The doctrine of justification is about Christ for us. What he has done for us, his objective work, his obedience to God in our place, his active and passive obedience that is reckoned to our account so that we are righteous, we are counted as righteous before God, even though in ourselves we are sinners, but we’re counted as righteous because of what Christ has done for us. That is justification. But there is also another important part of this letter, and Paul’s concern is not only to teach the doctrine of justification, but also to remind us of the importance of sanctification.

Not only Christ for us, but Christ in us. Christ in us as well. Now both, both justification and sanctification are by the Spirit, not by the law. We’re not justified by keeping the law, and we’re not sanctified by keeping the law. Both are by the Spirit. Both are God’s grace.

It is the grace of God alone that makes us righteous in the sight of God. It’s the grace of God alone that is working in us and sanctifying us. The second topic of God’s work in us, which we also call sanctification, is not the surface level point of this letter, but it is just as important in Galatians. Paul talks about it not only here in 4.19, but earlier in the letter.

Do you remember in Galatians 2.20? He said, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives. There’s that preposition again, in. Me.

And then again, in Galatians 3 verse 3, he says, are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, that is when you first came to know the Lord and you were converted, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Are you now trying to grow in sanctification by fleshly efforts to keep all of these Jewish laws that somehow if you just observe all the Jewish calendar and the food laws and circumcision, if you do all these things, if you do all these elementary principles of the world, then somehow you will be perfected? How can that be? How can you begin by faith and then conclude by works?

No, the Christian life begins by faith and it continues by faith. We’re justified by faith in Christ and we’re sanctified by faith in Christ. Justification is the engine of sanctification. The Spirit’s work in us, sanctification, is not the same thing as Christ’s work for us. It is distinct because we’re not accepted before God on how much we’re sanctified, but it flows from it. The work of the Spirit in us to transform us flows from Christ’s work for us. Christ’s Spirit is working in us, transforming us into his image. He dwells in us and forms us into his image. And we can see in our text itself one critical example of what this means. What does it mean for Christ to be fully formed in us?

Saying No to Judaizing

First, it means to be so rooted and grounded in Christ, so confident in who you are in Christ, so confident in his work for you, that you’re no longer tempted by the siren song of legalism and the Judaizers’ teaching.

You’re no longer tempted by these false teachers who are out there saying, what you really need is not Christ, but this ritual or that ceremony. What you really need is to have all of these outward aesthetically pleasing things. Many Christians today are being tempted to go back to the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church because of all the things that they see there. They have a priesthood, they have vestments, they have altars, they have holy water, they have aesthetic appeal with icons, and it just seems so attractive spiritually. Paul would say, no, be so rooted and grounded in who you are in Christ that you’re not tempted by the siren song of these elementary principles of the world that seem like they have a form of godliness, but they’re powerless, they’re weak.

They have no power to transform you because you’re seeking something other than Christ to help you grow. Another example of what it means for Christ to be formed in you is that you have confidence in Christ and not confidence in yourself. Confidence in yourself leads to self-righteous pride. Confidence in yourself leads to judgmentalism and spiritual superiority. Denying your own need, denying your own sinfulness, and trying to keep up this mask of external righteousness to convince others that you’re good.

But if you have confidence in Christ, then you’re able to admit that you’re a sinner. If you have confidence in Christ, you don’t have to keep up the appearances that everything is perfect and that you’re good. You can admit your sinfulness and you can humbly acknowledge your need for God’s grace. And you can humbly then grow. That’s the first step of being able to grow in sanctification, is to start off by acknowledging that you need God’s help, acknowledging that you aren’t, that you don’t have it all together.

If you have that humility, which comes from being confident in Christ rather than confident in yourself, that is an example of what Paul’s talking about here. My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. That’s what I want to see in you. I want to see this Christ confidence rather than self-confidence. And then a third application would be growing in Christ-like qualities. Isn’t that what it means for Christ to be formed in us? If Christ is formed in us, then we’re becoming like Christ.

The fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Galatians 5, verse 22 and following. Of course, none of these qualities will be perfectly in us until the resurrection, and in this life, it’ll be very slow, and there’ll be ups and downs, We’ll struggle, but if Christ is in us, if we have the Spirit, how can we not see some evidence that the Lord is beginning to work in us those Christ-like qualities of love and joy and peace? Legalism and trying to keep the details of the Mosaic Law, putting yourself under a rigorous list of commands and do’s and don’ts and elementary principles, It may seem like it has a good spiritual effect. It may seem like, yes, that rigorous discipline, like going to the gym every day and working out, it may seem like it’s going to help, but it doesn’t have the power to make you Christ-like.

It doesn’t have the power to work into these sweet, Christ-like qualities of patience, of having a merciful heart toward others, of being loving and tender and kind to one another. That only comes by knowing Christ. That only comes by Christ being formed in you by his spirit. It doesn’t come from legalistic efforts at trying to be righteous in your own strength.

Paul’s Godly Pastoral Frustration

This kind of teaching about the importance of Christ being formed in us and growing in sanctification, it can be easily abused. It can easily be preached to the congregation as in this negative way, as if you don’t see any evidence of this in your life, then maybe you should question whether you’re really saved.

That’s not how Paul does it. Paul doesn’t talk to them that way. Yes, he’s very stern in saying, warning them, don’t fall for the Judaizers, but he doesn’t speak to them in this negative, harsh, scolding tone and say, I think that all you are just not even saved. He doesn’t do that. He says, my children. Remember the gospel I teach to you. I want to build you up in Christ. I want to see these things flourish in your lives. I want you to grow in Christ until Christ is fully formed in you.

That will not happen until the resurrection in fullness. Praise God for that day when all of our sin will finally be taken away. Actually, our sins will be taken away at death, but then our bodies will be transformed at the resurrection and we’ll be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ at the resurrection. And we long for that day when all sin is done away with and we no longer struggle. But even now in this life, we have the spirit of the resurrection living within us. We have a foretaste of heaven in us. And so even now, not perfectly, We hope to see, we want to see, we long to see the Lord beginning to work these qualities in us by His grace.

And it doesn’t come by legalism. It doesn’t come by being harsh disciplinarians with each other. It doesn’t come by being judgmental. It comes by knowing Christ better, by trusting in Christ, rejoicing in Christ, being humbly reliant upon Christ, and living in His grace and by His Spirit.