You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
Summary: Paul segues into a metaphor about running a race. To finish the race we need to stay in the race and not be distracted.
Some might say that an “ideal” race is strictly a test of speed. The definition of “race” is to see who is fastest over a set course. But there is more to a race than just speed.
Running a race involves fighting to stay in the race. There are so many examples it is hard to know where to start. The one that comes to mind at the moment is the Indy 500. Thirty-three cars racing around a two-and-a-half mile track at over two hundred miles per hour. What could go wrong?
When a car is racing at high speed, it doesn’t take much to upset the balance of forces keeping the car on the track. A wrong turn, touching the rail, or being bumped by another car all spell trouble. Even if nothing goes wrong, having another car pull ahead and “cut in” can keep a driver from winning the race.
The races Paul had in mind would have been horse or foot races, but the effect is the same. If runners are coming around the corner and one cuts in front of another, everything changes.
When Paul left the Galatians, they were running a good race. He expected that they would keep running as he had taught them. But something happened. Someone “cut in” on them and kept them from obeying the true gospel Paul had laid out for them.
Paul’s concern for the Galatians, and by extension, for us, is that “Christ will be of not value” to us. He is concerned that we are trapped by the deception that we can keep the law. He worries that we will be “alienated from Christ” and worse, that we will fall from grace. Now, he compares us to runners in a race.
What happens to a runner that is cut off? Can a runner who gives up and doesn’t hold to the rules finish?
No, of course not.
Paul is concerned for our relationship with Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, no one can be saved. Does Paul condemn the Galatians? No, he does not. But he is worried. If we are not following the true gospel, we should be worried, too.
Application: Stay in the race! Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Food for Thought: What does it mean to “obey the truth?”
I think that to obey the truth in the context of what Paul is writing in Galatians is to obey the gospel about Jesus. Jesus is the truth (John 14: 6) and “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4: 12). 1Peter4: 17: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?”
In this case the truth is being equated with the gospel of faith in Christ and His work on the cross as opposed to our works, such as circumcision.
Thank you, Rich!
I like that you point us to the fact that “Jesus is the truth.” That alone sums up everything! If we obey Jesus, we are on solid ground.
What does it mean to “obey the truth?”
The length of our time on earth is predetermined by God. How we occupy ourselves, the choices we make are foreknown by God as our choices. All are called by God to make our individual choice regarding the place Jesus Christ will will occupy in our lives.
All who choose to receive Christ as their savior are given new life with full knowledge of and freedom from the power of all sin. Many of us will live our lives as described in.
Proverbs 26:11, As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
We may leave God, His truths, but He will pursue His fallen and draw us back to Him. In time, life according to the blessings of God becomes our home and we choose true LIFE according to His will, over our own.
Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
2 John 1:8, Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
To obey the truth is to receive and live in our eternal life NOW.
Ron,
What a beautiful reminder of the Truth! God is not sitting on the sidelines waiting to see who believes in Jesus and who doesn’t. You are right, he is pursuing us, even when we fall or fail. Agapé is not a dispassionate love. God’s love is quite the opposite. He is very passionate for his church. We should be, too.