Open line radio on Oct 1, 2022 hour 2.
Listener:
We are doing a study on Galatians and we are at Galatians 4:12. And it says “Brothers, I entreat you because as I am, for I also have become as you are” and I am a little confused about that statement.
Dr Michael Rydelnik:
I think a good background for this is 1 Corinthians 9 when Paul says: “To the Jews I became a Jew, though not under the law, though I am not under the law of Moses, he means, he’s freed from the obligation of the law to keep the law of Moses, he says without the law I became as without law, though now without the law of God, this overarching law of God that he wants to obey but the expression of it under the law of Moses is though he may keep it as a cultural identification with his people, he is not bound by it. And so when we look at 1 Corinthians 9, I think it kind of helps you understand because these Galatians are saying Gentiles need to convert to Judaism, they need to be circumcised before they could believe in Jesus and when they convert to Judaism and were circumcised, they took on the entire yoke of the law. They believe that the works that required of them were the law of Moses. Not the ones that were repeated in the New Covenant but actually the laws of Kosher, the laws of circumcision, the laws of Shevat and all these details and he says I beg you brothers, become like me, meaning liberated from the law of Moses and under the law of the Messiah, for I also became like you, to those without law, I live as without law, when he was among Galatians, he wasn’t trying to live an orthodox Jewish life, so he’s just saying become like me, liberated from the law of Moses, just like I live among you, live in a way that make you think I have keep the law.
Gal 4
12 Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you … -njkv
12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: … -kjv
12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. … -nasb
12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. … -niv
Meditations 
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