Chapter 21
“I Am Afraid of You”
"Howbeit
then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no
gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how
turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to
be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid
of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Brethren, I beseech you,
be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all."
The last words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his
son in the ministry and the young pastor of the church at
“I charge thee
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the Word; be instant in season, out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But
watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,
make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Tim. 4:1-5).
Paul was as good as his
word. He loved the souls of God’s people and was faithful to them, proving
himself to be the servant of Jesus Christ. He was watchful over the souls of
men. He did the work of an evangelist. He carefully declared all the counsel of
God, when it was popular to do so and when it was unpopular to do so. When the
people of God erred, he was faithful and longsuffering, reproving their
backslidings, rebuking their sins, and exhorting them to repentance. For all of
this, he was abused, criticized, misunderstood, misrepresented, afflicted, and
imprisoned. But he was, nonetheless, faithful to his calling; and when no man
stood with him, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with him and strengthened him.
That is what is involved in
the work of the ministry. The greatest blessing that God can give to any community
is a faithful gospel preacher and a church wherein the gospel is freely
proclaimed and boldly upheld. And the most terrible curse that can be brought
upon any society of men is for God to stop the mouths of his servants. How
clearly this is proven both in the Word of God and in history.
The Apostle Paul was, in the
broadest sense of the term, a man of God. His work in the gospel was truly a
labor of love. He had gone, at great sacrifice to himself, into the region of
The Galatians seemed ready
to sacrifice all the blessings of the gospel: Full redemption by the blood of
Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit giving them the assurance of sons
before the Father and free access to heaven, and eternal glory. They seemed
ready to give all of this up and return to their
former state of slavery. For this, Paul’s heart was breaking. And now he pleads
with their very souls.
Once Idolaters
Paul knew that perhaps the surest way to win the hearts of these
believers back to Christ and his gospel was to remind them of what he had done
for them. Therefore, Paul reminds the Galatians of what they were before God,
by his free-grace, called them. God had saved them out of heathen idolatry. ― "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God,
ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods" (v. 8). Let us be reminded of what
God has done for us by his grace (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
Men by nature are ignorant
of God. Paul does not here teach that men have no knowledge of God at all, but
that they have no proper, saving knowledge of him. All men by nature know that
there is a God (Rom.
Yet, all men have a God
consciousness, from which they cannot escape. Man is both a spiritual and a
physical creature. Therefore, he must have an object of worship. Yet, all are
so depraved and blind to all things spiritual that they turn to some creature
of their own hands and worship it (Rom.
These Galatians had been
delivered from heathen idolatry by the grace of God. And now they were
despising God’s free-grace and returning to the doctrines of men. For this,
Paul sharply rebukes them. ― “But
now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye
again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in
bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you,
lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (vv. 9-11).
Salvation is knowing God
(John 17:3). It is the result of being known of God (Isa. 53:11). Paul asserts
that those who were born of God and taught of God at
They knew God because they
were “known of God.” Those words are full of instruction. Paul is
saying, “You were actively known by God before there was any action on your
part to win his knowledge.” God’s knowledge of us is more than a bare, factual
acquaintance of our existence and acts. It is an active, loving, eternal
knowledge (John
Paul was shocked that those men and women who had
experienced such rich and bounteous grace at the hands of God would now turn
from the riches of Christ (Eph.
Paul used words of scorn,
words that were sure to offend the Judaizers and hopefully shame those who were
being influenced by them. He speaks of all those ordinances of divine worship
in the Old Testament, which have now been fulfilled by Christ, as “weak and
beggarly elements.”
The law is weak, so weak that it is utterly incapable of
helping anyone. It cannot give life. It is a ministration of death. It cannot
give joy. It cannot give peace. It cannot give comfort. It cannot produce
righteousness. It cannot bring salvation. The law is beggarly, too. It lies in
the observation of poor things (meat and drinks and holy days), in comparison
with Christ, in whom we have grace and mercy and life. The law is only a shadow
of the riches of grace and glory revealed in Christ. Serving the law is nothing
more than bondage and will-worship (Col. 2:18-23).
Martin Luther wrote, “People who prefer the law to
the gospel are like Aesop’s dog who let go of the
meat to snatch at the shadow in the water…The law is weak and poor, the sinner
is weak and poor: two feeble beggars trying to help each other. They cannot do
it. They only wear each other out. But through Christ a weak and poor sinner is
revived and enriched unto eternal life.”
“Ye observe days, and
months, and times, and years” (v. 10). ― Paul’s obvious reference is to
the Old Testament law requiring the Jews to observe certain holy days and the sabbath days prescribed in the Mosaic age (Col. 2:16). The
Judaizers were trying to impose these things upon Gentile believers, to whom
such laws were never given. Legal ritualism and human tradition are the ruin of
religion. They numb the soul and harden the heart.
All human religion is freewill/works religion, inherently legalistic and ritualistic, substituting the choice and works of man and the bondage of the law for a living, saving knowledge of God and eternal life in Christ, the life of liberty in the Spirit by faith in Christ alone, the glorious liberty of free justification by faith in Christ, a life ruled, animated, and motivated by grace, love, and gratitude. Christ has delivered us from that by his grace. Let us ever cling to him, refusing to be “entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Having found that life that is worthy to be called life, why would anyone think of giving it up to go back to the bondage and futility of the law? The question is rhetorical, of course. The reason should be obvious. The human heart, as Calvin put it, is an "idol factory." And, as Charles Simeon wrote, "The human mind is very fond of fetters, and is apt to forge them for itself." Sin makes fools of us all!
“I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you
labour in vain” (v. 11). ― True gospel preachers are men who labor in
the work of the gospel for the souls of men and the glory of God. They labor in the study of the
Scriptures (1 Tim.
Paul knew that the servant of God never labors in vain (Isa.
49:5; 2 Cor.
“Brethren, I beseech
you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all” (v. 12). ― Here Paul
calls upon the Galatian believers and us, in love and tenderness, to turn from
their backsliding ways and return to the worship and service of the Savior. He
says, “I want you to be like me, free from the bondage of the law.” Reckon
yourselves to be dead to the law, which has been fulfilled by Christ. Count
these things as loss and rubbish for Christ (Phil. 3:7-11).
“I am as ye are.” ― He became as they (Gentiles)
were with respect to things spiritual. We are both alike in Christ: chosen in
him, redeemed in him, perfected in him and free in him. “Ye have not injured me at all.” ― They
had not injured Paul by their behavior, but only themselves. His feelings for
them had not changed. Rather, their feelings toward him had changed (
Multitudes
forsake Christ and the gospel of God’s free grace in him, while claiming to
uphold and defend it. They even do so without knowing it. They introduce works
(self-salvation) into their “gospel” and make it another gospel, but are
thoroughly convinced that their new works “gospel” is the gospel of God. These
Gentile believers at
The
Scriptures teach us that vast multitudes of people will be surprised on the Day
of Judgment to discover that their religion, with all their religious works and
ceremonies, will be as a mill stone around their necks to drag them forever
down to hell (Matt. 7:21-23). Let us not be numbered among them (Rom.
“Nothing,
either great or small;
Nothing,
sinner, no;
Jesus
did it, did it all,
Long,
long ago!
When
He, from His lofty throne,
Stooped
to do and die,
Everything
was fully done;
Hearken
to His cry -
‘It
is finished!’ Yes indeed,
Finished
every jot.
Sinner,
this is all you need.
Tell
me, Is it not?
Weary,
working, plodding one,
Why
toil you so?
Cease
your doing, all was done
Long,
long ago!
Till
to Jesus’ work you cling
By
a simple faith,
Doing
is a deadly thing.
Doing
ends in death!
Cast
your deadly ‘doing’ down,
Down
at Jesus’ feet.
Stand
in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously
complete!”
James Procter