Reference: Galatians 4:19-20
Have you ever read the above verses ofscriptures and wondered what the apostle Paul was referring to when he speaksabout travailing in birth again? Paul in these scriptures is very plainlyrevealing the fact that there will be birth pains that one must suffer inbecoming a born again child of God. Now we know what the birth pains are whenwe speak about a woman having a baby. Every woman that has given birth to ababy knows what it is when pain is mentioned.
A woman suffers all through the stages ofher pregnancy, but when the child is actually brought forth into the world,this is when the birth pains really get unbearable. Now Paul is telling us inour text that he was once again travailing in birth again until Christ wasformed in those Galatians that he was speaking to. Paul is of course referringto a spiritual birth when he says that he travailed once again as in birth. NowI would say that hardly anyone knows what these travails are that Paul istalking about in this epistle to the Galatians.
As we look around at all the manyconfessing christians today, I just wonder how many of them truly knows whatthese birth pains are that the apostle Paul is referring to. Did you know myfriend that you will suffer birth pains in much the same way that a womansuffers pains when she gives birth to a baby? Now we know that the birth painsthat a woman suffers while giving birth to a child are physical pains that thebody suffers. Now the pains that a person will suffer while being born againwill not be pain that the physical body can feel, but will rather be spiritualpain to the inward man. The inward man is of course referring to our consciousinner most being. This inward conscious being is our mind and our soul. Now weknow that a person is a being that consists of three parts. These three partsare the body, the soul, and the spirit. All three will be dealt with in theprocess of becoming a new creature in Christ.
The physical flesh will of course sufferin the spiritual birth, but this suffering will not be physical pain. Thespiritual birth pains that we suffer can be compared to the suffering that aperson goes through if they are put in prison not being able to be free. I amquite sure that most people knows what it is to be locked up not being able todo things they enjoy doing. When a person is put in prison to pay for the crimethey may have committed, this confinement takes away all their enjoyablefreedom to do what they desire to do.
Mostof us know what it's like when we are in a position where we cannot be free toreally enjoy life. This makes us grievous at our heart and mind. A sick personsuffers mentally when they are not able to walk about and do things they liketo do. Now according to the word of God any person who desires to become achristian they absolutely must repent of sin and submit themselves unto God andhis word. If a person truly accepts the gift of repentance when God leads themto it, they will be faced with the fact that they will have the flesh tocontend with. A person who is dead in sin (of which all sinners are) will enjoythe pleasures of sin, because this is doing things that the flesh likes.
But when a person truly repents of sin andbegins to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, they will come to realize that theyhave waged war with their fleshly lusts and desires. The flesh will begin tosuffer because you have began to deny it of its automatic way of living. Theflesh loves the pleasures of sinful living and when you begin denying it ofthese pleasures you will find out that you will have to suffer until you gaincomplete victory over it. A sinner will automatically obey the things of theflesh because sin has power over them. This sin dwells in the members of ourfleshly body. This is why Paul said that there was no good thing in his fleshas he stated in Romans 7:18.
This no good thing which is sin actuallycontrols the sinner making them do things that is directly opposed to the lawsof God. When a person repents of sin and receives the gift of the Holy Spiritin their heart this will purify the heart and remove all carnality from withinit. The coming in of the Spirit does not renew the mind nor does it crucify thelusts and desires of the body of flesh.
The renewing of the mind is brought aboutas we receive and walk in the truth revealed in the gospel. Walking in thistruth will also mortify or crucify the fleshly lusts and its desires. Thiscrucifying of the fleshly desires and the renewing of the mind will bring aboutthese spiritual birth pains that we are talking about in this tract. Now if youknow anything at all of the denominational doctrines being proclaimed intoday's churches, you should know that they all teach that the receiving ofChrist as Lord and Saviour, which is done by a single oral confession, is allthere is in becoming a born again child of God.
Now believing this teaching willabsolutely have nothing to do with any suffering at all. We are told in Romans 8:17 that ifwe suffer with Christ then we shall also reign with him and be glorifiedtogether with him. Now checking the teachings in today's church world you willnot find the truth being proclaimed on the subject of true Bible holiness.
The church today will not receive thetruth on the many truths concerning godliness and true holiness. A true sincereperson who truly loves God and desires to please him in all things will knowthat the abstaining from worldly lusts that wars against the soul will have adrastic suffering effect with our whole being, but they will be willing to gothrough it because they know eventually that they will gain complete victoryover it all. Many times the true christian will find themselves in many tryingand difficult conditions and positions, but they know that according to God'sword these things are only the trying of their faith and strengthening themspiritually.
The operation that a person goes throughin becoming a child of God is a way of suffering in much the same way thatChrist suffered for us on the cross. The apostle Peter tells us that as much asChrist suffered for us in the flesh that we are to arm ourselves with the samemind and realize that we too must suffer in the flesh to become what God wantsus to be. (I Peter 4:1-2)
This suffering is the putting to death ourcarnal man. The abstaining from sinful things will in time crucify the fleshand bring forth the new creature that God's word speaks about. We are told ifany man be in Christ then they are new creatures where old things are passed away and all things havebecome new. Coming to this position will cause the flesh to suffer, and forthis very reason many will fail to walk with God and obey his word.
Many times the child of God will thinkthat God is a million miles away from them, but this is of course part of theprocess we go through as God transforms our lives to Christ's image. We arechanged into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of theLord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
There are many people today who are nottruly willing to give up the things of the world simply because they think todo so will not benefit them spiritually. Satan is deceiving many with thisthought today. The reason why many are being deceived through this tactic ofSatan is because they are too impatient to wait on God and allow him to makethem a son.....