"Until Christ Be Formed In You"

(Galatians 4:12-19 KJV)  "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. {13} Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. {14} And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. {15} Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. {16} Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? {17} They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. {18} But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. {19} My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

Pluralistic societies are those which have people of many cultures and many beliefs living together in one accord. Rome, at the writing of this Pauline letter, was pluralistic. Within Rome there were people who followed a pantheon of gods and goddesses, there were those who followed Judaism, following the Law that our God gave disobedient Israel at Mount Horeb/Sinai, and finally there were those who followed Christianity, pursuing a relationship with God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Within Rome pluralism was a good thing, for it allowed all people to live together in harmony without persecution. When Rome became intolerant, just a few years from the writing of this letter, both those who followed Christ as well as those in Judaism would be sacrificed by evil Caesars. Our Lord Jesus foretold of this persecution when He said:

(Matthew 10:16-22 KJV)  "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. {17} But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; {18} And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. {19} But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. {20} For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. {21} And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. {22} And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."

And also,

(Matthew 10:34-39 KJV)  "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. {35} For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. {36} And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. {37} He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. {38} And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. {39} He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

Pluralism in society is a wonderful thing, for it allows each individual to choose Whom they will serve. God does not want us to coerce anyone to Christianity at the point of a sword, nor should we be coerced into the multitude of other religions that exist in our society, religions that we have rejected as incomplete, errant, or unworthy of our consideration. Our nation, the United States of America, is a pluralistic society. E Pluribus Unum, “Out of Many, One”. God established this nation, just as He established Rome before us, as pluralistic societies, so that each person could freely and without coercion accept or reject the Message of Christ, the message that saves.

Our society is pluralistic. That is a good thing. But the Church that Jesus Christ died for, that He purchased with His own blood, that Church must not be pluralistic. We have a specific message from a specific Savior. We follow a specific Book as Scripture. We believe what our Lord says is true, and truly reflected in the Scriptures. And we cling to Jesus as a drowning man would cling to a life preserver, believing Him and Him alone to be the Savior for not only us, but for the whole world, if they only believe.

(Galatians 4:12-15 KJV)  "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. {13} Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. {14} And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. {15} Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.”

When Paul first went to the Galatians, these “Gallo-Graecians” who lived in the area of our modern day Turkey, they received him as they would have received a visiting dignitary from Rome. They, Gentiles one and all, heard the gospel of Christ, and were saved by that gospel. They heard the words of Jesus:

(John 14:6 KJV)  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

That Jesus was the ONLY way to God the Father. They heard that Jesus was more than mere man, but that He was the sacrifice, God come in the flesh, come to atone for our sins. They heard, from this blessed Apostle, that Jesus Christ was the only doorway to God, that He Himself said:

(John 10:7-16 KJV)  "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. {8} All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. {11} I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. {12} But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. {13} The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. {14} I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. {15} As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. {16} And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."

You see, Jesus did not teach a pluralistic message, nor a tolerant message. More times that I can quote in this sermon, more times than you can bear today Jesus said of Himself that He was the only way, the ONLY WAY to salvation. In John 8:58 Jesus said that He was eternal God with Abraham, back in Abraham's day. In John 8:12 and John 9:5 Jesus said He was the only Light in this dark, dark world, and that, if we accepted Him as Savior, we would be lights as well. In John 6:48 Jesus said that He was the only Bread from Heaven, and that if we eat of that Bread we would live forever. In Matthew 24:5 Jesus warned that others would come in His name and claim to be equal to or greater than Him, but that these would be liars, anti-Christs, and that He was the only way to God the Father.

The Galatians heard this message, accepted Christ as Savior, and became “brethren” by faith in Christ. They heard Paul, received the blessedness that comes from following Christ and Christ alone, salvation by faith in Him, and began moving forward in Christian growth. Let's read this text one more time:

(Galatians 4:12-15 KJV)  "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. {13} Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. {14} And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. {15} Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.”

 The Galatians saw and were aware of Paul's great infirmity, his diseased eyes, and received him in love anyway. They heard his message, the message of Grace that he carried from Christ, and became “brethren”, fellow believers in Christ. Love swelled in their hearts for Paul, indeed, for every man – a sure sign that they were saved, so much so that they would have given up their own vision, if it were possible, so that Paul might be blessed.

But then, something happened. They moved from the peace and love of the Christian way of life and into something else. Another religion came into Christianity, and diluted it. Pluralism from without came into the “Only Way” message of Christ, and infected the message, changing it from what it was to another ineffectual religion. Paul said:

(Galatians 4:16-18 KJV)  "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? {17} They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. {18} But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you."

The religion that came in to infect Christianity was Judaism, keeping of the Law of God. This Law, as I before stated, was given to disobedient Israel to drive home the point that salvation always comes by faith in God's provision. Yet Judaism took that Law, which was to be no more than a school master, a teacher, and began to teach it as a way unto salvation. Judaism crept into the Galatian assembly. I'm sure it came about in an innocent way. Someone said, “Jesus was a good Jew, an orthodox Jew. Jesus said He didn't come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it.” From there the argument probably went further, to where they said “If you are Abraham's seed, as we are, you must be circumcised, you must keep the Law, the sacrifices, the rituals, the feasts”.

And the Galatians bought into this line of reasoning. When they did so, they departed from Christianity, and moved into a hybrid religion that was not Christ's. The Galatians were “zealously effected”, courted and wooed to Judaism, and in following after this golden calf they rejected the message of the Christ who died for them. This was a bad thing, not a good thing. And this hurt Paul, for he had fathered these people in the faith. Paul sweated bullets leading them to Christ, and now they rejected the faith message that saved them for another message, the message of Judaism.

(Galatians 4:19 KJV)  "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

Paul literally says, “My infants, my newborn children, I am still in the labor pains until Christ is formed in you”.  This is a fascinating statement on several levels. First, in the statement Paul, the minister to these Galatians, pictures himself as a mother in the act of labor. Though the Galatians, his children, have been born – though they have left the womb and now are children of God by faith in Christ, their rejection of Christ and His exclusive message causes Paul to go into labor once more. This is both disappointing as well as painful. Can any woman imagine, having delivered her child and now, weary and exhausted, reaching out to clutch the fruit of her womb in love – only to re-enter the agony of labor. Paul expected to be embraced by the Galatians, just as he was embraced at the first, yet when he stretched out his arms for his children he found them in the arms of another mother. He found them in the arms of the Law, not in Christ. This caused him great pain .

Second, I want you to focus on the phrase: “until Christ be formed in you”. The word formed is the Greek morphoo (Strong's G3445), which means “to be formed or shaped”. Paul uses this same word, in compound form, in:

(Romans 12:1-2 KJV)  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. {2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (METAMORPHOO) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

And these verses actually work together. What is the purpose of the Christian way of life? Is it to be friends with every man? Is it to bend the message of the Gospel until it fits the pluralistic sense of our society? Is it to compromise with the religions around us, so as to make our religion more palatable?

No, the purpose of Christianity must reflect the purpose of the One whom it is named after. Jesus said:

(Luke 19:10 KJV)  "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

(Matthew 9:10-13 KJV)  "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. {11} And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? {12} But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. {13} But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Christianity and therefore Christians must reflect the message that Jesus Christ is the Way, the only way to salvation. Christians, each and every one of us, must not allow the world to transform our message – for it is not ours to transform. Jesus Christ came to promote Himself as the true Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. He came, not to compromise God's message with a sinful world, but to tell the world that each and every person can know the peace of salvation with God only through His sacrifice.

Once a person accepts Christ as Savior, they step on a path of newness. They are “new creatures” in Christ:

(2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)  "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

(Galatians 6:15 KJV)  "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."

And, as we study the Word of God, we become more Christ-like each and every day. With the slate wiped clean we enter a life where Christ can be formed in us. Again, the words of the Blessed Apostle:

(Galatians 4:19 KJV)  "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

We are called, not to preach Christ from any hidden agenda, nor to preach Christ compromised, but to preach Him knowing that He alone saves. And that we, like the Blessed Apostle, can move to a point in our relationship with God where the mind of Christ is formed in us. To the point where He can effectually use us to lead a lost and dying world unto Him. As the Apostle said:

(Philippians 1:9-21 KJV)  "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; {10} That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; {11} Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. {12} But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; {13} So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; {14} And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. {15} Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: {16} The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: {17} But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. {18} What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. {19} For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, {20} According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. {21} For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

This is where God leads us as a Church. We are people of the Book, people who belong to Christ. We are people on a pathway, not of compromise with a pluralistic society, but a pathway that glorifies Christ and reflects Jesus Christ through our lives to the world around us. We do not live unto ourselves, but we live for Jesus. And in so living, as Christ is formed in us – as we become more Christ-like, we can reach a lost world for Jesus.

That's not a popular message in our society today, nor was it a popular message in pluralistic Rome. But it is the message that Jesus gave, and it is the message that we, as ambassadors for Christ, must proclaim, just as Peter proclaimed so long ago:

(Acts 4:10-12 KJV)  "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. {11} This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. {12} Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

God give us the strength to stand for the Gospel message. God give us the strength to study the Book, to draw on its power, to walk as Ambassadors of Jesus Christ. For if we falter, who will hear the Gospel? If we compromise, who will be saved? Stay focused on Whom you believe. Stay focused on Jesus. Stay focused on the Scriptures. Stay unified as a Church family, but never forget that Jesus is both our Lord and our Savior – and none other.
 
 

Forty Things True of the Christian  1. A child of God (Romans 8:16) 2. Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy (Psalms 107:2) 3. Forgiven (Colossians 1: 13, 14) 4. Saved by Grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:8) 5. Justified (Romans 5:1) 6. Sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11) 7. A New Creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) 8. A Partaker of His Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4) 9. Redeemed from the Curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13) 10. Delivered from the Powers of Darkness (Colossians 1:13) 11. Led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14) 12. A Son of God (Romans 8:14) 13. Kept in Safety Wherever I Go (Psalm 91:11) 14. Getting All My Needs Met by Jesus (Philippians 4:19) 15. Casting All My Cares on Jesus (1 Peter 5:7) 16. Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might (Ephesians 6:10) 17. Doing All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Me (Philippians 4:13) 18. An Heir of God and a Joint Heir With Jesus (Romans 8:17) 19. Heir to the Blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:13, 14) 20. Observing and Doing the Lord's Commandments (Deuteronomy 28:12) 21. Blessed Coming in and Blessed Going out (Deuteronomy 28:6) 22. An Heir of Eternal Life (1 John 5:11, 12) 23. Blessed with All Spiritual Blessings (Ephesians 1:3) 24. Healed by His Stripes (1 Peter 2:24) 25. Exercising My Authority over the Enemy (Luke 10:19) 26. Above Only and Not Beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13) 27. More than a Conqueror (Romans 8:37) 28. Establishing God's Word Here On Earth (Matthew 16:19) 29. An Overcomer By The Blood of the Lamb and The Word of My Testimony (Revelation 12:11) 30. Daily Overcoming the Devil (1 John 4:4) 31. Not Moved By What I See (2 Corinthians 4:18) 32. Walking By Faith and Not by Sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) 33. Casting Down Vain Imaginations (2 Corinthians 1:4, 5) 34. Bringing Every Thought into Captivity (2 Corinthians 10:5) 35. Being Transformed By the Renewing of My Mind (Romans 12:1, 2) 36. A Laborer Together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9) 37. The Righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) 38. An Imitator of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1) 39. The Light of the World (Matthew 5:14) 40. Blessing the Lord at All Times and Continually Praising the Lord with My Mouth (Psalm 34:1)