Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (4:16)
The passage we're looking at today echos once more Paul's heartbreak over the decisions of those folks in Galatia to jump up and run after different doctrine.
He reminds them of where they came from...serving idols and religion that had no true power or authority, being bound up in rituals and rules and laws. Now, he says in verse 9, they know God and His truth and His power...and yet they are wandering back under the tyranny of rituals and rules and laws. They have, in effect, gone back to the same setup while claiming a different Lord.
Paul is exasperated. I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (v. 11). All the work he put in among them and for them is useless if they abandon it so quickly. It doesn't matter what Lord they claim...if they have gone back to the old way of doing things they have abandoned their faith. Become like me, he pleads in verse 12, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.
Notice what Paul said. He is not taking personal offense at the sudden departure of his pupils. He is grieved, he is frustrated, he is even angry...but he is not personally offended by their actions. He recognizes the ignorance at work here, and that the true fault is with the folks who have fed them bad doctrine. He will have further words regarding them later. But for the Galatians themselves, he simply reminds them of when he first came to them, apparently stopping in the area because he was ill.
And they took care of him in his illness and treated him with honor (incidentally, his statement that, if it had been possible, those folks would have torn out your eyes and given them to me is the basis for many folks' belief that Paul's ongoing physical issues were related to his eyes in some manner). Indeed, they were glad to receive him.
What has happened to all your joy? he asks in verse 15.
Nothing saps the joy out of faith faster then the obligation of religious duty. And that's exactly what was sapping the joy from those folks in Galatia.
Now Paul mentions the folks who came behind him, with their gospel of works, Those folks want to win you over, he warns, but their purpose is not honorable (paraphrase, v. 17). In fact, Paul states that the agenda of those folks is to alienate them from him; cut them off from any influence Paul might have with them, so that instead the folks in Galatia would be influenced by and zealous for those teachers and their rules and regulations.
It's fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good - v.18.
Purpose matters. Intention matters. Agenda matters. Zeal in and of itself...is not what matters. And zeal that is for the right purpose is consistent...not there when you're around someone who approves and absent if approval is not forthcoming. True zeal for what is good and true s always present.
That's a good rule-of-thumb for a quick motive check. If my enthusiasm for a task or project rises and falls with the appearance/interest of someone it may be time to take a hard look at my motives. Who am I really trying to please? Is there joy in my service? Does it rankle to hear the truth?
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