Sermon Cloud

INTRODUCTION

 

The life of the Apostle Paul, who wrote this letter, was radically transformed from being a Pharisee who thought working to attain favor with God was the way to live, to meeting Christ and realizing that every answer in this life and the one to come is summed up in the person and work of Christ.  In other words, he moved from working hard to be holy so that he would be saved, to trusting in Christ by faith and becoming saved which resulted in a life lived in holiness and favor with God. 

 

As a recovering Pharisee, Paul certainly knew the background and thinking of those who had distorted the Gospel and were teaching that Jesus is not enough to have favor with God and see your life changed.  They promoted trusting in Christ plus adopting all of the laws and regulation so that God would welcome them as children.  Paul has masterfully defended salvation by grace alone through these last four chapters.  You can see this clearly as he addresses those who would be saved by the law and those who have distorted the Gospel. 

 

Up to this chapter, it is obvious that there is a heated battle going on between Paul and the false teacher, between the Gospel and something that is not the Gospel.  Paul is arguing over doctrine.  He is making a strong case in an impassioned way that the Judaizers are dead wrong and that the truth is not found in their many opinions but in the revelation that came from Christ, that our only hope is God's grace, received by faith. 

 

In our day, it is considered rude to take a stance on religious matters and argue over doctrine because in our day, it is acceptable to believe whatever you want since the prevailing view is that all roads lead to the same God.  This certainly is not in step with the Scriptural teaching that there are false gods and there is the One True God.  Also, we fail to realize that arguing over important doctrine is what we all do whether we view ourselves as religious or not. 

 

There is an academic magazine called Lingua Franca that comes out every couple of months.  There was an article in this magazine that spoke of three departments in three major universities that split because of their fighting over academic doctrine and philosophy.  These fights happen all the time in modern, secular universities over matters of philosophy.  Arguing doctrine is not reserved for the religious people; it is a common challenge anytime you have two opinions that do not mesh together and you have people who are passionate about defending their position. 

 

We do this on a day-to-day basis with our friends.  When someone we care about is depressed and tells us that they just don't see the point in living in more, we begin to explain how their view is wrong and how it's just not true.  We remind them of their value and call them to drop their belief and trust in what we're saying.  What is that?  That is combating false doctrine.  We do this when we disagree in a relationship over any multitude of problems.  If a husband wants to make a major purchase that the family can afford but the wife, who is more financially frugal, reminds him that this is not how they agreed they were going to spend their money and live their life, she is arguing over a different philosophy.  When a husband wants his children to be disciplined and a wife wants to be more lenient, they are arguing over their philosophy of parenting. 

 

The point is that we do this often and therefore we shouldn't look at competing worldviews like works-based false gospels and a Gospel worldview of grace as nothing more than minor differences in the same religion.  Paul is demonstrating in this letter that they are not minor differences but different religions altogether that will have eternal consequences to come and totally different ways of living in the present.  For many of you, you may hear what we've been preaching over the last several months as nothing more than a battle of the "isms" and think Paul is just being too intellectual.

 

But all of the sudden in chapter 4, we see Paul broken and basically weeping in this letter over those who he loves so dearly.  Paul is not just arguing over who is going to be the head of some department.  Paul is speaking to those he loves over matters of life and death.  Much like we would refute the view of a friend who is suicidal, Paul has the same concern and seriousness in his address to them.  You see this in verse 19 and 20 where he says: "my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you." 

 

For Paul, truth is not a weapon, it is a scalpel.  He is not laying down these truths as a weapon, he is using these truths as a scalpel.  The difference is obviously substantial.  A scalpel at first glance doesn't seem that loving or great since it is used to cut somebody.  You can either cut to bring healing and to see change in someone's life, or you can use a sword to win a battle, but most often you don't see the person grow, you see them withdraw and shrink back.  A weapon like a sword in a relationship is used to do maximum damage and usually results in relationships that do not last. 

 

Paul is writing this letter to the Galatians as a letter of counsel, but he is only using doctrine as a way to bring about change and to get to the heart of the issue so that their affections are set on Christ and not on their idols of Christ.   

 

Before we get into verses 21 to 31 next week, which is a very important passage and can be quite confusing, we need to understand the way in which Paul is going about laying down this doctrinal truth.  Most commentators begin their commentary in verse 21, but we have to keep in mind that he is setting the stage and showing his heart for them in verses 19 and 20.

 

Paul is not calling them his "little children" and having his heart broken for them so that in verse 21 he can begin a doctrinal lecture.  He doesn't stop after verse 20 and say, "now class, let's begin our lesson for today."  Paul doesn't change from loving counsel to some abstract theological issue.  Paul's doctrine is his counseling. 

 

This is sort of the point of Galatians.  You can have the same truth, agree to the same facts, and use this truth as a weapon to your harm and the harm of others around you, instead of using this truth as a scalpel. 

 

There were some in Galatia who believed Paul's message, yet their lives hadn't changed at the core.  They held the facts out as a thing to agree to, but it hadn't gripped their hearts and changed their motivations and affections.  Some in Galatia were not seeing the benefit of the Gospel because it was being used as a sword to conquer, rather than a scalpel to heal and bring restoration. 

 

Paul brings the truth to bear through the channel of a friendship.  You have in verses 19 and 20 and small compendium of what a friendship truly is.  Paul shows us a model of how we should bring truth to one another in the context of a Christian friendship.  Not just a relationship in which we both agree we're Christians and want to tell each other how to live, but a friendship in which we lovingly care for one another.  This letter shows us that you can bring weapons to bludgeon one another or you can have loving friendships where you bring healing by the Gospel. 

 

We have to read the Scriptures in this way.  Sometimes we come to the New Testament like it's nothing more than some didactic theological principles rather than love letters written to one another out of great travail and concern for brothers and sisters, friends. 

 

The joy of what I'm speaking about today is that if we are willing to see the Gospel in this way and treat each other as being for one another in the Gospel, we will not only have Paul's affection for our friends, we will also bear children of our own and find ourselves in the same labor pains as Paul.

 

Think about it, the entire text from 19 to 31 is about bearing children.  It's about spiritual motherhood.  It's about what it means to bear children spiritually.  It's about barrenness and who is really fruitful.  Is Hagar, the beautiful and young one, really fruitful, or is elderly Sarah, the barren and old the one who has true children?

 

Paul lays both of them out as an example of how one is changed into a legitimate child, and how we see spiritual life being born.

 

This shows us the way to be fruitful and become spiritual mothers ourselves.  Now, for most of you men who are already uncomfortable with thinking of yourself as a spiritual mother, I guess we should ask whether or not our discomfort is appropriate since Paul seems to think of himself in the same way and uses the same metaphors. 

 

The metaphorical gender bending of the New Testament works out in the end.  For the ladies, some of you get a little concerned when you read in this same chapter that if you are a Christian you are considered sons of God.  Just remember that we are all also called brides of Christ and now Paul shows us what it means to love like a spiritual mother.  Just rest in the truth that both sides are a little uncomfortable, but this shows us dimensions of truth that are best understood by looking at both genders.  God made man and woman for a reason, so that we would best reflect His glory in a multi-dimensional way.

 

There are three things in this text that show us the nature of transforming friendships. 

 

Here are the three things:

 

STUDY

 

•1-    A friend is someone that has a vision for your spiritual transformation

•2-    A friend is someone that is committed to see Christ formed in you.

•3-    A friend is someone that is willing to go into labor for your growth

1-  A friend is someone that has a vision for your spiritual transformation.

We should be concerned for the formation of one another's lives.  Paul says to us in Ephesians chapter 2:

 

Ephesians 2:10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

 

Paul is saying that you are God's workmanship, or in other words; we are God's work of art.  He is molding us and shaping us and carving away the sharp edges to become something beautiful for Him and others.  These works are to be done towards one another.  There is a uniqueness about us that God is shaping us into which will meet the needs of others in Christ's name for their good and God's glory. 

 

Then when you get to 1 Corinthians 15, it gets even more specific:

 

1 Corinthians 15:41: "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory."

 

This is a chapter on the resurrection.  When Christ shows up after he is crucified and resurrects from the dead, people do not recognize Him at first.  Wherever He shows up-the road to Emmaus, before the disciples-they don't recognize Him until he basically says, "it's me!"  Then they look at say, "it is you!"  Imagine not seeing a little girl you knew when you were 10 and you bump into her 15 years later and now she's 25 and beautiful.  She walks up to you and asks if you know her, and you say no.  She then says, "it's me," gives you her name, and then you see it.  It's that same way with Christ.  He shows Himself to them and at first they don't see it, then all of the sudden they recognize Him. 

 

The 25-year old is the same person.  Same nose, same ears, same eyes, but they've grown.  It was all there before.  We all went through this.  We were like little acorns that have grown into a tree, but the stuff needed to become a tree was in the acorn. 

 

The Bible is saying that there is a unique splendor in us that is in store for us that God is forming in us.  C.S. Lewis puts it like this:

 

To burst into God's presence is to become a radiant blinding immortal person who pulsates with energy and such love, wisdom and joy that we cannot now imagine.  We are to become bright stainless mirrors, reflecting back to God, though on a smaller scale, His own boundless wisdom, joy, nobility, greatness, and delight. 

 

This is what we are to be.  God is shaping us each into a bright stainless mirror that is uniquely shaped to reflect back part of His glory.  Every one of us is being turned into a specialist in the glory of God.  Some aspects of His great and glorious being, we're going to be able to reflect. 

 

There are certain things that we're going to be able to praise Him for better than other people.  There are things that they will be able to better praise Him for and reflect than you.  All together we are going to be able to reflect His glory. 

 

He's not making us into individual lights.  We're not gods.  He's polishing us and getting rid of our flaws and sins that would keep us from being a unique specialist that will best reflect His glory like a mirror before a candle. 

 

A friend is a person who has a vision and insight for you and is motivated to see that you grow into the glory that God has uniquely shaped you for.

 

There are some of you that I just know, I get, I understand.  We seem to speak the same language.  And, there are some of you I just don't get.  I don't understand.  It has nothing to do with biblical knowledge or my strengths or weaknesses as a counselor, it's just that we are unique in different ways. 

 

Some people God has gifted you to understand well and some that you don't.  For some, He's given you the ability to see that glory, to see a vision for their growth and greatness in Christ.  There are some that have that insight about you, and some that you have that insight about.  You both desperately need each other to grow.

 

This is why Proverbs tells us: "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).  This means that God is forming us through one another. 

 

A friend is like a gardener.  A gardener doesn't over prune by cutting too much, but they also don't let things grow wild either.  A friend sees what God is doing with you and is motivated to help you grow.

 

This implies that in many ways that we don't really know ourselves fully and properly.  We need others to help us see ourselves more clearly. 

 

Take a recording, for an example.  When you listen to a recording and say, "who is the whining voice?" and your friend says, "that's you!"  you realize that you don't really hear yourself as clearly as you think you do.  You might think you have a tremendous voice, until you listen to your recording, then you realize that your voice sounds like an Oompa Loompa with a plugged nose.  You think, "that doesn't sound like me," but your friend tells you that it sounds exactly like you. 

 

There are some things about your friends that you know better than they do and there are some things your friends know about you better than you do.  And you need to be together. 

 

This assumes that you can't just grow by yourself.  You need others.  There is an interdependency on one another for you to grow.  And friends are not just made; they're discovered in many ways.  You meet people all the time, but only rarely do you make a real friend.  Sure you have to work at being friends, but initially there is something about that person that you find endearing.  Perhaps you like the same things, or you see some trait in them that you admire and wish to grow in.  Either way, friends are more discovered than they are manufactured.

 

This also means that God is bringing us into friendships by His sovereign hand.  There is a great quote in C.S. Lewis' book, Four Loves, where he says this:

 

For a Christian, there are strictly speaking, no chances.  A secret Master of Ceremonies is at work.  Christ who said to the disciples "You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you" can truly say to every group of Christian friends "You have not chosen one another.  I have chosen you for one another."  The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out.  Friendship is the instrument which God reveals to each beauties of the others.  Your friends have no greater beauty than other friends, but by friendship God opens your eyes to their particular beauties.  They are like all beauties, derived from Him and then in a good friendship, increased by Him through the friendship itself.  At this feast, it is He who has spread the table, and it is He who has chosen the guests. 

 

 

A friend is someone with a gift to see your transformation into greatness and is motivated to see that it happens.  The second and third principles somewhat go together because there are errors in friendship that we can slip into and the second and third principles correct those errors.

 

The second is someone that is committed to see Christ formed in you, not just being formed generally.    

 

2- A friend is someone who is motivated to see Christ formed in you.

 

A friend is committed to see that it is not they that are formed in you, but Christ. 

 

The first error in friendship is that we often try to see our own image formed in that person rather than Christ. 

 

Sometimes you make friends to see you formed in them so that you can get worship and adoration for all of your splendor.  You want them to agree with everything you say and never contradict you. 

 

But if you're in labor to see you formed in them, you are only having stillborn children.  You need Christ formed in your friends, not you.

 

It is also possible that you get involved with other people not to see Christ formed in them, but for you to find your identity by them.  You become friends to be like them, not to see Christ formed in you or them.  You may get into relationships where you are so needy, that the reason you are involved with them is because unless you find cool people to hang around that like you, you don't really know who you are.  You find that you don't have much value apart from the opinion of these people.  When they criticize you, you fall apart or you take it like a victim and get depressed. 

 

You are trying to form yourself through them.  Either way, it's about you.

 

The best way to see this killed is to find more friends to partake in this kind of friendship where each of you brings something different to the table that is necessary for you to grow.  This will help your friendships not be about you.

 

You have to be committed not just to formation, but like Paul to see Christ formed in you.

 

So first, a friend is someone who has a vision for your spiritual transformation, second, a friend is someone who is motivated to see Christ formed in you, and third, a friend is someone who is willing to go into labor for you.

 

3- A friend is someone who is willing to go into labor for your growth. 

 

Why does Paul use this metaphor?  He's in labor because he is lovingly confronting them.  Paul says he's, "again in labor..."  He's not always in labor, but there are times when he is in pain for someone else.  He hurts for them.  He wants to give them the truth of the Gospel and it's painful to him because he desires their growth.  He wants Christ formed in them. 

 

Paul says he wishes he could be with them and change his tone, but for now he has to be truthful with them and it's painful because he's cutting them with the scalpel of the Gospel. 

 

As it is very wrong to try to coerce a person to be in your image, or for you to try to find your meaning or value by other people's approval, so it is wrong just give acceptance to whatever your friend does.  ‘

 

Modern ideas of friendship are that you just give unconditional positive affirmation for everything someone does.  We don't need unconditional positive affirmation.  We need unconditional love, but that love, if it is Christ-like love, will call us to be transformed. 

 

We need people, who in spite of our stupidity, are committed to telling us the truth of the Gospel, no matter what.  We are not being good friends if we are not willing to correct and tell each other the truth.  We need friends to wrestle through these parts of our lives where we are in sin or misstep. 

 

In a secular context, the way you change someone is by training everyone to make sure they don't try to change anyone and to tolerate everything.  It's another form of change, but it's hidden behind the axiom that you shouldn't bring contradictory truth to someone but accept them no matter what. 

 

Sometimes you have to go into labor with someone and change your tone so that they understand the severity of their actions or ideas. 

 

If you are willing to build these kinds of relationships with one another, the kinds of relationships you build will not be with a sword but a scalpel.  You will become a master at precision with the Gospel for growth and healing.

 

Here is some application:

 

• 1- Don't get tired of making new friends. Christ is going to be formed in you by them.

 

• 2- Please keep the balance between needing friends and discovering.

 

If you are under the slavery of the idol of approval, you might be tempted to go out and make friends in an almost desperate way.  People are not looking for desperate friends, unless there is some idol they need worshipped themselves.

One of the ways you know you are making an idol out of approval is by the way you choose your friends.  You're selective in making friends only that feed your own idol.  If you are selective in this way, you will make friends who are less sleek and polished than you are because you need them to make you fell better about yourself. 

 

Friendship is about something other than friendship. If you're looking for friends only to have friends, you'll never find them.  You need to less selective and God will show you who is a true friend.  They may be less cool than you, but will grow you in ways you could never imagine. 

 

Start to serve and love people in a non-selective way, and God will surface these friends for you.

 

3-  On the other hand, some of you are too passive.  You are too lazy to get involved.  You're not lazy; you are a coward that is afraid to share your life and possessions.  You are selfish and don't want to share your burdens and your decisions with anyone else.

 

Take the time to share what you have and make yourself needed and need someone so that they can speak into your life. 

 

4-  If friendship is this important, make sure your love interest comes from friendship rather than the other way around.  Some of you want to be in a romantic relationship so badly that you don't really care whether or not that person is really a good friend.  Make sure your interests in a relationship flow from confidence that the person you are with is a great friend first.