Galatians 4:17-20
17 They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.
17 They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.
Those with other messages and pseudo gospels go enthusiastically out of their way to pull men and women away from the gospel to, as Jesus said, “make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Mat.23:15).” They will set rules that keep people away unless they run after those with these false messages, making one feel less if not zealously doing as they do. Yet Paul tells the church here to be zealous instead for good, what is true, and not only when he is there to keep them on course. He was teaching them discernment and commitment to the truth of the gospel they already heard and knew. He worked long and hard to impart the scriptures to them, and was wondering how they could turn aside. We also must stay the course of solid biblical teaching, not allowing enthusiasm to overtake the truth once for all delivered to His saints, and not always seeking “to hear some new thing (Acts 17:21).”
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