Being and Doing

Introduction

We finally find our way back to the book of Galatians. Just as a reminder, this little six-chapter book answers two questions:

#1 Are people justified simply by faith in Christ or is justification earned by following rituals or rules?

#2 If people are justified by faith in Christ, how then should they live?

Our study brings us to Galatians 4:8-12

Galatians 4:8–12 NIV84

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 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? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. 12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

As we study these verses, we will find the two previously mentioned questions are answered.

A Calamity (vs. 8)

First, in verse 8, I see a bit of a calamity. Often, people believe that they can work out their salvation. There is an indication of this calamity happening in 3 distinct ways.

Sin of Self

First, there is the sin of self. That is when we say, “I can do it and do not need any help.”

Frank Sinatra sang a song about it, “I did it my way!” The problem with this is that we will never be able to do enough to be able to approach God and our way will always come up short.

Romans 3:23 NIV84

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Sin of Structure

Another reason for this calamity is the sin of structure. This is the sin that says I can be justified because of the structure of the church and what it calls me to do. Many people are bound to their religion. They think, “if I go to church enough Sundays, if I pray 3 times a day, and if I give my money to the church, then I will be justified.” John Stott tells the story of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.

The Message of Galatians (a. What the Christian Life Is)

John Wesley in his post-graduate Oxford days was in the Holy Club. He was the son of a clergyman and already a clergyman himself. He was orthodox in belief, religious in practice, upright in conduct and full of good works. He and his friends visited the inmates of the prisons and work-houses of Oxford. They took pity on the slum children of the city, providing them with food, clothing and education. They observed Saturday as the Sabbath as well as Sunday. They went to church and to Holy Communion. They gave alms, searched the Scriptures, fasted and prayed. But they were bound in the fetters of their own religion, for they were trusting in themselves that they were righteous, instead of putting their trust in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The Holy Club believed in the structure of the church. The Galatians did too. They went back to the practices of idolatry that they had come from thinking it would be okay. Paul points out that it does not.

Acts 17:22 NIV84

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

This is an example of those that hold to the structure.

Sin of Service

This is highlighted also in the sin of service. “I will do this program or this service before God and surely this will please Him.” A few years after John Wesley and the Holy Club relied on their works, Wesley realized his need to trust Christ only for his salvation. He wrote, “I came to trust in Christ, in Christ only for salvation and by doing so, I was given assurance that my sins had been taken away.”

He wrote, “I had even then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son.”

John Wesley

All of these calamities remind us that we need to turn to Christ and not our efforts to be justified. Paul warns us in this passage of Galatians that we need not turn back to the “weak and miserable principles” that promote self, structure and service to earn our salvation.

He indicates in two words a reminder of what we have: “But now...”

A Change (vs. 9)

These words show us that a change has taken place.

Galatians 4:9 NIV84

9 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?

Knowing God vs. Known By God

What is the difference of knowing God and being known by God? We can know God because He first knew us. Another way of saying that is we cannot know God unless we first are known by God. There is an intimacy here that has been established. God the Father made Himself known to us through God the Son and utilizes God the Spirit to lead and direct us in all of His ways!

Spend some time in 1 John 4 to gain a better understanding of this.

1 John 4:13 NIV84

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

Do you want to know God and be known by Him? Then we need to turn away from that which have done in the past and turn toward His design and plan for us.

Turning Back vs. Going Forward

What’s the difference between turning back and turning forward? Turning back is turning to that which was comfortable, perhaps that which we can see. Turning forward is stepping out on faith, trusting God and His ways.

Psalm 20:7 NIV84

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

What are you trusting in? Another analogy Paul uses in the idea of being enslaved vs. freedom.

Enslaved vs. Freedom

The analogy of being enslaved can be stretched to mean many things. We had a great discussion about this Wednesday night in our Bible Study. One can be enslaved by the past or the quest for the future. Paul was talking here about being bound to the law. He stresses in verse 9 with this question, “Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” He calls them weak and miserable principles. A careful study of these words show that this is a state like a feeble beggar that is helpless. This person is destitute of wealth and destitute of Christian principles.

A Commitment (vs. 10)

Paul details this further by the statement in verse 10:

Galatians 4:10 NIV84

10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

In order to observe these special days and months and seasons and years, one had to follow strict religious practices. They had to look to the stars for the signs and seasons.

Religious Practices

These religious practices had them trying to achieve things that were tied and limited to what they could perceive. Think about it this way. We just finished celebrating Christmas. Do we celebrate Christmas more than we celebrate Christ? Do we look for stars to celebrate a certain season than we look to the One that made the stars?

Relationship Practice

The key is not a religious practice but the key is a relationship practice. Jesus made the way for us to have a glorious relationship with God the Father. The Bible tells us that all of us are sinners.

Romans 3:23 NIV84

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The Bible also tells us that God provided a way to restore us and redeem us from our sinful nature.

Romans 6:23 NIV84

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We also learn from God’s word that we simply get to receive this gift by calling on the name of the Lord.

Romans 10:13 NIV84

13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Have you done that?

Righteous Path

If you have, you will grow on a righteous path, doing all you can do to grow the relationship you have established. Sometimes that path is quite hard. Sometimes it will wear you out. Paul expresses this in a concern in these last 2 verses.

A Concern (vs. 11-12)

Galatians 4:11–12 NIV84

11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. 12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

Worn Out Ministry

Paul can’t help if he has wasted his efforts. Full disclosure, it is hard to do ministry. I understand Paul’s complaint here. We wonder if what we do makes a difference. Paul is wondering. Evidently this was a concern throughout his ministry.

1 Thessalonians 3:5 NIV84

5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

But because of Who God is, we can take our weariness and turn it into witness.

Weariness to Witness

When you are worn out and weary, what can others see in you? I have learned that in the darkest times of my life, I can still somehow manage to be a light for Christ. I can somehow offer encouragement and hope because He who is in me is greater than anything I am going through! No wonder John the Baptist declared

John 3:30 NIV84

30 He must become greater; I must become less.

John 14:12 NIV84

12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Winning with Jesus

This calling that you and I have is real. We are called to living a life with Jesus that makes a difference. Too often we go backwards, depending upon what has happened in the past and failing to trust God with the future.

Joshua 24:14–15 NIV84

14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Are you still living beyond the river of your past? Are you still serving God by practicing religion instead of a relationship?