WHERE IS THE BLESSEDNESS

Gal 4:12-15 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how, through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 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. 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. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Speaking to both Jewish and Gentile Christians of Galatia, Paul begins this epistle by telling them, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel (Gal. 1:6). It is apparent that these Christians had not reached the state of apostasy from which they could not return, but their faith had, indeed, become weak from the influence of false teachers, that were determined to incorporate elements of both Jewish and pagan religious rites and ceremonies into the doctrine of Christ. It appears these Christians had strayed from the truth by accepting the instruction of error, due to their ignorance. All Christians, at times, have moral lapses that result in a weakening of their faith. They backslide into some of the sins that they turned away from when they repented and became a Christian. It seems that this was the state of these Christians of Galatia. Their weakness of faith was the reason for this epistle from Paul, which was intended to show them the error of their way, and restore their faith in Christ.

To this end Paul writes to them, Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am. As an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul had every right to sternly admonish them for their erring faith, but instead he begs and pleads with them to return to the truths of the gospel of Christ, which they had obeyed when they first gave their lives to Jesus. He beseeches them to become, and remain strong in Christian faith, even as I am. At his conversion, Paul immediately put behind him all of the rites, ceremonies, and teachings of his Jewish faith, and never looked back upon it as something that was desirable enough to retain or incorporate in his Christian faith. Paul was referring to his strong, faithful commitment to Christ when he asked them to be as I am, meaning to use his life as their example for their Christian conduct, as if to say, "imitate my Christian life!"

Paul had no intention of forcing his Jewish heritage upon them. The bondage he was under as a Jew, he completely renounced. He was like they were when they first became children of God through Christ Jesus. When they had allowed themselves to be misled into accepting some elements of the doctrine of false teachers, they had not injured me (Paul) at all. They had only injured themselves and possibly those that they may have influenced by their conduct.

In his pleading, Paul reminds them of how, through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first. Although we have no knowledge of what Paul's infirmity was, we know that it must have been apparent to those to whom he was writing this letter, begging them to turn from the error of their way. This infirmity could have caused them to refuse to hear the gospel message Paul had originally brought to them at the time they were converted to Christ. But, thanks be to God, it did not hinder them from their initial obedience. However tempted they may have been to do so, Paul says my infirmity, ...which was in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? There are times when it is needful to disagree with, and even "offend" erring brethren, by telling them the truth. This was the case with Paul and the Galatian Christians, but he was certainly their friend in Christ, and not their enemy. Paul had just reminded them of the happiness and joy they demonstrated when they first heard the gospel message of Jesus Christ, believed it, obeyed it, were baptized, and became members of the church of Christ. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of when you first gave your life to Jesus? At that time, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Where is the blessed gratitude you demonstrated toward me at that time?

What a wonderful lesson these verses are to all Christians. As a Christian, our faith may become weak, when we fail to remember the blessedness we once knew as a newborn babe in Christ. Recalling those days we often need to ask ourselves, where is the blessedness?