Galatians 4:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

NIV: Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

NASB: So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

CSB: So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?

NLT: Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?

KJV: Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

NKJV: Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

Paul has been reminding the Galatians about how enthusiastically they received him and his message. Not only did they treat him with kindness and honor even during an illness (Galatians 4:13–14), they believed his message about salvation through faith in Jesus, and faith alone (Galatians 1:6).

Paul has asked why that has changed. He knows the answer. The false teachers known as the Judaizers have moved in among the Galatians and have begun to convince them that Paul and his teachings are not trustworthy. These former friends have lost their respect for Paul and his message. They lack confidence that faith alone in Christ alone could ever be enough reason for God to accept them as dearly loved children (Galatians 2:4). Surely, they think, Paul was wrong and they must follow the law in order to be truly included in God's family.

Paul now asks them pointedly, "Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" Though the Galatians may not describe Paul as their enemy, it is possible they feel angry with him. Perhaps they feel duped. After all, isn't it too good to be true that God will forgive our sins in response to our simple faith? Most likely, they don't feel angst towards Paul, but their rejection of his gospel is deeply hurtful to him.

If Paul was lying or even just wrong, anger on the part of the Galatians would be understandable. But Paul was not lying, and he challenges them now not to be misled by the Judaizers who wish to steal away their freedom and joy. He urges them to go back to the moment they believed and to be convinced again.

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.