Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Galatian Church had slipped back into old patterns, tying itself again to moral codes and practices instead of the transformative grace of Jesus. In Galatians four, twelve through twenty, Paul calls to them as a loving parent, reaching out to a wayward child.
He lovingly and truthfully reprimands them, calling them to the freedom. and transformative work of Christ that was once precious to them. Let's listen in. It strikes me that We sit here. in this 21st century and it's very easy.
for us to forget. what has gone in the past. I'm reminded that when Today With all that is going on in the Middle East. Mm-hmm. I'm very much reminded.
that when Cyrus gave his decree, The people came back. I get rather emotional when I think about that. One of the things that happened shortly after that is Ezra returned. He brought with him the scripture. And when he read it.
All the people stood. And I would ask you, in honor of his word, to do the same. Today's reading. For our study today comes from The ga uh the word of Galatians that Paul wrote. In chapter 4, I'll be reading verses 8 through 20 from the English Standard Version.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have laboured over you in vain.
Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am. for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 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 then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose.
They want to shut you out. that you may make much of them. 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. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone. for I am perplexed about you.
Please be seated. If you would now, please. Take a moment and quiet your hearts and join me in prayer. Almighty God, our Father in heaven. We lift our prayer to you through your good and faithful Son, Jesus Christ.
Father, we thank you for the fulfillment of your will through your Son. and for the gift of your Holy Spirit, whom your Son promised would lead us to remember all that He said. What you said regarding your plans for all who come to you through faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, we think now of these present times that are in many ways similar to the time when your Apostle Paul preached to and wrote to the people in Galatia. Your word has been sown throughout the world.
But the enemy has not remained docile. Rather, he rages against your truth. He seeks to mislead the people by changing the simple message of faith in Jesus Christ. To one of one. We are not worthy unless we change that message.
into one that would seek to enslave us again to worldly masters. One that seeks to base our faith not on whosoever believes in me shall have eternal life. But on one that makes us dependent upon earning salvation through twisting your clear message to us. Father, we humbly beseech you to help us today to hear your truth. your truth that you have preserved for us in your written word.
Be with our pastor, your servant Rich Paul, as he comes to open your word to us. as we study this passage in Paul's letter to the Galatian church. Teach us to hear our hearts and minds, the message that you have for us today, that we may be equipped to stand against the wiles of Satan and false messages and draw closer to you as we take a further step. toward conforming our lives to the likeness of your Son Jesus Christ. in whose precious name we pray.
Amen. Nathan, my Bible's on my desk. Would you go get it for me, please?
So you might be reading the text this morning thinking, what on earth is Paul on about? This is a long, one of the longer paragraphs we're going to be considering this morning, and the whole topic of the book. Is the reason why Paul writes to the churches of Galatia. He's writing to a group of churches, churches that he has planted. as he went on his missionary journey.
And as he planted these churches after that, he went on on his missionary journey. Continued, thank you, Nathan. Mm-mm. Here, let me give you this. And um Afterwards, some teachers, other teachers came in.
And they said, If you're truly a follower of Jesus Christ, You have to keep the law. The law of mutt Jesus was a Jew. He came to the Jews. Salvation is of the Jews. If you are truly a follower of Christ, you have to keep the law.
What was Paul's response? Yeah. That is not the gospel of grace.
Now, I realize. Probably nobody in here is really concerned about keeping the whole law of Moses. But as has been made clear, we are all naturally. Legalists. We have a tendency to make a list of what am I supposed to do.
I do these things and I don't do these things. And in pursuit of that, we think we are accomplishing. Self-redemption. Because we think how God thinks, we create Him in our image when we do this. That God thinks of us like, okay, I saved you, now you need to perform.
Listen to me. It's not the gospel of grace. God is not looking at you and saying, I saved you, now you need to perform. That's not the gospel of grace. God wants your heart.
And if you're in Christ. He's got it. He saved you so that you could be reconciled to him. To what end? to perform.
Oh. to walk with him. to delight in him. to know him. Paul of all people.
was a master at performing. Concerning the law, what? Blameless. But all of this stuff, my pedigree. Heritage probably is more accurate.
My heritage, my performance, my titles, my education, all of that. Useless. That I'm a what? No Christ. It's with that passion that he's writing this.
Now in the paragraph that we're considering today of Galatians chapter 4. The title of today's message is A Parents' Anguish. He says, I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Because what he's saying is: if you believe your walk of faith is reduced to a moral code. And you are missing the point.
and the power of the gospel. You're missing the point and the power of the gospel. And we have a tendency to do that. And in fact, the world that's around us thinks that's what Christianity is.
Well, you have a list of things you do and you have a list of things you don't do. And if you do that and don't do that, you're good. That's not the gospel of grace. At all. And so We're going to look at Paul's tone here as he writes to the church.
And it's a tone of deep pastoral concern. deep pastoral concern. He says, verse 12: Brothers, I entreat you. We're going to look specifically at verses 12 to 20 today. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am.
For I also have become as you are. What is he talking about? He's making a plea. This is a plea he's making to them. Become as I am.
What is he talking about? Free in Christ. Free in Christ. Paul did not consider himself one who was required to keep the law. He did not have a moral code that he had to keep to be a good apostle of Jesus Christ.
As I also have become, as you are. He says. Out from under the law. See, the Galatians weren't under the law. They were Gentiles.
But he says, I've become as you are. And he says, Isn't that interesting? I came out from under the law and I introduced the gospel of grace to you so you can be reconciled to God. And now you think you have to go back under the law. The moral code.
We know as Paul said, I've become all things, all people. To the weak, I became weak. To the mighty, That he says that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. He's referring to the contextualization and faithfulness of the gospel.
You preach the gospel wherever you go, but you contextualize it. You don't change the gospel, you meet people where they are. You meet people where they are. And Christ saved it. You don't have to become of a particular culture to be a Christian.
But he's remembering also, look what he says in 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 a messenger of God. A messenger of God.
So because of the body ailment, probably his he had eye trouble. Couldn't see very well. Probably we don't know that for sure, but from the context of what he says here, later on he says, if you could have, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
Now that's a very painful image, but you know, he says, that's how much you cared for me.
So it might be that The point that he's making here, it was in the context of adversity. That there was a redemptive opportunity that he could preach the gospel to the Galatians. Adversity. Adversity often creates redemptive opportunities. And that's our theme for this year, isn't it?
Pursue redemptive opportunities. Because We're all in ministry. How many of you are in ministry? Pursue redemptive opportunities. Sometimes those come through adversity, like we see Paul's examples here.
He says, You received me. The word received means to welcome, to accept, to believe, to take a hold of, right? As if he was a divine messenger, and he was. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ, so he represented God's word. And what he's saying here is he says, you saw Christ and heard God's voice through me in adversity.
What a powerful testimony that is. You saw Christ and heard God's voice through me. in adversity. And so he is saying there, as he said that in verse 14, what then has become, verse 15, what then has become of your blessedness? For I testify you, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
So he's asking them a question. Your blessedness, sense of blessing. Of being blessed, your sense of joyful benefit when I brought the gospel to you and you responded in faith. What happened to that? That's a good question.
And I've asked that question often myself. when I look at other people. And of myself too. What has become of your blessedness? You would have The meaningful bonds of loving care here, where they would have given their eyes to Paul if they could have.
Here's what I glean from this. Because he's asking about the status of their relationship, the disposition of their relationship. Christians, church members to Paul, spiritual father, the one who introduced them to Christ, who discipled them. And now they're wandering off, they're distracted from the purity of the gospel into this legalism. The gospel produces, the gospel of grace produces joy and graciousness in relationships.
And I get a huge feeling of that when we come together on Sunday mornings and when we get together at Care Group. We had a care group Thursday night, we had such a delightful time. 'Cause Mike and Kristen are there, you know, and they're delightful people. But the gospel of grace produces joy and graciousness. Legalism steals them by imposing requirements.
And by legalism, I mean rules and regulations. You have to do this, you have to do that. Perform, perform, perform. And way too many churches today, many of us in here have come out of that kind of system. They are churches that are all about keeping up appearances and their performance-based righteousness.
Now they don't preach that from the pulpit. Listen, I know, I grew up in this kind of environment. We preach the gospel of grace, but then of people, we have all these requirements. You need to perform, you need to perform. You need to perform.
If you're truly a Christian, you need to perform. That's oppressive. And Paul says that's not the gospel of grace. That's why I say the gospel of grace produces joy and graciousness. Legalism steals them by imposing requirements.
Any form of moralism, self-redemption, performance. Churches should not be based on that. Our relationship should not be based on performance. There's one living picture that was given here a long time ago. It came from a church of a system like that.
And she said, she was given a living picture. She says, in a church where relationships are built upon keeping up appearances, you can't build meaningful, deep relationships. It's true, isn't it? You can't do it. Because you're constantly watching each other.
Well, how are you doing? You know, how's your testimony? I said that to one of my friends in college. He says, Well, you watch my testimony and I'll watch yours. That was an aha moment for me.
A light bulb came on, like. Rich, you're a legalist.
So his disposition, his tone is of deep pastoral concern as he writes to the Galatian churches. He says, I don't want you to go back into the legalism of having to keep a moral code so that you believe God is okay with you. It's not the gospel of grace. But what is his disposition towards them? It's an anguished his disposition is an anguished parent.
Look at verse 16. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? How many of you had said that to your teenager? Probably a few of us, right? Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
He's an anguished parent. There's a strained relationship here. between Paul and the believers at Galatia. because of the distractions That are luring them away from the gospel that Paul presented to them. And now Paul is challenging their legalism, their moralism.
He's challenging them on that. And the truth hurts.
Sometimes the truth hurts. Doesn't it say, mm-hmm? Yeah. Verse 16 again, have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? Listen to this, please.
Speaking truth is inherently loving. Speaking truth is inherently loving. There's There is a narrative in the world today that if you speak truth, and that truth goes against what somebody else feels they believe about themselves. then you hate them. Don't fall for that, folks.
Speaking truth is inherently loving. Now, having said that, We can speak truth in a very unloving way. Don't do that. speak truth in Love. That's fruit of the Spirit.
Speak truth in love. What does that mean? When you speak truth to someone, the way you communicate that truth sends a very, very clear message that you deeply care about this person.
Now, this is what Paul's doing. He's speaking truth to them, although it's hard truth.
Now let me make an observation here. Because we are all called to maturity to grow in Christ, to become like Christ. And maturity, spiritual maturity, corresponds to handling truth that hurts. How do you handle truth that hurts?
Well, first of all, let me ask you, how does a toddler handle truth that hurts? You get the picture, don't you? Don't be a toddler. Listen. I have seen many, many Christians who have been in Christ for 30, 40 years, some of them.
And they're still toddlers. They can't handle hard truth.
So, in the spiritual maturity to which Paul is calling them, listen, this is hard to. You are being distracted away from the purity, the simplicity of the gospel of grace. It's not the gospel. It's not another gospel. It's not even the gospel.
And that's why he says, as he does, verse 17, now here he's talking about the teachers who are luring them away, the Judaizers, the legalizers, okay? Verse 17, they make much of you, but for no good purpose. What's Rich, he's judging people's motives. Deal with it. They make much of you, but for no good purpose.
Why are they doing that? They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. Isolation and self-serving. Isolation and self-serving. He says, you've been keeping bad company.
They have a zealous pursuit, and it's a zealous pursuit of you, but their motives are bad. And you, Galatians, you're listening to distracting, misleading voices of the gospel of grace. They have a zealous pursuit of you. But it's bad motives. They want to shut you out.
That's what the word means: to shut you out. And they have selfish ambition. They want you. to make much of them. And that's what happens so often with false teachers.
It all becomes about them, their teaching, their ministry. How awesome they are. And when you listen to them and you walk away, you're thinking about how awesome they think they are, and they've not really pointed you to Christ. Listen to John R. W.
Stott on this. This is good. When Christianity is seen as freedom in Christ, which it is. Christians are not in subservience to their human teachers. Because their ambition is to become mature.
in Christ. But when Christianity is turned into a bondage to rules and regulations, its victims are inevitably in subjection, tied to the apron strings of their teachers. That's powerful stuff. He wrote that a while back. You see, the church has constantly had to deal with this.
through the centuries, through the ages. Because it's a natural propensity. For teachers, particularly, to want to control the people that they lead. And Paul says, that's what's going on with you, Galatians. They just want to control you.
That's why they shouldn't be listening to them. But he says there is a zealous pursuit that can be good. Verse 18, it is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you.
So, in other words, Paul is saying, listen, I'm not the only one who can be a positive spiritual influence in your life. A zealous pursuit for good. What is the good there, a zealous pursuit for good? The good is the mind of Christ. Heart and mind formed and transformed to reflect Christ.
And the image of Christ. It is always good to be made much of, but for a good purpose, not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in anguish of childbirth. The imagery there is very strong, isn't it? particularly if you're a mom in the anguish of childbirth. Till Christ is formed in you.
So it's a difficulty, it's a struggle. For a spiritual leader to see people being formed into the image of Christ. But who does the work? Christ does. Right?
And so You're you're anticipating this beautiful, joyful thing. Not referring to your baby as a thing, but you know. The birth of a child. It is a beautiful, joyful thing, isn't it? But it took Anguish.
to get there. Until Christ is formed in you. That's powerful, powerful imagery. Christ formed in you. Why is this important that he says this?
Please note that he didn't say until the law is completed in you. We can make all of our moral codes, and the problem with that is every one of us has a different one. Every church has a different moral code. You can even keep your own moral code. And so thankfully, he didn't say until this moral code is completed in you.
He said, until Christ is formed in you.
So what is our standard? What are we aiming for? Keeping the list? No. What I'm aiming for, what you ought to be aiming for, is to be like Christ.
to reflect him. That's why God gave him to us. That's why his perfect life is so important to us. Because he could represent us on the cross. He could represent God to us, and in his humanity, he represents us to God on the cross.
But then we look to him so that we can follow in his steps. You see, so listen, it's not a code, it's not a code. Say it with me, it's not a code. It's a person. It's a person.
Follow this man. Become like him. Study him. Walk with him. Become like him.
Think his thoughts. Love what he loves. Hate what he hates. Become like him. That's God's purpose in us.
That's what the gospel of grace does. Till Christ is formed in you.
And that Christ being formed in you is the outward working of the inward reality. And so we see in Paul's words a spiritual parent's anguish of childbirth. The labor that goes into that. The struggle that it was to him. Because as young children, we can so easily be distracted.
Consider what he says in Colossians 1, verses 28 and 29: Him we proclaim, Paul says this to the church at Colossi, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ, for this is. Toll struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Now Paul says. Paul says this, verse 20, as we come to this, and to the end of this here. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. There's so much in that statement. I wish I could be present with you.
I want to be with you. Endearing bonds of being in Christ, spiritual parent and child. But also he says to change my and change my tone. What is his tone? deep concern, pastoral concern, parental anguish.
What would we say his His tone is. passion, urgency, authority, discipline. His tone is severe. Severe. But what would he rather it be?
pastoral, parental. loving in the bonds of affection and care. That's how he's writing them. Because there is a a loving bond between them. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
The power of his presence, then, would be that Paul, you know, he would change. If he was with them, He would be truthful. He is always faithful to the truth. He would be very truthful. But they would know that he's not just writing them cold, hard discipline.
He wants to come and put his arm around them and say, walk with me in a Godward direction. But he also wants for them the clarity and the simplicity of the gospel. He's perplexed about them. Why is this happening to you? How is this happening to you?
The clarity and simplicity of the gospel of grace in Christ. And of their relationship in Christ, the clarity and the simplicity of that.
So, the emphasis of his anguish, his parental anguish, it comes down to this: when the walk of faith is complicated. to be based on faith plus performance. The church will struggle at meaningful relationships. And Paul is sensing that now with the Galatians. The church will struggle with meaningful relationships when the emphasis of the church is faith plus performance.
Because what do we do? We become fruit inspectors. Right? How are you performing? That just sounds delightful, doesn't it?
That we would all come to church and we're looking at each other, how are you performing? Not even your Savior does that. He wants your heart. The gospel of grace produces relationships marked by freedom and joy. The point he's making again is that a moral code misses the point and the power of the gospel.
So he doesn't want this for the Galatian Christians. He's saying there's so much more to the gospel than just. Keeping a code. Than just moralism, than just being a good person. God is in the business of transforming hearts and minds.
And as your heart and mind is being transformed, the more it's transformed, the more it reflects the one who made you, who loves you. Who died for you? Who reconciled you? and wants your heart. That one.
So instead of missing the point in the power of the gospel by focusing on a moral code, I would just say this. Draw near to God. James puts it well, doesn't he? Draw near to God, and he will. Isn't that awesome?
Isn't that awesome? He will draw near to you. Let's do that. And just watch and see what happens. We're going to have testimony of that this morning.
in the waters of baptism. Would you stand with me, please?
Okay. Father, we've Read the words of the Apostle Paul that, given with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And Father, we hear in them anguish, perplexity, passion. Father, we also hear grace and love. Father, I pray that you would search our hearts.
And if there's anyone here this morning that feels that they. simply have to perform. to be pleasing to you. Would you, Father, please rescue them? Every one of us has At least a bit of that in our hearts to some degree.
And we need to be rescued from that daily as we rehearse to ourselves, we preach to ourselves the gospel of grace in Jesus. Father, thank you that you have made us accepted in your beloved Son. We stand before you in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And you have reconciled us to yourself, Father, so that we can know you. and walk with you.
and delight in you. and find our satisfaction in you. And so, Father, as we As we walk with Christ to become more like Him, Father, I pray that you would form in us. that image of Christ. And then We would learn the freedom, the rest, the joy, the graciousness.
of being a part of the family of God. With joy and grace. Remove judgment from us, Father. Judgment of each other. May we approach each other with that same joy and grace.
that you have produced in us, Lord. We thank you for the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. It's a privilege to have you join us for this message titled A Parent's Anguish.
It was first preached on June 22, 2025 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. More messages in our Galatians series continue to air here at delightingrace.com. every Monday.
