No Turning Back

On February 24, 2001, a one-year old Canadian girl named Erika somehow wandered out of her mother's bed and house and spent the entire night in the Edmonton winter.

When her mother, Leyla Nordby, found her, Erika appeared to be totally frozen. Her legs were stiff, her body frozen, and all signs of life appeared to be gone.

Erika was treated at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Health Center, and God helped doctors and rescue workers bring her back to life. To the amazement of all, there appeared to be no sign of brain damage, and doctors gave Erika a clear prognosis—she would soon be able to hop and skip and play like other girls her age.

Some of us have wandered away from our Father's house, and it has brought us near the point of death. Our hearts have hardened, and our spiritual bodies look as lifeless as the little girl in the snow.

Kinda like the situation here in Galatia, wandering away from the Gospel and Paul is convincing them to stay home. Do go back to what you are sheltered from. Stay home and don’t wander back to the world.

Galatians 4:8–11 NLT

Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.

Galatians

We

Ever heard the saying this is too good to be true. Maybe the Galatians thought that about the Gospel. It can’t be this easy. There must be more to it. There is not. And many will lead us to that.

Or maybe its that things got hard in life. WE HAVE ALL probably at some point come to a place in life where the way forward was so hard that we wanted to turn around and go back. Paul ends his treatment on justification and now will spend the rest of the book showing how this truth must govern our walk with the Lord.

WE HAVE ALL probably at some point come to a place in life where the way forward was so hard that we wanted to turn around and go back.

I. Let’s Go Back to Egypt?

A. Some of us may have done much in our careers, family relationship, friends and pursuits even in the church. You became a Christian thinking that since God is on our side now, things should be getting easier. Then the reality hits… if things are gonna get better it is going to demand much more time, effort, and sacrifice. Now we are glancing over our shoulder and looking at our past and wondering if it would just be easier to go back to the way things were.

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 141). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

B. This is the Galatians. They find themselves in a tough spot; the way forward doesn’t look promising or even easy. So they decide to turn back to what’s familiar—specifically to their own preconversion pagan practices, as Paul laments: “You observe days and months and seasons and years.”

C. Paul believes the Galatians are deserting the one who has called them. They’re defecting from the faith by turning to the idolatrous practices of their former way of life. Indeed they’re relapsing into their former state of slavery, that time of ignorance when they neither knew God nor were known by him.

This is where the Galatians are. They find themselves in a tough spot; the way forward doesn’t look either obvious or easy. So they decide to turn back to what’s familiar—specifically to their own preconversion pagan practices, as Paul laments: “You observe days and months and seasons and years”

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 141). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

As a result Paul believes the Galatians are deserting the one who has called them. They’re defecting from the faith by turning to the idolatrous practices of their former way of life. Indeed they’re relapsing into their former state of slavery, that time of ignorance when they neither knew God nor were known by him.

D. It gets deeper, but first. Paul is using words that could be alluding to Egypt. Maybe Paul finds this as ridiculous as the Israelites wanting to return to Egypt. Having been liberated from Egyptian bondage, the Israelites confronted a difficult wilderness transition and then wanted to turn back. “Would that we were in Egypt; we want to go back; it’s too difficult out here in the wilderness.”

E. You may recall how they responded to the report of the spies. When they heard of “giants” in the land, they were so distraught and even indignant, they decided to appoint a replacement for Moses, one who would lead them back to Egypt:

The steadfast Apostle Paul, of course, finds this as ridiculous as the Israelites wanting to return to Egypt. Having been liberated from Egyptian bondage, the Israelites confronted a difficult wilderness transition and then wanted to turn back. “Would that we were in Egypt; we want to go back; it’s too difficult out here in the wilderness.”

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 141). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

You may recall how they responded to the report of the spies. When they heard of “giants” in the land, they were so distraught and even indignant, they decided to appoint a replacement for Moses, one who would lead them back to Egypt:

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 141). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Numbers 14:2–4 NLT

Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

F. Why do you want? To go back to Egypt. I want you want to want to do the dishes, why would I want to do the dishes. Astonishingly, like the Israelites of old, the Galatians want to return to slavery!

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 142). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

G. But Why do we do this? My opinion? Usually because we see the past as more promising than the future. When the way forward is hard, we have to walk by faith, not by sight, if we’re going to walk at all. And that’s precisely why going back is often so much easier. We’ve been there and done that. Traveling in that direction requires little, if any, faith; it’s familiar territory.

Astonishingly, like the Israelites of old, the Galatians want to return to slavery!

Usually because we see the past as more promising than the future. When the way forward is hard, we have to walk by faith, not by sight, if we’re going to walk at all. And that’s precisely why going back is often so much easier. We’ve been there and done that. Traveling in that direction requires little, if any, faith; it’s familiar territory.

II. Powerless

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 142). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

A. Turning back is folly, first of all, because turning back leaves us powerless to move forward. Why? Because when we return to our former way of life, we find it doesn’t actually provide us with greater strength and freedom to help us move forward. In fact, it’s just the opposite: we find we’re back in bondage to what once held us captive.

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 142). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Turning back is first-rate folly, first of all, because turning back leaves us powerless to move forward. Why? Because when we return to our former way of life, we find it doesn’t actually provide us with greater strength and freedom to help us move forward. In fact, it’s just the opposite: we find we’re back in bondage to what once held us captive.

B. On the one hand it is powerless because it is not a god at all. You wanna go back to it, but why? Its nothing but an empty stone. On the other hand, not only is it powerless because it is nothing, nothing makes us captive. We become enslaved to something that is nothing. This is folly.

C. How many of us have ever felt like our old life had a stranglehold on us. It was difficult to walk away from a lifestyle or even people. St. Augustine will call this a stranglehold on him.

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 142). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

St. Augustine - I was held back by mere trifles, the most paltry inanities, all my old attachments. They plucked at my garment of flesh and whispered, “Are you going to dismiss us? From this moment we shall never be with you again, for ever and ever. From this moment you will never again be allowed to do this thing or that, for evermore.” What was it, my God, that they meant when they whispered, “this thing or that?” Things so sordid and so shameful that I beg you in your mercy to keep the soul of your servant free from them! These voices, as I heard them, seemed less than half as loud as they had been before. They no longer barred my way, blatantly contradictory, but their mutterings seemed to reach me from behind, as though they were stealthily plucking at my back, trying to make me turn my head when I wanted to go forward. Yet, in my state of indecision, they kept me from tearing myself away, from shaking myself free of them and leaping across the barrier to the other side, where you were calling me. Habit was too strong for me when it asked, “Do you think you can live without these things?”

D. Many times this becomes difficult when we are face to face with tribulation and trouble. Whenever progress with Christ proves difficult, we’ll hear voices clamoring for us to come back. And if we listen, we’ll find our minds flooded with the memories of how good life used to be. But we must not listen to those hollow sounds or look to those mirage-memories. They’re just our old attachments razzing us; give them only a deaf ear and a blind eye. Paul is saying there is no power there… they are nothing, but all it will do is keep us captive and enslaved.

E. But what is bizarre here is that the context is that of the keeping of the law as that thing that will enslave them. The context is the law keeping legalism that was being posited. Like their pagan days of law keeping and ceremonies, they needed to do this with the OT laws in order to be a Christian.

F. So the Apostle Paul is equating the pagan practices with OT legalism. If you do this you will be as enslaved to this as you were in paganism. The religious person is just as lost and enslaved as the irreligious person.

G. The basic spiritual principle of the world in almost all religions is that we need to save ourselves. We will worship what we think will give us life. And the problem is that anything in the world can be seen as an idol. Money, success, mountains, fame… And whatever it is that we will worship is the thing that we will be enslaved by.

H. If our greatest hope in life is gaining wealth, we will be controlled and enslaved by it. We will completely under the power of money. It is our hope. If we are not doing well at gaining it, we will be devastated. If we don’t get enough we will be disappointed, and seek more and more. It will control us in every way.

I. But Shane how does a works based salvation enslave us? I’m glad you asked. There are a number of ways we can earn our salvation through works, achievement, morality, religious piety, serving, family, the success of those things become our savior and into a god.

Tim Keller - Works righteousness always creates idols; it is simply that the false saviors it produces - church attendance, ministry to others, Bible reading - are things we would not normally think of as Idols.

J. Wow even obedience can be an Idol. Obedience to the Laws of the Lord if you think it will save you will enslave you. It is not the Gospel. It is another Gospel which is no gospel at all. Obedience is not the answer, it is love for the Lord.

K. The Prodigal Son -

L. Tim Keller - If anything, that idolatry and slavery of religion is more dangerous than the idolatry and slavery of irreligion, because it is less obvious. The irreligious person knows that he is far away from God, but the religious person does not.

M. This is why Paul is in fear for the Galatians. They would be slaves to false gods, yet they would all be thinking that they are near and known by God though they were not. Depart from me I never knew you.

III. The Real God

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

A. You desire to go back to those things that are not gods at all, but here you have something great with the living God.

B. You know God and more importantly you are known by Him.

Tim Keller - What makes a person a Christian is not so much you knowing God but His knowing of you. This is the antidote to Idolatry.

C. Ginosko - is not intellectual knowledge, but an intimate relational knowledge.

1 Corinthians 8:3 ESV

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

D. Depart from me I never knew you?

E. When things get tough. When things get rough and we even experience persecution and rejection, it is the knowledge that we are known by God that we find shelter.

1 Corinthians 4:3–4 NIV

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

F. The beauty of what Paul is saying here is that our great assurance is not based on how much our hearts are set on God, but on how unshakable His heart is set on us. If we grasp what is meant when we say that we are known by God we don’t need to bolster our insecurities or try to defend ourselves by our works.

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.