Galatians 4:1-11 – Don’t Go Back
Paul makes a comparison between the once idol worshipping Gentiles, and the once outwardly religious Jews like himself and says – actually, we were both the same. Look at the connection between vs 8, 9 and 10. In v8 Paul reminds the Galatians that formerly when they didn’t know God they were enslaved to those things that by nature are not gods. In other words, they worshipped idols. But then look what Paul says in v9. ‘How can you turn back to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world?’ And if we were to read that verse outside of the book of Galatians we would assume that they were being tempted to go back to worshipping their many gods.
But what was the big issue in Galatia? The temptation that they were facing was to start observing the Jewish ceremonial law, to add works to faith. And that’s actually what Paul is referring to when he talks about the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world. We can be sure of that because in v10 he goes on to explain what he means – observing Jewish festivals.
On the face of it, the Galatians aren’t being tempted to go back to their old way of life at all. They’re being tempted to do Jewish religious rituals that they’ve never done before, but that these false teachers say are necessary.
But Paul says if you do that, if you start trying to follow the Jewish law, it will be just like going back to your idols. Because in both cases it’s trying to please a God through outward rituals rather than through a real relationship with him.
False Christianity is little different from paganism. The sort of Christianity taught in churches where you just turn up, hear a nice moral story, pay in your money and go home unchanged has more in common with the religion of Hindu Temples than with the Bible.
Questions
- What is the similarity between idol worshippers and those outwardly religious?
- What was the big issue in Galatia?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the salvation of family and friends.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.