Galatians 4:8-9 However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
Were you raised in the Church? Perhaps you did not enter a place of worship until you were older. Perhaps you were an “atheist.” Or maybe an agnostic? Some of you may still be without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Whatever your pre-Christ state, you, like the Galatian believers, were slaves to idols. Gentiles and Jews are alike (since there are no longer any Jews that were alive before Christ). You were worshipers of false gods.
“Wait a moment,” you say. “I grew up in the Church.” Do you not know, friend, that you are not born a Christian, but you become one when you recognize your sin and turn from it to trust in Christ? You definitely had a heretical misconception of God—and that is idolatry.
“I was an average-Joe,” another one of you says, “just living for the American dream and believing in one God.” Do you not recognize that money was your God (Matthew 6:24). You were your own idol; seeking the god of your own self-centered desires. Perhaps it was not money you served, but stuff—it is the same god. Even the demons believe God is one, and they are terrified (James 2:19). Such a fact does not mean that you are not idolatrous.
“I was an atheist,” you say. “I had no god.” You, like our other friend, worshiped yourself. You were worshiping the god of science and the god of human-ingenuity. Man and his mind was your god. You worshiped the created thing, not the creator (cf. Romans 1:25).
You, Mr. Agnostic, though you claimed to know nothing about God, and this is true. However, you also worshiped the god of stuff. You no doubt worshiped money, humanity, or possibly even your own good works, as so many Buddhist monks do. You were just as depraved in idolatry as the rest.
Yet, just like the Galatians, you, Christian brothers and sisters, have come to know God. You have turned from your sin and accepted Christ as the one who bears the wrath of God you deserved. You now follow Christ and so know Him; and knowing Christ and the Father is eternal life (John 17:3). You are now in a much more joyful state of affairs, as you have come to know the One whose presence contains the fullness of joy, and who holds and happily gives everlasting and overabundant delights (Psalm 16:11).
Even better than coming to know God (at least theologically), you have come to be known by God. Paul does not merely correct himself here, but shows that this is more to be desired than even to know God. Why? Because being known by God guarantees that you will know God. It is not that God does not know everyone. He even knows the stars and calls them by name (Psalm 147:4). What this means is that God accepts you. You are now His child and His delight. You are no longer His enemy, but now His friend and His beloved. Because God knows you He holds you in the palm of His hand. Nothing can separate you from God (John 10:29, Romans 8:35, 38-39). Not because you are holding on to Him, but because He is holding on to you.
Since this is the case, do not turn back to serve the laws and ordinances created for those who are immature—those who do not walk by faith in Christ. You were under these principles, which dictated your life. The “do nots” and the “dos.” If you turn back, you show that something is direly wrong. Paul is totally dumbfounded by the Galatians. In his opinion, they had come to know God and to be known by God (obviously Paul could not have been certain of the state of their souls, but he had seen evidence that convinced him that they were truly Christians, in Christ). How can they turn back to such things and be enslaved to them? They are in a state of limbo in Paul’s mind. He believes they are truly believers, but this totally contradicts the lifestyle of the believer. He is uncertain of the state of their souls. Are they in Christ or not?
Paul is not claiming they have lost their salvation or something. Rather, he is making an appeal to them. He is urging them to live the life of faith, not the life of slavery. He is appealing to them that they are truly in Christ—that they are truly free in faith. Paul is here hoping that by convincing them that they truly are of the faith, that they will start acting like it and prove that he is correct. They cannot continue in this state of limbo for long. They must go one way or the other. If they choose to submit to the enslavement, which they so strangely even seem to desire, then they will prove that they are not Christians. If they choose this path, he has labored in vain (4:11). If they choose the road of faith, which Paul has just laid out before them, then they will prove that they really have received the Spirit and are in Christ.
So what about you, Mr. Unbeliever? Will you continue to submit yourself to principles and rules? Is that what you desire? Or will you rather turn from your sinful ways to Christ and receive the freedom He alone offers you? “Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
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