Galatians 4:17-20 – Christ Formed in You

If you had children, have children, or will eventually have children, you will take that child and raise them to the best of your ability. You will instill in them the things that you think they need to survive and thrive throughout their lives. And yet, there will inevitably come times (most likely in the teenage years) when you will lean your head to the side and say to them, “I am perplexed about you.” “You know I have taught you better than this.” You perplex me.” What my dad would say in those situations, and maybe some of you heard a similar thing, he would say, “What are you doing son”? What parents are communicating, though often times not in the most grace-filled way, is their love and concern for their children. That love and concern is expressed in the parents’ desire for their children to do well and be well. To remember how they were raised and taught.

In a similar way, that is what we see going on here in Galatians 4:17-20. Paul writes that he is perplexed by the Galatians, whom he refers to as his children. Indeed, he thinks of them as his children in the faith. But why is Paul perplexed? He is perplexed because his children in the faith have strayed from what they learned from him. False teachers have shown up in the churches and were perverting the gospel that Paul delivered to them initially.

These false teachers were teaching a man-centered gospel, which made obedience to the law part of the grounds of justification. However, Paul indicates that this teaching doesn’t lead to Christ being formed in its adherents—in other words, it does not cause believers to be conformed to the image of Christ. Being conformed to the image of Christ happens through teaching that centers on the grace of God, which comes through the person and work of Jesus, as the sole ground for a believer’s justification.

The Galatians were being misled because, like us, they are naturally drawn toward preaching and teaching which is man-centered rather than Christ-centered. This false message teaches that being counted right before God comes, at least in part if not completely, from the works of man rather than the righteousness of Christ. Messages that promote obedience as part of the means by which we are justified are difficult to resist. And often, it is those who preach and teach man-centered justification that gain much following and have much influence.

However, Paul is clear; such messages do not lead to Christ being formed in believers. Teaching that says right standing before God can be earned or added to by good works, does not transform believers into the image of Christ. Scripture teaches that Christ is formed in believers as they partake in the means of grace that God has established and which are centered on the person and work of Jesus. One of those means that God uses to form Christ in believers is the preaching and teaching of His Word.

Throughout Scripture, and particularly in the NT, we see God appointing men to teach and preach His Word. All the prophets of the OT and the Apostles in the NT have proclaimed that same message. And in so far as they faithfully and accurately proclaim the truth of the Word, God uses that preaching and teaching to form Christ in His people. Therefore, we should seek preaching and teaching that points to the person and work of Christ as the sole grounds for salvation. It is Christ-centered messages that God uses to form Christ in his people.

How can you discern if the preaching and teaching you are receiving is forming Christ in you? In verses 17-20 of chapter 4, Paul shows us two criteria for shepherds that God uses to form Christ in us. You can see them printed there on page six of the WG.

God uses: Shepherds that are motivated by Christ-centered love rather than self-centered glory. Shepherds that teach a Christ-based righteousness rather than works-based righteousness as the grounds for justification.

God uses shepherds who are dedicated to these principles to form Christ in His people. Therefore, we must seek to discern man-centered shepherds from Christ-centered shepherds.

Let us look closer at these together now. In verse 17, Paul identifies what is problematic about the Judaizers, the false teachers. He points out that the false teachers were making much of the Galatians but for no good purpose. The New King James Bible translates the first part of verse 17, “They zealously court you.”  The Judaizers were filled with false praise for them. They were trying to gain favor with the Galatians, pretending to be deeply concerned about them. However, their purpose was not commendable, and their motives were not honorable.

Commentary writer William Hendriksen writes, “To be deeply concerned about a person, and to bestow much attention upon them, is not necessarily a bad thing. Good parents are deeply concerned about their children. The very idea that those so dear to them might succumb to the temptation of being led astray by evil companions, fills them with dismay and incites them to earnest prayer and strenuous effort on their behalf.” This is the concern Paul demonstrated when he was first with them.

But unlike Paul, the false teachers were not commendably concerned for the Galatian Christians. They wanted the Galatians to look to them as their leaders. They wanted to gain the trust and adoration of the Galatians. However, their purpose, their motivation, was not to glorify God, but to glorify themselves.

They are what Paul describes in Romans 16 as, “17 those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught;” Paul says, “Avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

Have you ever had someone flatter you, only to discover later that they had ulterior motives, motives that were less than honorable? Often times, their reason for flattery is self-centered and not motivated by genuine love and care. Probably all of us have had this happen at some point. We feel quite manipulated when this occurs. And rightly so, because it is manipulation. In the case of the false teachers, they were concerned only with their selfish interests but made it seem as if they were genuinely concerned for the Galatians.

In addition to that, the false teachers wanted to shut them out or exclude them. In what way?  First, they wanted to isolate the Galatians from all other influences, particularly Paul. Why? So, the Galatians would look exclusively to the Judaizers for spiritual guidance, and they could keep the Galatian churches under their influence. If they could gain power or control, then the Galatians would glorify and praise them. They wanted the Gentile Christians to abandon Paul and his teaching. In this way, they also wanted to exclude the Galatians from Christ and the freedom that is in Christ.  

Paul writes that this is not how a shepherd of Christ’s people is to operate. The faithful shepherd, or more accurately under shepherd of Christ, points the people to Christ.  They do not espouse works-based salvation but faith-based salvation. Paul reiterates this principle in Galatians 6:14-15 where he writes, “14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”

The false teachers’ ultimate goal was not the spiritual growth and nurture of the believers in Galatia. Their goal was their own praise and benefit. They wanted the recognition. They wanted control. They wanted the glory for the spiritual status and growth of the Galatians.

Paul is drawing a contrast between these false teachers and himself. Now, to be sure, Paul is not claiming that he is perfect or sinless. Even as he was ministering to God’s people and writing many NT letters, he wrote in Romans 7 that he still struggled with the flesh. He wrote, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

But what he is saying is that insofar as he or any other shepherd’s primary concern is for the forming of Christ in their sheep, those are the true under shepherds of the true Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, that God has called to guide and protect His flock. John Calvin writes in his commentary on this passage, “If ministers wish to do anything, let them labor to form Christ, not to form themselves, in their hearers.”

There are so many so-called shepherds out there who mirror these false teachers in Galatia. They have no real desire to proclaim the greatness of Christ. They have no real desire to proclaim grace alone as the grounds for justification. Why? Because salvation by grace alone excludes boasting, and they want to boast. They want to boast in their works, and they want to boast in the works of those whom they shepherd. They have the appearance of godliness, but their hearts are far from Him.

That is why we must ask God to give us shepherds whose heart is to form Christ in us. We must search for and ask for those who have a genuine love for the sheep expressed in a commitment to sharing a Christ-centered gospel. We must seek through prayer and by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to discern if our shepherds are ultimately pointing to Christ. If they are motivated by Christ-centered love rather than self-centered-glory. Like Paul in Colossians 1, these Christ-like shepherds would testify, “28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Paul also shows us that God uses shepherds that teach a Christ-based righteousness rather than works-based righteousness as the grounds for justification. Look at verse 18.

Paul says it is good to be made much of for a noble purpose, namely that which is honoring to God. That is what the Galatian Christians were like at the beginning. They were zealous for the gospel of Christ. They were zealous for a righteousness secured by faith in Christ alone.

However, now their attachment to Paul had lost its warmth, its zeal. Their zeal for the truth had subsided. Their loyalty toward Paul and the true gospel had begun to wane and even be directed toward the teaching of the Judaizers. When he was present with them, they made much of Paul and held to the gospel teaching. Since he has been away, they have strayed from the truth.

You have heard the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That may occasionally be true when it comes to romantic love, but in the case of Paul and the Galatians, “absence makes the heart grow cold.”

If I may use the parent/child illustration again, this principle may be reflected in the transition of children to college. You could say, in a sense, that the parents are absent for a while, at least in physical presence. When the children are away like this from their parents for the first time there is a temptation to move beyond the boundaries that the parents had in place at home. The young person’s behavior could be classified as perplexing by the parent. It is so easy during this time to be persuaded by those who offer tempting man-centered or self-centered experiences.

It is the same when the message of the good shepherd no longer guides the sheep. It is easy to wander off into man-centeredness. That is why it says in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” The good way that the prophet speaks of there, the way of rest for your souls is the same way that Christ is formed in the believer. It is Christ.

Those who proclaim this good way are those who truly love their children, or in the case of churches, their sheep. This was true of the apostle Paul. Notice Paul’s love and concern for them. Look there at verse 19. Paul calls them “his little children.” This is a term of great affection. It is not meant to be derogatory but to convey his feelings of affection toward them.

He even goes so far as to use the analogy of pain in childbirth to describe the anguish he feels as he must remind them of what he first told them about their justification. He has been hurt by hearing that they have been duped by the false teachers. He must now strive with great effort again to proclaim the gospel of justification by faith in Christ alone to them.

Childbirth is one of those amazing experiences where the mother is willing to endure great hardship and anguish because of what comes from all the labor – a child whom they love with all their heart. Paul says that in a similar way, he has labored to preach Christ to the Galatians and now he is even having to do it again.

And what does he say is his hope for the anguish he is willing to suffer again? That Christ would be formed in them. That is the heart of a true shepherd. We see this goal of Paul’s preaching, which is Christ formed in you, mentioned over and over again in his ministry to God’s people.

In Romans 8:10 he writes, “10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Later in Romans 8:29 he writes, “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”  In 2 Cor. 13:5 – “5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”

It is clear that from his epistles, that Paul’s singular focus was to proclaim the gospel of Christ - salvation through faith in Christ alone - and to have Christ formed in those who by faith trusted in the Lord.

So, it is understandable, that at the end of verse 20, Paul writes that he is perplexed. How can they turn away from so great a salvation? How can they turn again and be enslaved to the elementary principles of the world?

Yet they, like us, are prone to behave in this perplexing way. So, we need to be reminded, like the Galatians, by those who preach and teach the Word of God, that Christ is formed in us as we are shaped by Christ-centered truth rather than self-centered pride and as we learn to rely on His righteousness rather than our own righteousness.
 
Author and commentary writer J.V. Fesko writes, “When the Westminster divines originally composed their Confession of Faith, they also wrote a Directory for Public Worship. In its instructions for the preacher, the directory calls him to preach ‘faithfully, looking at the honor of Christ, the conversion, edification, and salvation of the people, not at his own gain or glory; keeping nothing back which may promote those holy ends, giving to everyone his own portion, and bearing indifferent respect unto all, without neglecting the meanest, or sparing the greatest, in their sins.’”

We should see these principles taught by our leaders, particularly those who preach and teach the Word. Christ will be formed in us as we hear from those under shepherds that proclaim the Christ-centered gospel.

As pastor Tim Keller puts it, “It is the gospel which brings people to Christ-dependence, shapes people into Christlikeness, and provokes people to Christ praise.” So, we must put our faith in and continue to look to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who was motivated by God-centered love rather than self-centered glory and whose righteousness secured the salvation that we ourselves cannot earn.  By this, we will grow to magnify the Lord Jesus in our lives.

Let’s pray together.