“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
Galatians 4:8-11 ESV
Our natural tendencies, as humans, tend to remain the same. Even as we strive to improve ourselves, we tend to return to the same old habits again and again. Even as we learn and expand our knowledge, we tend to return to the same thought processes. We do so even though these tendencies are destructive and make no sense.
If our way of coping with stress is to use drugs and alcohol, that tendency remains. Even if we reduce our use of substances or eliminate them completely, that tendency rises to the surface when our stress level increases. We are tempted, once again, to return to this pattern.
If our tendency, in dealing with conflict, is to run and hide, that tendency remains. Even if we desire to deal better with conflict, and even if we improve our communication skills, this tendency rises to the surface when conflict erupts. We are tempted, again, to return to this pattern.
The same is true when it comes to our faith. Our natural tendency is to rely upon ourselves to attain salvation. Our natural tendency is to trust in ourselves. And this tendency never goes away.
Even when we come to faith, even when we receive the gospel, it’s a tendency that we fight. We learn that our salvation is attained only through Christ. We learn that we play no role in it whatsoever. And we place our faith in him. But, as time goes on, we begin to rely upon ourselves once again.
This is what was happening among the Galatians. Although they had come to faith in the gospel, they had again begun to trust in themselves. They had begun relying on their observation of ceremony and ritual.
This frustrated Paul to no end. It caused him to fear that he’d labored over them in vain. This fear arose because, if they began to trust in themselves and their own efforts rather than Christ, they would miss out on the blessing of salvation.
When the blessing they had received freely through Christ was so great, it made no sense to him that they would turn from it. It made no sense that they would return to the same slavery from which they’d been freed. It made no sense that they would seek once again to earn their salvation.
The same is true for us. Since salvation is found in Christ alone, and since it is received through faith alone, we cannot trust in ourselves. To do so is to miss out on the blessing Jesus came to provide. It means missing out on the grace of God.
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