{"id":41,"date":"2007-12-10T17:35:49","date_gmt":"2007-12-10T23:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/index.php\/2007\/12\/10\/galatians-412-be-like-me\/"},"modified":"2007-12-10T17:35:49","modified_gmt":"2007-12-10T23:35:49","slug":"galatians-412-be-like-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/galatians-412-be-like-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Galatians 4:12 – Be Like Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ministry<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Galatians 4:12<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

12<\/span><\/sup>Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I<\/span><\/em><\/strong> became<\/span> like you. You have not injured me at all.<\/o:p><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

We need to be a living example of our faith so that, like Paul, we can say, \u201cBe like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBecome<\/span><\/em>\u201d is translated from a form of \u201cginomai,<\/span><\/em>\u201d which means to come into being <\/em>or to become<\/em>. In this particular case it is used in the imperative mood implying a command.<\/p>\n

The Greek word translated \u201cI urge<\/span><\/em>\u201d is \u201cdeomai<\/span><\/em>\u201d which literally means to be lacking of things <\/em>or to need<\/em>. Idiomatically, it means to make a request of another for something you need<\/em>. Hence, it is often translated as \u201cI beg<\/span><\/em>.\u201d In the current verse it is used in conjunction with the command form of \u201cginomai<\/span><\/em>;\u201d therefore, the translation as \u201cI urge<\/span><\/em>\u201d is very appropriate.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cinjured<\/span><\/em>\u201d is translated from a form of the word \u201cadikos<\/span><\/em>\u201d which is made up of \u201ca<\/span><\/em>\u201d meaning not<\/em> and a form of \u201cdike\u014d<\/span><\/em>\u201d meaning just<\/em> or righteous.<\/em> Hence, \u201cadikos<\/span><\/em>\u201d refers to an injustice or harm <\/em>that has been done to someone.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Though brief, this verse nonetheless appears obscure. There are nearly as many interpretations of it as there are interpreters. These tend to break down into three basic interpretations.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>You and I should be alike. Think of yourselves as just like me and I will think of myself to be just like you.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Imitate me in rejecting the Jewish rites because I, having rejected these rites, was just like you when I preached the gospel to you.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Imitate my example \u2013 though I am a Jew by birth, I have no more need of the Jewish rites than you do.<\/p>\n

This last interpretation makes the most sense. The basic question that Paul has been addressing is whether or not a Christian is required to follow the Jewish rites and customs. Clearly, Paul has said, \u201cNo, we are not required to do so.\u201d Hence, the expression, \u201cI urge you to become like me<\/span><\/em>\u201d means that Paul wants the Galatian Christians to free themselves from these enslaving rituals just as he has done. Though born a Jew, Paul has been released from the shackles of tradition and legal obedience.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s expression, \u201cfor I<\/span><\/em> became<\/span> like you<\/span><\/em>,\u201d is his way of saying that although he grew up under the bondage of legalism and customs, he has rejected them even to the point of becoming like a Gentile as the Galatians were.<\/p>\n

The last part of this verse is also a bit obscure. It appears that Paul is telling the people in the Galatian churches that even though they seem to have rejected Paul\u2019s former teaching in favor of what the false teachers have led them to believe, he does not consider it a personal affront. He says, \u201cI do not take your rejection of my teaching as personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Application <\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each of us, as a Christian, has a message to deliver to the world: \u201cAccept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and you can know the forgiveness of your sins as I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do your actions and your attitude give them sufficient reason to want to be like you?<\/p>\n

<\/span>In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2007 <\/span>Will <\/span>Krause. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Galatians 4:12 12Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. Truth to Learn We need to be a living example of our faith so that, like Paul, we can say, \u201cBe like me.\u201d Behind the Words \u201cBecome\u201d is translated from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galatians-4"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}