There are two kinds of fruitfulness mentioned in Galatians: the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of ministering to others. The fruit of the Spirit is what God does in the process of maturing us so that we become more Christ-like and behave as He did. The fruit of ministering to others includes helping fellow Christians as well as reaching out to the lost in evangelism.
We’ve spent time discovering what is involved in sanctification, or becoming more Christ-like. Now let’s look at what Paul shared about evangelism.
In Galatians 1:11 He refers to “the gospel I preached.” In verses 15-16 he says, “God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.” And in verse 23, “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith.”
Paul had rejected the gospel. Once he by faith received Jesus he preached the good news of what happened to him. Many responded by faith as he had, and when they did he gathered them together and established churches in their locations. It is to these churches he now wrote this letter.
His reason for writing was he had heard they were being led astray into legalism. As he shares his concern he describes his heart passion in Galatians 4:19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”
Paul sacrificed much to bring them to Christ. Now he again endured “childbirth like pain,” trying to restore the process of their becoming Christ-like. It is costly to evangelize the lost and establish them in Christ.
