You were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods
Thu, 28 September, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
The Galatians had come from the Jewish system of sacrificial worship and ceremonial cleanliness. They had to maintain their ritual purity, and observe feasts and times of sacrifice. These rituals had served their purpose, but once Jesus Christ came, these things were no longer required. Not understanding what Jesus Christ had done for them, the Galatians submitted to these regulations in hopes of coming to salvation.
But now that they have come to fully realize the truth of the gospel, and to know what God had done for them, they came to faith. They then understood that the rituals had been only for the purpose of pointing them to Christ, who perfectly fulfilled them. They no longer had to submit to these. They were freed from them.
Paul is very concerned for the Galatians, because after understanding that their salvation does not come from observing these rituals, and in fact the rituals have been fulfilled and no longer are in effect, they are turning back to these rituals as a means of being right with God. They are seeking to be right with God by keeping the Jewish ceremonial law.
Paul is vehement in condemning such thinking. If they believe they can be right with God by observing the ceremonial law, the Galatians don’t understand the gospel at all, and all Paul’s labor over them has been wasted.
What do we learn from this?
The gospel frees us from the need to attempt to gain our salvation through our own efforts. In fact, the gospel condemns such efforts. If we are in any way trying to earn God’s favor to influence Him to save us, we have completely misunderstood the gospel. We are then trusting in our own efforts, and not in what God has done for us. We are condemning ourselves, because we are rejecting what God has done and are replacing it with what we can do.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus Christ is the one who has perfectly kept the ceremonial law, fulfilling it in our place. It was all pointing to Him, and now that He has come, we no longer need the laws of sacrifice, cleansing, and external purity. We are now free from these. He is their fulfillment, and they no longer are required. If we go back to the old rituals, we are rejecting Jesus Christ and what He has done for us in fulfilling these Old Covenant laws.
