17 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. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.
19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.
21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
Tori's Comments:
This is something I need to monitor in my own life, evaluating the reasons behind my actions constantly. (vs. 18)
What does it mean to have Christ fully developed in my life?
Word study:
"Oh, my dear children!" (vs. 19a) The word 'teknion' can also be translated to infants or little children and is used 9 times in the bible
Terrie's Comments:
It is WORD STUDY WEDNESDAY again!
I was intrigued by the word "developed" in verse 19
morphoō means to fashion (figuratively) or form. From the same Greek word as morphe which means to shape figuratively form. Morphoo is only in the Bible once and Morphe only appears 3 times.
I get that Paul wanted those whom he felt responsible for to come to full maturity in their faith. He didn't want them to get sidetracked with religion or by turning back to their old "gods". He was going to keep pressing on with them until they were shaped and formed into the image of Jesus Christ. He didn't want them getting confused by people "adding" religious traditions to the pure gospel of Jesus.
I love the image of the slave wife vs the freeborn son. It is such vivid imagery of what we have in Jesus Christ and what happens if we are following the law or living by faith. Human attempt vs God's own fulfillment.
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
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