All of Galatians is about the apostle Paul’s concern for the Galatian Christians—his concern that they are being misled into going back to a way of salvation that is by “works”—a way that can never save anyone. False teachers have come in among them and persuaded them that they need to keep the Law of Moses in order to be righteous in God’s eyes. It’s been having disastrous results. (We’ll see some of that in today’s passage and more as we continue through Galatians.) The apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Galatian Christians, but God arranged for the letter to be preserved for us to read it and learn from it, today.

Also, as always, I exhort you to read your Bibles every day. Study the word of God and think about what it means. Have the word of God in your heart. Do you do it? The apostle Paul says to “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.” (Eph.~6:11) We have an enemy that wants to deceive and destroy us (the same enemy that wanted to deceive and destroy the Galatian Christians). He is a liar and a murderer and was from the beginning. (John 8:44) The full armor of God consists of “the belt of truth”, “the breastplate of righteousness”, “the readiness of the gospel of truth”, “the shield of faith”, “the helmet of salvation” and “the sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:14-17) All the weapons are defensive weapons except the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit, the word of God, is the one offensive weapon the God has provided to drive off Satan the devil. Don’t let your “sword of the Spirit” get rusty! Do you hear that? Don’t let your “sword of the Spirit” get rusty. Keep it shiny and sharpened.

⁸But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. ⁹But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ¹⁰You observe special days, months, seasons, and years. ¹¹I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

¹²I beg you, brothers: become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me; ¹³you know that previously I preached the gospel to you in physical weakness, ¹⁴and though my physical condition was a trial for you, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

¹⁵What happened to this blessedness of yours? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them. ¹⁸Now it is always good to be enthusiastic about good—and not just when I am with you. ¹⁹My children, again I am in the pains of childbirth for you until Christ is formed in you. ²⁰I’d like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you. (Galatians~4:8-20)

In last week’s passage (Galatians 3:27-4:7), the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul told us—those of us who believe in Jesus, that is, who have “put on Christ”, to use Paul’s words—that we have “received adoption as sons”. Adoption may not sound as good as being born into the family, but, according to Roman law, a natural-born son could be disowned, but an adopted son could never be disowned! We may be disciplined and corrected, but our Father God loves us and will never, ever disown us! Praise the Lord! And because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” (Gal.~4:6) “Abba” was Aramaic (the language spoken in Jesus’s culture) for “Father”. It was a very intimate name. It was normally only used by young children in speaking to their fathers. Jesus used it when he prayed to his Father in the garden at Gethsemane before he went to the cross: “Then He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, ‘ Abba, Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’” (Mark~14:35, 36) God is Jesus’s Father. And because of what Jesus did for us, God is also our Father. We too can cry out, “Abba, Father.”

And, by the way, if God is not your Father, there is only one other possibility. If God is not your father, then you belong to your father the Devil. That’s what Jesus told the Jewish leaders who were rejecting him: “You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.” (John~8:44) And that’s not just for the Jewish leaders. All of us... All of us belonged to the devil at one time. Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also.”

Who is your father? Do you still belong to the devil? Jesus says anyone who hears his words and believes the one who sent him will not be judged. He has eternal life. He has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24) Have you crossed over from death to life? If not, don’t wait any longer.

Let’s look at the first verse in today’s passage, verse 8: “But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.” Really, the Galatians had been enslaved by Satan the devil. So were we. The Jewish Christians had tried to be righteous by keeping the Law of Moses. (If I keep repeating these things it’s because the apostle Paul wrote a whole book of the Bible about them. The Spirit of God led him to do so. If the Holy Spirit led Paul to write the whole book of Galatians about these things, they are worth repeating.)

The Jewish Christians (before they were Christians) had tried to be righteous by keeping the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is not a bad thing. It was given by God through Moses. It has things like “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” (Deut.~6:5) and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) These are good positive things. The Law of Moses also has a set of rules to keep and a list of days and rituals to observe. The Lord says that if you do these things you will live. But no one has ever done them. It never was God’s intention that we would be saved by keeping the Law of Moses. It was and is his intention that we be saved by trusting in Jesus—really, by trusting God. That was his intention from the beginning. Trusting in Jesus brings life. Trying to make yourself righteous by keeping the law brings death. And I think it’s safe to say that trying to make yourself righteous by keeping any set of rules leads to death. Trying to make yourself righteous comes from pride.

The Jewish believers had tried to keep the law. But it was really no different for the Gentile believers. The Gentile believers, before they had accepted Christ, had been trying to be saved by serving pagan gods and observing pagan rituals. In both cases they were lost. They were enslaved to things that were not gods. They were enslaved to the devil. They were enslaved to sin. But that had been in the past.

First of all, what’s the difference between knowing God and being known by God? Paul says, “...since you know God, or rather have become known by God...” We sometime say that a person knows Jesus, meaning that he is saved—that he has eternal life. But the really important thing apparently is to be known by God. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “On that day (the day of judgment) many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matt.~7:22, 23) It’s actually possible to do many miraculous things and even say that you are doing them in Jesus’s name, and still not be known by Jesus, still be lost. God apparently gives people who are not believers power to do such things. But you have to conclude that they use that power for their own glory—to be seen by men—rather than the glory of God. Being seen by men is the only reward they will get.

Verse 9 says, “But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces?” The false teachers had been telling the Galatians that they had to at least be circumcised and observe certain Jewish holidays in addition to trusting Jesus. (Verse 10 says, “You observe special days, months, seasons, and years.”) How could they be turning away from a salvation that just requires believing that it is true to something that not only can’t bring salvation at all, but takes away joy, brings selfishness, and as we’ll see further down the line leads to strife and all kinds of sin. (Paul doesn’t say so at this point, but I can tell you that it’s Satan’s deception. Be sure you have on the full armor of God, including the taking up the “sword of the Spirit”.) The Galatians must not be enslaved to these weak and bankrupt elemental forces again—and we must not be enslaved to them either.

Is it good for us to observe these days? Well, if you think they are required for salvation, certainly not. If you think that observing them somehow makes you more holy or godly, no to that, too. If you observe these days in order to be reminded of Jesus’s birth and death and resurrection and to rejoice, well that’s a good thing. But, really, we should remember Jesus’s birth and death and resurrection day-by-day—and rejoice in the Lord. But what the Galatians were doing was observing Jewish holidays with the idea that it was necessary to do so. It was taking away their joy.

Verse 11 says, “I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.” It sounds like Paul was afraid that they had lost their salvation (or maybe never had it in the first place). (I personally believe that Paul’s use of the analogy of adoption show that Paul didn’t believe that God would let them be lost if he had really adopted them but that he was saying this to warn them.)

Let’s look at verse 12. Verse 12 says, “I beg you, brothers: become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me.” In 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 the apostle Paul says, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. To those who are outside the law, like one outside the law—not being outside God's law, but under the law of Christ—to win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some.” Paul’s goal was to win them to Christ by any means (and that would probably include eating ham).

Let’s look at verses 13 and 14: “You know that previously I preached the gospel to you in physical weakness, and though my physical condition was a trial for you, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.”

Paul doesn’t say what his infirmity was. He talks about his eyes in verse 15 and again in Galatians 6:11: “Look at what large letters I have written to you in my own handwriting.” But he might have had more of an infirmity than that. (He talked about a thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan that had been given to him to keep him humble in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12.) It’s the nature of the flesh to despise people with disabilities. We have to teach kids not to do it (and ourselves, too). We go to a great deal of effort to teach everyone not to reject anyone with any kind of disability. (I just heard a “Hire the handicapped” ad on the radio the other day.) I doubt that they made any such effort in the pagan society back in the days of the Roman Empire. But the Galatians had received Paul and his message of God’s grace and mercy whole-heartedly. They didn’t even consider him to be a burden to them, although he apparently was. But, you know what? It was not because Paul was a great orator or a persuasive speaker. When things like that happen it’s a supernatural miracle. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit! Believe it!

Let’s look at verse 15: “What happened to this blessedness of yours? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” It’s God’s Holy Spirit that makes you unselfish. It’s God’s Holy Spirit that causes you to rejoice to help and serve others. Our old nature was selfish and self centered (and I have to say that most of us are still trying to crucify it). But, you know what? We won’t succeed. We can’t make ourselves unselfish. We can’t make ourselve be full of joy. We don’t have the ability to do it. But, you know what else. We have God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit will do it!

Look at verse 16: “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Paul had preached to the Galatians Christians that they were saved because of God’s promise—that they were saved by trusting that God had provided for their salvation by his own sacrifice—that they were justified, that they were made righteous, that they were saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And now these false teachers were teaching something different, something that was obviously very evil and destructive. The HCSB says, “What happened to this blessedness of yours?” The NIV says, “What happened to all your joy?”

Is it puzzling? How can thinking you need to do something else besides just accepting God’s salvation to receive it cause such terrible consequences (and things that are worse still that we won’t get to until chapter 5)? It has everything to do with pride. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the Kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matt. 5:3) I can tell you (and have told you before) that “poor” means absolutely destitute—completely dependent on someone else for survival. (It’s the same word that’s translated “bankrupt” in verse 9—“...the weak and bankrupt elemental forces...”) If you are “poor in spirit”, it means that you know that you are absolutely dependent on God. There is nothing you can do to help yourself. The only thing you can do is to put yourself into his hands. “Poor in spirit” leaves absolutely no room at all for pride! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the Kingdom of heaven is theirs.” The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. What belongs to those who are not poor in spirit? Think about it.

Look at verse 17: “They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them. ” “They”, of course, are the false teachers. What they want is to gather a following. That has to do with pride, too. Their motives (I can say with some confidence) are not the well-being of the Galatian Christians. Some of them may have said that they had the best interest of the Galatians at heart. They may have even convinced themselves that it was true. But the reality was pride. They wanted the Galatians to be enthusiastic about them rather than about Jesus. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Jesus says. “You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!” (Matt.~23:15) (Read all of Matthew chapter 23 if you want to see how not to think!)

Paul says, “...until Christ is formed in you...” I’m not sure how to understand this. It sounds like Paul is saying that they never really believed. But I don’t think Paul thought that. I think he wrote what he did to get the Galatians to think carefully about what they were doing. “What happened to your blessedness?” “What happened to your joy?” He wanted them to think about how far they had fallen.

Well, that’s the end of the passage. It seems to end on a negative note. But the apostle Paul was really concerned about these Galatian Christians. And we should be concerned about ourselves, too, lest we start to think that keeping any rules can make us more godly or holy. It can’t. But some churches try to do it anyway. The secret—actually, the bottom line—is in chapter 5. We want to have the fruit of the spirit—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” To have the fruit of the Spirit, you have to follow the Spirit, not a set of rules.

Do you rejoice when someone interrupts what you are doing with some need? I rejoice some of the time, but a lot of the time, even most of the time, I complain. But if I remember to pray to be a blessing, then, amazingly, I rejoice. And I am convinced that that is the work of the Holy Spirit. It could be nothing else (and it is also the work of the Holy Spirit that I even think to pray).

To conclude, I’m going to read the apostle Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 3:16-21. I’ll let it be my prayer for all of us. I’m going to read the NIV version because that’s the one I’m most used to. I’m also going to change “you” in the apostle Paul’s prayer (the apostle Paul was praying for the Ephesians) to “us”. This is from Ephesians 3:17-21:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. And I pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.