Galatians 4:8-11 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
In the above passage, Paul shows concern that the Galatian Christians are returning to their old ways of living: the Jew back to observing the law and its special days and feasts, the Gentile back to worshipping demons and gods by participating in pagan festivals. Paul knew these were weak and miserable principles, lacking any sustenance for victorious living and eternal life. If the Galatians gave any credence to such practices, they would be enslaved again in a lifestyle that would lead to bondage in this life and to eternal death in the life that is to come. As their spiritual father and shepherd, he warns them not to return to the unprofitable pastures of their past lives; desolate wastelands where they will not find God and will feed upon the fruits of the flesh that do not satisfy or build up the inner person. When they were in those pastures, they did not know God; they were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. They did not grow in faith and become more like God; they became more like the beggarly elements of the world around them. Writing to the Romans, Paul said,
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. He goes on to describe that prior to knowing Christ,
we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now that we are released from the law, we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:4-6) In Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are free to bear fruit for God and to show forth his love in a sinful world in need of his mercy and grace.
Today, pastors do not have to be overly concerned about Christians dropping their allegiance to Jesus Christ to follow pagan Gods or that Christians will substitute the Jewish law with its concomitant sacrifices for the efficacious work of Jesus Christ and the cross. These kind of reversals in belief are either very rare or nonexistent. But what might happen within a Christian or even within a Christian community is what Jesus expressed in his parable of the sower. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." The latter two conditions, where the seeds are sown in rocky places and thorns, are quite often seen in today's Christian community. Some people receive the Good News with joy, their faces literally shine with this joy of finding Christ as their savior. But all too quickly, when relationships and experiences in their lives are either hard or don't work out the way they desire, they become discouraged and walk away from Christ and Christianity. The more prevalent problem in Christianity today is the lukewarmness of believers, illustrated by the seed among the thorns. Christians hear the word, walk energetically and happily for a while in that light, but eventually allow the concerns of their lives and the deceitfulness of materialism to drain them of their zeal for Christ and his assignments for them. They become unfruitful or marginalized: lacking prayer and dedication to the only one who offers eternal life. Sometimes their only commitment to Christ is church attendance, which might be sporadic.
Paul fears for his Galatians, knowing their waywardness and inattentiveness to the purity of the gospel places them in danger of losing their belief in Jesus Christ. He fears for them that he may have wasted his efforts on them. He does not want them to end up in the condition described in Hebrews: It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (Hebrews 6:4-6) He desires to stir up their allegiance to Jesus and his works and faithfulness to the Father. Paul beseeches them to live by faith and not by works, not to return to the customs and religions of the past. He warns them not to slide back into that which was never real, into that which has no eternal solutions for their lives. He realizes if they throw Jesus Christ out of their lives, they are crucifying him again. They are getting rid of the only answer for eternal life with God. Turning their backs on Jesus means they are giving the gift God gave them back to God, dooming themselves eternally to be absent from a loving God. Paul knows what he believes and is firmly committed to retrieving these wayward believers from the error of falling into Satan's traps. He would say to them just as he said to the church in Rome: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) Today is a good day for each of us to remind ourselves that our faith is based on nothing else than Jesus and his righteousness. If we have turned back to any weak and miserable principles to substantiate our walk with the Lord, they will fail. Christ alone is our cornerstone. Seek him now: seek his will and his power through the Holy Spirit. He will bless you with abundant life that overflows.
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