I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Summary: Paul has invested a significant portion of his life in establishing the churches in Galatia. After he left, others came in and confused the believers with false teachings. In this passage Paul expresses his fear that the damage might be irreversible.
There was a time in my life when I realized that the Bible was written by God, not man. When that moment came, everything changed for me.
Until that moment, I saw the Bible as a book about God. I thought it was written by people who believed in God and were writing things they believed to be true about God. However, because these writings were personal beliefs, everything was up for debate.
After that moment, I realized that if God could create the world and everything in it, he could get a book published, too. Moreover, if God published a book, it would be exactly the way he wanted it to be. This takes the question of validity off the table. We can debate what God means, but we can’t debate who wrote it.
Given that I see the Bible through this lens, when I look at Galatians 4:11, I not only see Paul’s frustration with his protégés in Galatia, but I also hear the voice of Jesus.
Parents invest immense amounts of time and money in raising their children. Paul had invested a great deal of his life in the young churches at Galatia, too. He considered them his children (Galatians 4:19).
Proverbs says that if you “train up a child in the way [they] should go, … when [they are] old [they] will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV) Paul expected this to hold true for his new churches in Galatia, too. When he hears that they have wandered from the true gospel, he is appalled.
What does Jesus think when he sees where we spend our time? Do the people we listen to bring us closer to faith in Jesus or do we listen to people like the “circumcision group” (Galatians 2:12) who caused the Galatians to stray?
If Jesus were to look at me and say, “I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you,” I would be mortified. We can be forgiven for that which we do in ignorance (John 9:41), but if we know the truth and willfully turn to other beliefs, we risk more than disappointing our Lord.
Application: Stay true to the Gospel and stay in the Word.
Food for Thought: What does Paul fear for the Galatians?
What does Paul fear for the Galatians?
Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Paul’s fear is the attraction of their old life will draw them back into the old ways of life. The Galatian believers proclaimed themselves to be Christians and at the same time were returning to trying to please God, attain righteousness by keeping rituals, rites, festivals, feasts, seasons, ceremonies, and laws. They were backsliding, beginning to observe Jewish rituals, Jewish rites, Jewish festivals, Jewish feasts, Jewish seasons, Jewish ceremonies, and Jewish laws.
We will often accept Jesus and try to win favor with God or achieve His holiness in our own power, our own strength. We seem to know that the only way to be saved is by grace through faith in Christ, but living by faith, growing in grace is another level in our maturing process. We are not to be saved through Christ alone and then live our lives in our own strength or by being bound to an increasing number of rituals, rites, festivals, feasts, seasons, ceremonies and laws.
We are to live our lives by grace alone through faith alone in Christ ALONE, as we submit to His will over our own and grow as He directs our ways. Takes time to fully understand this.
Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Thank you, Ron!
I appreciate your explanation, but the part that jumped out at me was your comment, “It takes time to fully understand this.”
Amen! 🙂
Fortunately, our Lord Jesus is patient and long-suffering.
Well said R2T2. I think that is right on point. From the context it seems clear that Paul fears they will return to a system in which they have to keep the law for salvation rather than depending on Jesus. The fear is that some of their members faith in Christ might not be genuine.
Thanks Rich!
You bring out a key difference between Paul and Jesus. Jesus knows our hearts while Paul is limited to a human perspective.