As we discovered in our last visit, it is costly to evangelize the lost and establish them in Christ. As Paul closes the book of Galatians he writes, “I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.” There was at least one church established in a community where Paul was stoned and left for dead. You can read about it in Acts 14:19-20.
When referring to Ishmael persecuting Isaac, Paul adds, “It is the same now.” In addition to the possibility of being physically persecuted, Paul shares the emotional price often paid while ministering. He visited with James, Peter and John in Jerusalem, “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain” (Galatians 2:2). And later in the book he shared, “I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you” (Galatians 4:11).
These are the human costs involved in evangelizing the lost and establishing believers in Christ, or as Paul put it, “until Christ is formed in you.” Paul explained that there are some who want to make a good impression outwardly. He said, “The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.”
In contrast, he gives his own testimony, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 12-14).
Some might question, is it really worth it all to suffer like this for Christ? Christ was willing to suffer death on the cross to make it possible for us to be forgiven and accepted into the family of God. If you’ve had this life transforming experience as Paul did, you know it is worth it all to see others find it too.
