Galatians 4:12 - Homiletics

An affectionate call to liberty.

"Brethren, I beseech you "—as if he would redouble his tenderness to converts so dearly loved—stand in your true Christian liberty apart from the weak and beggarly elements of Judaism.

I. HE ASKS THEM TO STAND ON THE SAME PLATFORM OF LIBERTY WITH HIMSELF . "Become ye as I am "—free yourself from the bondage of ordinances as I have done'' for I also have become as ye are," standing in your Gentile freedom, that I might preach the gospel to you Gentiles. I became "as without Law to them that were without Law, that I might save them that were without Law" ( 1 Corinthians 9:21 ). He had abandoned the legal ground of righteousness as well as the ceremonial formalism of the Jews, and he now invites the Gentiles to stand beside him in this position of freedom and privilege.

II. THE QUESTION BETWEEN HIM AND THEM HAS NO PERSONAL ELEMENT WHATEVER . "Ye did me no wrong." Though they were led to deny or doubt his apostleship, he had no personal ground of complaint against them. The interest at stake was far deeper.