LEARNING DAILY

 

Galatians 4:9, And now that you have found God (or should I say that God has found you), why do you want to go back to the weak and useless spiritual powers of the world? (NLT)

 

Galatians 4:9, But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? (NKJV)

 

Paul is writing chapter 4 of Galatians to the Galatian people to drive home the point that once they had found God’s salvation through Jesus Christ there was no need to return to the sin that had enslaved them (4:1). He wrote to them that when they received Christ, the Holy Spirit takes residence in their heart and gives them the power to become loving and obedient people. He told them that when Jesus saved them the law could be replaced with the love being their guide. He was telling them they had become heirs of God.

 

This leads to the verse above. Paul is shocked that the Believers in Galatia had turned back to a legalistic lifestyle (weak and beggarly elements). They had returned to rituals and rules, and regulations the law had required from them. Jewish leaders came behind Paul and attempted to focus the new Christians to the Jewish laws that Paul had told them they were free from. Can you imagine the confusion the Galatian Believers were in?

 

In Galatians 4:16 Paul tells the Galatians that he will not compromise the truth to make them happy. Paul loved them enough to tell them the truth, that was more important than their friendship. Why is this important? Just like there were those who tried to separate the Galatians from Paul’s teaching there are those who are trying to separate Christians from Biblical teaching. This teaching is done by falsely teaching a set of rules that Christians are to live by.  As Christians, having Christ within us should change our heart desire not just the behaviors people see. The image of Christ should be reflected in us as His followers. That happens as we read and study His Word, pray, worship and do all we can to walk on the narrow way to His kingdom.

 

The Galatians were in a fearful place because they were being deceived into believing that everything physical was evil and they could attain greater spiritual blessing through effort. They were being told that only through following the Jewish rules and regulations they could grow closer to God and achieve heaven. Legalism might give some people satisfaction about being able to do something to achieve heaven; perhaps, it is a sense of control or power that makes them feel superior to others. It might be the attitude of “look at me and how good a person I am; you ought to be like me”.

 

 The walk on the narrow way to eternal life in God’s kingdom is nothing we can earn. It is the free gift of Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. Our responsibility is to live the best way we can according to His plan given to us in His Word. That takes the pressure off of us to live by a set of rules and regulations.