Galatians 4:9
9But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Truth to Learn
Once you are truly saved through faith in Christ, there is no reason to return to the rituals that couldn’t save you in the first place.
Behind the Words
The word “known,” appearing twice in this verse, is from “ginōskō” which refers to an experiential knowledge. This is a more personal type of knowledge than the “eidō” knowledge which we saw in the previous verse.
The expression “how is it that” is a translation of the Greek word “pōs” which is a question full of wonder. Today we might say “How in the world could you possibly do that?”
“You turn” is translated from a form of the Greek word “epistrephō” which means to turn toward something. This particular verb is present tense, active voice, and indicative mood indicating action that is in progress.
The words “weak” and “beggarly” are translated from “astenos,” meaning without strength, and “ptōcha,” meaning poor and utterly helpless.
Meaning Explained
Paul now takes off the kid gloves and gives it to the Galatians straight out. He previously was talking about the religious rituals that were performed by people before true knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ. He now counters with “But now after you have known God,” and what he is saying is this: for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have an experiential knowledge of what true faith is all about, how can we then go back to the hollow useless trappings of ritualism? But, Paul immediately corrects himself by saying, “or rather are known by God.” His point here is that our salvation is not about us seeking God but about God reaching out to us. As he told the Christians at
Romans 3:10-11 10As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.”
Now he asks the convicting question, “How in the world can you now go back to those legalistic and ritualistic practices? They didn’t do you any good before you were saved, and they certainly don’t add anything to your salvation now.” Paul calls these things weak and beggarly. In other words, these practices and rituals have no strength to do anything spiritual, and they provide you absolutely no help at all! Not only do they not free you, these things bring you back into bondage again!
The false teachers were teaching the Galatians that Christians had to become circumcised and observe many of the rituals and holidays that the Jews had observed since Moses gave them the law. But if these things couldn’t save them before the Messiah came to die on the cross for them, how can they be of any value now that Christ has died and risen again?
Application
Is your Christian life based on faithful obedience to God and His Word, the Bible? Or is it based on the teachings, practices, and rituals of your church?
One is true saving faith and the other is slavery!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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