Galatians 4:8-20
Paul has already said believers are no longer servants, but heirs of God through Christ. Why would the Galatians leave the grace of God to return to living under the law?
They should recall the past when they did not know God, but served gods having none of the divine nature of the one, true God. God is knowable when we honestly seek to know Him. We do this by believing in His Son as our Lord and Savior, and by confessing our sins and asking for His forgiveness. We know God through our dependence on Him, in reading His Word and desiring His will for our lives.
The Galatians trusted Christ and were delivered from their sins, but they returned to their old superstitions and pagan gods. Paul said they returned to “the weak and beggarly elements,” meaning they were so quick to give up the power of the Gospel for the weakness of the Law.
It is safe to say that no man was ever rich in the Law, but there have been more people than we can number who have become rich spiritually because of the Gospel. To leave what we have in grace and the Gospel is truly to take up the weak and beggarly elements.
The Galatians adopted the observance of special days in the Old Testament system of religion. They superstitiously observed these times as if their works would make them acceptable to God. The people gave up liberty in Christ for slavery to the special days.
“I am afraid of you,” Paul wrote to the Galatians. God gave Paul the gift of being able to admonish people and still be able to sincerely show his deep concern for their spiritual well-being. Here, the apostle was saying he was afraid for them because it appeared his preaching of the Gospel had been in vain.
Paul addressed the Galatians as his “brethren,” an indication of his love for these people even though they were not living like his spiritual brothers and sisters. He said “be as I am; for I am as ye are.” Paul was not boasting about his life, but he was telling them that even though he was born a Jew, the rituals did not have control over his life. Christ Jesus was in control of his life. In saying “ye have not injured me at all,” Paul was really saying the Galatians had not hurt him personally, and this is the way it should be for all of us. We only desire what is best for the relationship another person has with God.
The apostle had preached, he said, “through infirmity of the flesh.” We have no way of knowing exactly what Paul was referring to when he said this. Some people have suggested Paul had an illness, perhaps malaria. Other people say he had been severely persecuted and perhaps bore the marks of his persecutors. Paul spoke of his eyes, so that could have been his infirmity.
Whatever afflicted Paul, it was a temptation to him, and this sometimes happens to preachers and teachers. We want to do our best for the Lord, but afflictions might tempt us to do less than our best.
I want to end this lesson with two items for you to consider. The first is the manner in which Paul communicated with these people. No one can say he did not lovingly communicate with them, and with the best of intentions for their spiritual health. Be careful of a religious leader who promotes himself as vigorously as he promotes the Lord.
The second item I would like for you to think about is this – the Galatians were Christians who surrendered their joy by going back to a reliance on their works. They were losing the enjoyment of salvation by giving themselves up to bondage. Be careful that this does not happen in your life.