SERIES SUMMARY
As strange as it is, from the earliest days, the church struggled with understanding the Gospel—what the gospel is and how the gospel is lived out in daily life. In Paul’s day, there was a group called the Judaizers who taught that for Gentiles to become Christians, they first had to become Jews. It wasn’t enough to simply put your faith in Jesus; it was faith plus adherence to the Mosaic Law. However, the Good News of the gospel is that we are made right with God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Anytime you add “plus anything,” you destroy the gospel. Galatians, “the letter that saved the church,” is all about clarifying the gospel and calling us to abandon any form of rule-based Christianity. It’s about how to live in and live out grace by the power of the Spirit. It’s about bearing the fruit of relating well to people so that we reflect the character of God in any circumstance.
SERMON SUMMARY
How should we respond to relational disappointment?
In this passage, Paul is distraught over the unfaithfulness of his friends in Galatia. And rather than theologically refuting them, in 4:8-20, Paul speaks to them frankly at how personally and emotionally hurt he is. His example here reminds us that relational disappointment provides an opportunity for believers to redirect their feelings of hurt into prayers for growth, grace, Christ-likeness.
Paul’s relationship with the Galatians offers a poignant illustration to us. When Paul first ministered to the Galatians, they received him with great love and joy, even in the face of his own physical suffering. However, after Paul’s departure, false teachers led them astray, causing them to revert to legalism and idolizing the law. This shift led the Galatians to turn on Paul, the very person who had brought them the gospel and nurtured their faith. Paul is deeply grieved by their spiritual decline, expressing his disappointment with sorrowful language. He’s like the parent of a wayward child or a mother in the strains of labor. Paul’s disappointment, however, is not rooted in anger but in a deep desire for the Galatians to return to the freedom and grace they had originally experienced.
The resolution to relational disappointment, according to Paul, lies in fostering a future-oriented hope centered on Christ. In 4:12, Paul urges the Galatians to “become as I am,” meaning to live in the freedom of the gospel, unburdened by legalistic observances. This plea reflects Paul’s ultimate desire for them: that they would experience the transformative power of Christ in their lives. For Paul, then, true relational healing comes when the grace of the gospel takes deeper root in people’s hearts, leading them to live out the grace and freedom that is there’s in Christ. Paul turns the presence and energy of disappointment into prayers and longings for gospel renewal among the Galatians. His response to disappointment is not to retaliate or withdraw, but to pray and labor for the spiritual refreshment of those he loves. Simply put,
Christ died for you, so his life would be formed in you.
Meaning, because of the cross, when we start to follow Jesus and trust him and swear allegiance to him, it’s not merely so that we can go be with him one day in the future; it’s so that Jesus’ life would be embodied in our own lives right now. And if we believe this, self-giving love will be native tongue. If we believe this, grace alone will be our song. If we believe this, there is infinite freedom ahead of us. And here at the cross, this is where we have forgiveness of sin, freedom from idolatry, and healing for every kind of disappointment imaginable. Christ and his cross are both our sure foundation and our eternal hope. “And hope doesn’t disappoint.”
*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.