As life for the Galatians became more challenging it seems that they were quickly reverting to what they knew in their pre-Christ days (1.6-7). Before we become too judgmental, lets remember it happens for us too. We slip all-too-quickly into who we were before salvation came to us when life gets difficult. Think of the formerly angry believer who is triggered by something and loses their temper in a now-uncharacteristic flash. Think of the believer who used to revel in gossip and slander who is confided in by another, has a bad day, and breaks confidence to tell someone else in an attempt to make themselves feel better.
Paul asks them if this is making them happier:
“Where then is your sense of happiness now?”
(Galatians 4.15, NET)
So, simply, having put faith, hope, and trust in the Gospel, encountered difficulties and turned back to former patterns, where is your sense of happiness now? Has turning back to old rhythms and routines made you happier?
Lloyd-Jones writes that their negative disposition is down to one major thing: false teaching. He writes
“…they had become unhappy…it was entirely due to false teaching.”
Having begun in faith and by grace, were they now going to ‘take it from here’ (Galatians 3.3-5)?
When things get difficult for us, it can be tempting to try and double-down our efforts to make things better. But, like paddling a canoe in turbulent waters, grab the sides of the boat in an attempt to make it right and you will likely end up swimming.
It’s so important that we take in true and right teaching. The key thing to determine teaching that is true or false is this – who or what is being glorified?
If you watch/see/hear/read Bible teaching where you (or even the teacher themselves) are the hero,
where you can do all that Jesus did,
where you are being held up as the single most important person in the world,
then this is false, and this is the kind of teaching the Galatians were receiving and believing, leading them to a state of spiritual depression.
Lloyd-Jones closes with this, a great thought to take into the day:
“Anything that wants to come into the centre instead of Him, anything that wants to add itself on to Him, I shall reject”.
For more on false teaching, read this:
James Travis 