Part XCIII on Galatians Study

Galatians 4:11
"I am afraid of you, (he's beginning to doubt the veracity of their profession of faith) lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
Now what does Paul mean by that? We stressed, especially when we looked at the two Corinthian letters, how much the Apostle Paul suffered and deprived himself so that this Gospel of God's Grace might go to these Gentile communities. Now Paul says, "If you're turning your back on everything that I have taught, that I have proclaimed and preached to you, and now you're turning back under the Law, or returning to your old pagan practices. What good did I do, all that was in vain?" Well, listen it was bad enough in vain for Paul, but oh, how much worse in vain for what Christ had done.


We've been stressing that for years. What a waste when Christ has already accomplished everything that needs to be done for every human being, and then they walk it under foot. People go on their merry way totally unconcerned and indifferent, and the Blood of Christ is counted as nothing. Oh! indeed it was in vain for those who never believe. But for those of us who believe this Gospel for our salvation all of His suffering wasn't in vain. Now look at verse 12 where he says it almost identical to what he said to the Corinthians and Philippians and to the Hebrews in that Epistle.


Galatians 4:12a
"Brethren, I beseech you, (Paul is not commanding here, because that wouldn't be Grace, but rather he's begging them, and he's begging us.) be as I am;..."
Now Paul was an Apostle, but was he beyond the reach of the ordinary believer? No. Paul was a former sinner saved by Grace just like us. He was born a sinner and therefore a doubter of God's Word because that is what unbelief really is. Remember Satan's testing of Jesus while He was in the wilderness, he tried to cause doubt to enter Jesus' mind. This he is a master of by way of twisting God's words which causes even the learned to doubt. So he says,

Galatians 4:12b
"...be as I am; for I am as ye are;..."
Paul didn't put himself above the rank and file. He says, "I'm nothing more than a sinner saved by Grace like the rest of you." Oh, granted these Galatians had come out of paganism, but what had Paul come out of? Judaism. And in the final analysis how much difference was there? None. They were all, as Paul says in Romans chapter 3, without God - they are all on their way, and the fear (reverence for) of God was with none of them. So Paul goes on to say in verse 12 -

Galatians 4:12b
"...ye have not injured me at all."
They couldn't touch him, but he wanted them to do as he had taught them. Paul wanted to be their example. We want to come back to what Paul says early on in I Corinthians chapter 4. A lot of people don't even know this is in their Bible, and if they do know it they don't like the fact that it is. But here in Corinthians there are a couple of verses that say the same thing regarding Paul's example for us. Paul wrote this to all of his churches that they were to follow his example. Now today most people say, "We'll follow Jesus." But that's not what the Holy Spirit writes through the Apostle Paul. Paul says we are to follow him, because who is Paul following? He's following the ascended Christ, Who is Head of His Body and we then follow Paul. 


I Corinthians 4:16-17
"Wherefore I beseech (beg) you, be ye followers of me. (Do you see how plain that is?) For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, (Timothy) who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church."
Remember everything that Timothy knew, he learned from Paul. So everything is going out from this one Apostle. Barnabas, Silas, Titus and all of Paul's helpers learned everything from this one apostle. So he says -

I Corinthians 4:16
"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me."