"Little children," says our teacher, "a little while longer I am with you." That is why Paul also instructs the Galatians in these words: "My little children, with whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." And again he writes to the Corinthians: "For though you may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers. For in Christ I have begotten you through the gospel."
"For," says he, "I have begotten you through the gospel; " and "Ye are my children, of whom I travail again in birth." Now was absolutely fulfilled that promise of the Spirit which was given by the word of Joel: "In the last days will I pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and their daughters shall prophesy; and upon my servants and upon my handmaids will I pour out of my Spirit.
But so did circumstances require him to "become all things to all, in order to gain all; " "travailing in birth with them until Christ should be formed in them; " and "cherishing, as it were a nurse," the little ones of faith, by teaching them some things "by way of indulgence, not by way of command"-for it is one thing to indulge, another to bid-permitting a temporary licence of re-marriage on account of the "weakness of the flesh," just as Moses of divorcing on account of "the hardness of the heart.
For he says, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you; ".
Receive the features, and the image, and the manliness of Christ, the likeness of the form of the Word being stamped upon them, and begotten in them by a true knowledge and faith, so that in each one Christ is spiritually born. And, therefore, the Church swells and travails in birth until Christ is formed in us,
Sons are spoken of in many senses, sometimes as by love, sometimes as by nature, sometimes as by blood, sometimes even as by religion. This is what Paul means now by “my sons,” either because when the new birth occurs through faithful baptism, he who guides the baptized toward maturity or receives them when fully ready is called their father, or because when he calls them back into Christ he makes them his own sons.
Observe his perplexity and perturbation, "Brethren, I beseech you:" "My little children, of whom I am again in travail:" He resembles a mother trembling for her children. "Until Christ be formed in you." Behold his paternal tenderness, behold this despondency worthy of an Apostle. Observe what a wail he utters, far more piercing than of a woman in travail;-Ye have defaced the likeness, ye have destroyed the kinship, ye have changed the form, ye need another regeneration and refashioning; nevertheless I call you children, abortions and monsters though ye be. However, he does not express himself in this way, but spares them, unwilling to strike, and to inflict wound upon wound. Wise physicians do not cure those who have fallen into a long sickness all at once, but little by little, lest they should faint and die. And so is it with this blessed man; for these pangs were more severe in proportion as the force of his affection was stronger. And the offense was of no trivial kind. And as I have ever said and ever will say, even a slight fault mars the appearance and distorts the figure of the whole.
He who in another place had spoken like a father now speaks not like a father but like a mother in Christ, so that they may recognize the dutiful anxiety of both parents.
This example which he has taken from a pregnant woman deserves our close attention, so that we may understand what is being said. Nature is something to be not ashamed of but revered. For just as the seed is unformed when first sown into the mother … then at a determined time issues into the light and is now born with difficulties as great as those with which it is later nourished to keep it from dying—so too, when the seed of Christ’s word falls into the soul of the hearer it increases by its proper degrees and … remains in jeopardy so long as the one who has conceived it is in labor. Nor does the work end as soon as it emerges This is but the beginning of a new labor, so that he may lead the infant, by diligent nourishment and study, up to the full maturity of Christ.
(Verse 19.) My dear children, whom I am in labor pains until Christ is formed in you. Just as childbirth involves many difficulties and pain as the offspring are brought forth from the womb, the curse is declared first, saying: 'In pain you will bring forth children' (Gen. III, 16). Therefore, Paul wants to show the concern of teachers for their disciples, the emotions they suffer, so that their followers do not fall away from salvation. He says: 'My dear children, whom I am in labor pains for again.' For in another place, he had said as a father: 'Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers' (I Cor. IV, 15). Now, he speaks as a mother in Christ, so that they may recognize the anxiety and devotion of a parent in both of them. Moses said this to the people: Did I conceive all this people in my womb? Who among us is so concerned for the salvation of his disciples that he is tormented not for a few hours, or for a day or two, but throughout his entire life, until Christ is formed in them? The example of a pregnant woman who takes in and forms the seeds in herself should be carefully considered, so that we can understand what is being said. Nature is not to be blushed at, but to be revered. For just as in the womb of a woman the first formless semen is ejaculated, so that it may adhere to its furrows and bottom as if to a certain glue: of which the prophet, remembering the beginning of himself, says: Your eyes saw my unformed substance (Ps. 138:16): then, for nine months, with the blood restrained, the future human is coagulated, formed, nourished and distinguished; so that after it has throbbed in the womb, it is established in the light at the appointed time, and is born with such difficulties as to not perish afterwards, but to be nurtured: in the same way, the seed of the word of Christ, when it falls upon an attentive soul, grows through its stages, and, to pass over many things (for we can easily transfer a physical description to spiritual understanding), it remains uncertain until she who conceived gives birth. The end of learning is not immediately accomplished, but then it is the beginning of another work, just as diligent nourishment and studies lead an infantile infancy to the full age of Christ. And just as in marriage, often the semen of the husband is the cause that children are not conceived, sometimes the sterile wife does not retain the semen, and frequently neither is capable of procreation, and on the contrary both are fecund: so also in those who sow the word of God, this fourfold division is observed, so that indeed it fulfills its duty as a teacher, but the hearer is sterile: either the hearer is of good nature, but through the ignorance of the teacher, the seed of the word perishes, or the one being taught is so crazy, as the one who commands; and it rarely happens that the master and disciple agree with each other, it is clear that the teacher teaches only as much as the student can absorb: or the student can only receive as much as the teacher can provide. But now we are all judges. We do not know which psalm it is, which part of prophecy, which chapter of the Law, and we interpret with boldness in speaking what we do not understand at all. It does not pertain to us for Christ to be formed in the people: that each person, returning to his own house, may have the seed of the word of God, which, when he conceives it, he may be able to say with the prophet: 'From your fear, O Lord, we have conceived and brought forth, we have made children of your salvation upon the earth' (Isaiah 26:17-18). Tales in apostolos transeunt, et a Salvatore merentur (( Al. merebantur)) audire: Quicumque fecerit voluntatem Patris mei, ipse est frater meus, et soror, et mater (Matt. XXII, 50) : diversitate profectuum, in diversis nominibus ostensa (( Al. ostendente)). Formatur quoque Christus in corde credentium, cum omnia illis sacramenta panduntur, et ea quae obscura videbantur, perspicua fiunt. Sed et illud est intuendum, quod qui per peccatum quodammodo homo esse desierat, per poenitentiam concipitur a magistro, et rursum in eo Christi formatio repromittitur. This is against the Novatians, who do not want those who have once committed sins to be reformed.
Humans are conceived in their mother’s womb in order to be formed, yet only when fully formed do they go into labor. One might be surprised by his statement: “You with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.” We are to understand this travail to stand for the agonies of concern that they might be born in Christ. Then he labors for them once again because of the dangers of their seduction, by which he sees them being disturbed.
He imitates a mother trembling for her children. You, he says, have distorted the image of Christ which you had within you from baptism, and you require a new rebirth and re-creation, so that the image of Christ may again appear in you and His character be imprinted upon you. Again I am in the pangs of birth, again I am regenerating you through teaching. But I do not despair. Therefore I also call you children, so that you too would not lose hope. And this is against the Novatians: Paul regenerates and renews the Galatians, but they (the Novatians) do not accept correction through repentance.
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Galatians 4:19