Do You Want to be Slaves Again?

"In the past you did not know God. You were slaves to gods that were not real. But now you know the true God. Really, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to those weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again? You still follow teachings about special days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you, that my work for you has been wasted." (Galatians 4:8-11, New Century Version)

The Galatian Church was made up mostly of Gentiles. They had once worshipped idols. They now understood that these false gods had no power.

They had come to know God, or more accurately, God had made Himself known to them. They had escaped from the bondage of idol worship to the truth through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Paul could not understand why they were returning again to something inferior. They knew all the freedom and privileges of Grace. Now they were turning away, not back to idolatry, but to legalism: a legalism that tried to add works to Grace.

Paul says that this legalism was made up of weak and beggarly teachings. Beggarly means poor or worthless. The Galatians were falling into a system of doctrine that was worthless. It gave them nothing, but slavery.

Verse ten gives us another sign of legalism: keeping certain days as holy. The Jews had many holy days. Some were part of the Law. Others were tradition. For Christians, there is nothing holy about any specific day.

We worship on Sundays because that is the day when our Savior rose from the dead. We celebrate Christmas and Easter because they are opportunities to share the Gospel with people in our society. These days are not holy in any spiritual or mystical sense. For those who understand their freedom in Christ, one day is the same as another. We should worship God every day. We should be thankful for the birth, life and death of Christ every day.

Paul was afraid that his labor among the Galatians had been in vain. He had brought them freedom through the Grace of God. They seemed to desire slavery.

He is not worried about their salvation. Those who had trusted in Christ were eternally saved. He was concerned about the end of the Gospel ministry in Galatia. If they turned into legalism, God’s kingdom work would suffer greatly. Paul’s work in their province would have no lasting effect.

We need to be sure that we do not go into a second childhood spiritual. Legalism appeals to the flesh and has a certain attraction. However, it is a worthless system that steals our freedom and makes us slaves. It defines spirituality in terms of what we do rather than who we are. Eventually, it puts an end to ministry and gives unrepentant people a false hope.