Galatians 4:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

NIV: Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.

NASB: They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them.

CSB: They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them.

NLT: Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them.

KJV: They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

NKJV: They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.

When Paul first came to the Galatians, they received the good news about Jesus with great joy (Galatians 1:6). They also honored Paul, even in spite of an unknown illness that he described as a trial to them (Galatians 4:13–14). Then some false teachers moved in. These men were known as the Judaizers. They came from Jerusalem and went to many of the places where people believed the good news Paul preached about Jesus. They taught that it was good to believe in Jesus, but that these new Christians must also follow the law of Moses to truly be saved (Galatians 2:4).

Paul had learned that the Galatians were beginning to believe this false teaching and reject the true message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. They were starting to follow the law to earn God's approval. They no longer honored Paul. In the previous verse, Paul asked if he had become their enemy by telling them the truth.

Now he unmasks the tactics of the false teachers who are lying to the Galatians. They use flattery to "make much of" their victims. Far from genuine encouragement and affirmation, the Judaizers puff people up to get them on their own side. It's a manipulation of the human desire to feel important.

Part of the goal of this flattery, Paul says, is to alienate the Galatians from him—to "shut out." If the Judaizers can get the Galatians to turn away from Paul, then these new believers will "make much of" the Judaizers. In other words, Paul reveals the ultimate motive of the false teachers: the promotion of their own glory.

Galatians 4:8–20 reveals that the Galatian Christians have already begun legalistically following the law of Moses, by observing special days. Why would they want to go back to slavery by following the law to be justified by God, Paul asks? Why have they gone from blessing him and trusting in Christ to rejecting him for telling the truth? The false teachers are only using them to bring glory to themselves, Paul insists. Paul is in anguish for them as a mother in childbirth. He longs to see Christ formed in them.

In this chapter, Paul uses three new methods to teach his Galatian readers an important lesson. It is futile to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right before God, since justification comes only by faith in Christ. First, Paul shows that the arrival of Christ made it possible for all people to become God's children through faith in Him. Next, Paul makes a more personal appeal, asking what has changed to cause the Galatians to turn on Paul's teaching of the gospel. Finally, Paul builds an allegory from Scripture, illustrating the difference between being born into slavery and being born into the promise by faith in Christ.

Galatians 3 ends with Paul stating, once more, that those who are in Christ are Abraham's offspring, just as He is, making us heirs along with Him. Galatians 4 continues that idea, showing how Christ's arrival signaled the moment all people could receive the inheritance with Him and be adopted as God's children. Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. The chapter ends with Paul's allegory about the difference between being born into slavery under the law and being born into freedom by the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Chapter 5 will continue by expanding on the freedom we have in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.