Don't turn back.

Opening Comments:

Please meet me in your copy of God’s Word in Galatians 4:8-11. Today we will begin a new section of the book where Paul gives a sort of call to action to the Galatian believers as it relates to their being swayed by false teaching. For the last 5 sermons, we have seen the Apostle Paul prove that salvation is by faith in Christ alone apart from works. Now, from 4:8-5:12 we will see him launch a five pointed appeal to the Galatian churches regarding the truth they have heard.

Let’s read the text together. This is the Word of the Lord.

Galatians 4:8–11 NKJV

8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

Introduction:

Have you ever been at a point in life where the way forward either didn't seem clear or was so hard that you wanted to turn around and go back to what felt safe?

Have you ever been in a spot where the way forward seemed like a giant risk where the way forward would take more out of you than you wanted to give?

Have you ever glanced over your shoulder and realized and thought that it would be easier to turn around and go back to what felt safe rather than continue forward in the face of difficulties?

This is the kind of situation that the Galatians Paul was writing too found themselves in. Before becoming Christians, the Galatian people were pagans who worshipped other gods and observed pagan festivals. They had left that behind when they came to Christ but now they are being swayed to turn over to Jewish law, which included special day’s months, seasons, years etc. They had come to know freedom in Christ but were in a sense reverting back to a place they were in before. They were returning to a religion of rules, special days, seasons and lots of work instead of a relationship with Christ.

So, in the text we’ve just read together, Paul is appealing to them not to go back to what they used to be. A life bound by rules seems easy. Do this, don’t do that makes my religious position quantifiable. But, the reality is that a religion of rules makes us a slave and as Paul covered in our texts from the last two weeks, we’re not slaves any longer but sons. And, while a relationship may not be as quantifiable as rule keeping, it is far better.

As believers, we have to be careful not to be drawn back into the legalistic under tow that Christ pulled us out from.

Why is it that we feel the draw back into legalism when Christ has set us free? Maybe it is fear. Maybe it’s contentment to keep things as they have always been. But, it could also just be an excuse for our lack of faith in God’s promise of salvation.

If you are here this morning and have started to feel what living in the grace of God feels like but you are thinking of turning back or have already started down that backward journey then today’s sermon is for you.

Listen closely to Paul’s appeal today. Don’t turn back! When it comes to living out a life shaped by the gospel of grace, the way forward is not backward.

Paul knew this but the Galatians, (perhaps you) were struggling with it.

So, in order to help set them on the right course Paul in vs.8-11 encourages the Galatian believers to

Remember where you were.

Look at who you are in Christ.

Consider the results of turning back.

Let’s jump into the text together.

1.) Remember where you were. (v.8)

After laying out the doctrine of Justification and decimating the doctrine of works that was being peddled in Galatia he encourages his readers to remember the time before they believed in the Lord Jesus and experienced the salvation He brings.

You see before we came to Christ:

We did not know God in a personal way. We had no day to day experience of the presence and fellowship with the Father through the spirit.

Instead we served false God’s.

Most people are not atheist who deny the existence of God or Agnostics who think we can’t know God. That was the case for the people of Galatia to whom Paul was writing.

You see before coming to Christ, they were actually very religious people and yet didn't know God. They had worshipped many god’s . They were enslaved to these gods through adherence to rituals and ceremonies, to idols and superstitions.

Notice what the text says about these other god’s

“by nature they are not god’s” - The objects of their past worship were not god’s at all but simple objects of their own making. They may have thought of them as god’s but they were no more than ideas in their own mind.

That is really no different than most people today. Anything we place before the Lord Jesus in our lives becomes a functional idol to us.

Frankly, even many who claim to worship Jesus really worship a Jesus of their own making and not the Jesus of the bible. We have an idea of who God is and what He is like so they worship that idea. Few really ever seek God’s revelation of Jesus in the scripture. They will never study and seek to know Him with every fiber of their being. Which actual reveals they are not really followers of Christ.

Application: Since the unbeliever does not actually know Christ, whatever it is he worships is a false god. A figment of their imagination. Whatever a person bows to, be it an actual idol or not, you are only worshipping your own idea or concept.

Like the woman at the well who Jesus told:

John 4:22 NKJV

22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

Application: Every believer needs to remember where we came from before we truly knew God. He has been so merciful to us. We must never forget that Christ has purged us from our sins. Including our idolatry. Remembering this will help to keep us from returning.

2 Peter 1:3–4 NKJV

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2.) Look at who you are in Christ. (v.9a)

Once we came to Christ for salvation we were given the privilege of knowing and being known by God.

This is far more than having an intellectual understanding of God but knowing God in an intimate and personal way.

Ginosko- implies a personal relation between the knower and the known.

But notice Paul adds the phrase “…rather are known by God.”

He is doing this to remind the Galatians that their knowledge of God isn't something they acquired through an intellectual pursuit. No, their knowledge of God came from Him revealing himself to them.

Their escape from their life of idolatry and bondage to the law came about not by knowledge they acquired but by God coming to know them in a saving way.

That is where the folly lies in turning back to their previous religious life. Their position before God then was inferior compared to the intimate personal relationship they have with God now.

When you turned from the world and turned to Christ, God accepted you as his child. You are now known by God. A familial relationship with God is a tremendous privilege for the believer.

1 Corinthians 8:3 NKJV

3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

2 Timothy 2:19 NKJV

19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Application: As a child of God, we should look at our lives constantly with the glorious gift of God’s salvation to us in view. Remembering we did not come to salvation through our own efforts but through justification by faith in Christ alone.

3.) Consider the results of turning back. (v.9b-11)

Paul says here in vs.9 that the Galatians were turning back to the “weak and beggarly elements”. He’s referring to the elementary principles or elementary understandings about God in 4:1-3.

It’s not that were seeking to return back to their pagan idols, but the false teachers were leading them to approaching God through law and works.

This is what all religious people do, no matter the religion. They try and please their god through doing what they think pleases him. If the Galatians were going to subject themselves to the law and religion of works, they would be retuning to a life of bondage and slavery.

In a sense Paul is saying to them that there would be no difference in their trying to seek God’s approval through works and seeking God’s approval through their pagan worship.

Law keeping and other approaches to God are weak because they are helpless to bring salvation.

They are beggarly because they are worthless to save mankind from their sin.

Paul then refers in v.10 to the observance of days, months, seasons and years to say these will not bring justification or make anyone acceptable to God. They simply put us in bondage. Only Christ alone can bring justification and set men free.

In v.11 he tells them that he is afraid for them and worried that he has wasted his time in trying to bring Christ to them if all they are going to do is return to the slavery of false religion.

Application: Christ is far better than works. So before you return to what seems familiar before you stepped out in faith and experienced God’s grace, pause for a moment and remember the worthlessness and slavery you lived in before. Remember what it was like to live in constant fear that you might mess up and make god angry at you. he pain isn't worth going back. The fear isn't worth returning to. The bondage can’t offer freedom in Christ.

Conclusion:

You’ve come too far to turn back now. Take the risk and follow hard after a life lived in Christ. Turning back isn't the way forward. Continuing to walk in faith is.