Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Truth to Learn
Our focus in our faith walk should not be to please others, it should be to submit ourselves as God’s slaves.
Behind the Words
The word translated “persuade” is the Greek word peitho which means “to persuade another to receive a belief,” that is, “to convince.” But it can also mean, “to win over, gain the favor of, or make a friend of.” It is this latter sense of the word that I believe Paul was referring to.
“Please” is translated from a form of the Greek word areskō, meaning “to soften one’s heart towards another” or “to please.”
The word translated “still” is eti, meaning “any longer, with regard to time or duration.”
Meaning Explained
This verse is confusing to many, but that confusion may be cleared up by looking at a couple of words, “persuade” and “please”. Paul did indeed put great effort into persuading people to believe the gospel. In fact, when Paul presented his defense against the accusations of the Jews before King Agrippa, the king’s response was,
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” (Acts 26:28)
Paul was very persuasive. Therefore, his intent with the opening sentence of this verse could be to say, “I persuade men, not God,” which is true. But in the following sentence he asks, “do I seek to please men?” Now, to persuade and to please are two different and unrelated actions. But if Paul’s intent in the first sentence is, “Do I try to make friends with men, or with God?” Then the next sentence, “Or do I seek to please men?” becomes a parallel thought, which is the type of reasoning that Paul makes frequent use of. So, we could translate the first part of this verse as “For do I now seek to gain favor with men, or with God? Or do I seek to please men?”
Another key to the understanding of this verse is the fact that Paul says, “do I now …” and “if I still pleased men.” Before Paul’s conversion he was a Pharisee and that’s exactly what he did. As part of his training to be a Pharisee in Judaism Paul put forth a great deal of effort to please and impress men (and to please God). Now that he is a Christian, however, he no longer is trying to please men or God. Instead, he has become a bondservant, that is, a slave, the owned property, of God. Hence, his focus is no longer on pleasing men or God by following man-made rules. Instead, his only objective is submitting his will to his Lord and Master.
Application
Are you still trying to please the people around you, your friends, your parents, members of your church, or God?
If so, your focus is in the wrong place.
Instead, you should be focused entirely on submitting to your Lord and Master!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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