Lovers of Truth?

“Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

(Galatians 4:12-16 ESV)

We claim to be lovers of the truth. But is this true? Do we truly love the truth, or do we prefer, instead, to be fed the message we want to hear?



Paul had a very good relationship with the Galatians, initially. He’d come to them not purposely, but as a result of circumstance. He had ended up in Galatia due to a bodily ailment.



We aren’t told the exact nature of this ailment. But, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. He’d come to them as a result of this ailment. And, while there, he preached the gospel to them.



Their initial response to him was gracious. Although, he says, he was a burden to them, they did not despise him. Rather, they received him as an angel of God. They had received him as Christ himself.



However, as their attitude toward the gospel changed, so too had their response to Paul. They were listening to other teachers, who were distorting the gospel. As a result, it seems that their relationship with Paul had become contentious. And it led him to ask this question: “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”



Paul sought only to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the Galatians. But, at this point, they were not receptive to this message. They had begun to rely upon themselves. They had begun to rely on their obedience to the law.



This pitted him against the other teachers working among them. And, as their mindset had shifted, as their faith had shifted, it had pitted him against the Galatians themselves. Because he brought to them the truth, it seemed that he’d become their enemy.



We often see the same thing in our life of faith. We’ve been fed false teaching from a variety of sources. And, over time, we’ve come to accept that false teaching.



We’re so comfortable with it that we want to hear nothing else. And if someone brings to us the truth, we close our ears to it. We push that person away that we might maintain the status quo.



In the case of the Galatians, as well as our own, it’s essential that the truth be heard. It’s not merely a matter of preference. It’s a matter of life and death. It’s a matter of salvation and condemnation.



If we’re to be saved, we must believe the gospel. We must trust fully in Christ, and in Christ alone. Once we abandon that message, and once we begin trusting in anything else, we are lost. We have separated ourselves from the grace of God.