INTRO.- 8Formerly, when you did not know God. Was there ever a time in your life that you didn’t know God?
ILL.- I love the cute story about the little boy whose mother just gave birth to his baby brother. While the baby was sleeping in his crib, big brother looks into the crib at his baby brother and whispers, "Quick, before you forget, tell me about God."
Babies do come from God even though they are not aware of this truth. I remember nothing from when I was in my mother’s womb, did you? I doubt it.
Psalm 22:9-10 "Yet you brought me out of the womb you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God."
Psalm 71:6 "From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you."
But here’s the other side of the coin.
Psalm 58:3 "Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies."
What’s the difference? Some praise God from their mother’s womb and others go astray. It may well depend on mama!
9But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Known by God. What a great thought!
Prov. 15:3 "The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good."
It is true that God DOES know everyone. No one escapes God! Or escapes the all-seeing eye of God.
But the other side of the coin is this: God doesn’t know some people because they don’t know Him! What’s the idea? They don’t know God intimately and have no relationship to Him, therefore it’s like they don’t belong to God. They are not a part of His family so He sort of, kind of disowns them. GOD KNOWS THEM AND YET HE DOESN’T KNOW THEM, in the sense of having a relationship to Him.
Now our concern should be: Can we fall away from God? Or how far can we fall away from God and still be saved? Or can our relationship to God fade?
It seems there has always been two opinions about this matter. One says, "Once you’re saved, you’re always saved." Meaning, I guess, you can’t fall away. Your faith may dim somewhat but you still belong to God.
That’s a good philosophy for some, because it says you’re always covered by God’s grace. Or that you can never get out from under God’s umbrella of grace. But some people could also take it mean that you can do whatever you want because God’s grace always covers for your sin. WHOA! What just a minute!
Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
I think Paul refutes this idea. If we are truly saved we will not want to go on sinning. We will sin occasionally but we know better and will want to do better. Because of God’s grace or graciousness we will want to refrain from sin!
Now other side of the coin is this: Many believe any Christian can fall away from God, from His grace and could be in eternal danger. Any examples in scripture? What about Judas Iscariot? What about Demas (II Tim. 4:10)? What about Peter when he denied Jesus? What about Ananias and Sapphira of Acts 5 who lied to God about the property they sold and laid at the apostles’ feet?
Some of these may well be debatable. And God’s judgment will always be right, however, I don’t think any person should tempt fate! I don’t any person should tempt God! And I do think that many tempt God in this area.
ILL.- For example, some famous Hollywood personality dies and what do other people in Hollywood say about them? "Oh so and so is now in heaven looking down on us." And how do they know this? THEY DON’T. They just assume that God is so gracious that He’ll let anybody into heaven for any reason! And even if they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ! THAT’S TEMPTING GOD TOO MUCH!
And why do people do this? Because they are spiritually ignorant. They are ignorant about God because they are ignorant about the Bible! Some people think they can do anything, any time and get off easy with God. But judgment is coming!
PROP.- What happens when a person turns away from God? Paul tells us what the Galatians lost or became by turning away from God to idol worship.
1- They became enslaved and lost their freedom
2- They became joyless and lost their exuberance
I. THEY BECAME ENSLAVED AND LOST THEIR FREEDOM
8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
ILL.- America Is Freedom
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to worship, or not to worship, where we choose, when we choose and how to choose...
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to work, or not to work...to succeed, or to fail...to use our brains, energies and persistence to produce wealth, jobs and security or even to settle for lesser goals.
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to exercise our power at the polls...to vote for candidates of our choice...to remind our officials that they are elected and to serve and lead, not to rule and oppress.
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to speak our minds without fear of reprisal...to express our thoughts as readily to our legislatures as to our families; as confidentially to our Congress as to our closest friends.
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to shoulder responsibilities, to contribute worthy causes, to be good neighbors and caring citizens.
AMERICA IS FREEDOM...freedom to enjoy, conserve and improve the best and greatest country on God’s green earth...the United States of America!
Hey, I love the freedom that we have in America and I hope and pray that it stays this way! There is no better country, except for Heaven.
All I know I sure wouldn’t want to live in some countries where you have little or no freedoms at all. You can’t do this. You can’t do that without the government’s permission. I DON’T LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING ENSLAVED TO A REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT!
ILL.- For example: Things You Should Know About China
- Half of the world’s population living in countries designated “Not Free” by Freedom House live in China.
- China imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world.
- The Chinese government maintains one of the world’s most sophisticated systems of blocking access to websites and monitoring its citizens’ e-mail communications.
- The one-child policy leads to forced abortions, a shortage of females, and an increase in trafficking of people.
- 65 crimes in China carry the death penalty.
- The Chinese government has supported extremely repressive regimes such as those governing Burma, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
- Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and practitioners of other religions face frequent harassment.
- Thousands of North Korean refugees who escape into China are sent back to North Korea to face arrest, torture, and sometimes death.
- Public protests have been on the increase in recent years.
Wouldn’t you hate to live in China?
I also love the freedom that we have in Christ. I’m glad that we are blessed to live in the New Covenant dispensation. I love it that we are not bound to hundreds of laws and rules to keep us in life, but rather, WE ARE BOUND TO GOD AND CHRIST THROUGH LOVE! It is love, not law, that motivates us in life and to live for the Lord.
II Cor. 5:14 "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."
But the Galatians had a serious problem. They were turning back from their freedom in Christ to be tied to the old law.
8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Are there people who do this today? Yes, those who are extremely legalistic and try to live by the old law while at the same time they claim Christ as Savior. NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE.
We want to go by the Word of God but at the same time, we need to know that ultimately we live by the law of love. Jesus said to love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. He said the second greatest commandment was what?
Here is the clincher verse. Gal. 5:6 "6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
II. THEY BECAME JOYLESS AND LOST THEIR EXUBERANCE
They lost their fervor and excitement for life. HAVE YOU LOST IT? What? Your zip, your zeal for life?
ILL.- Between the ages of 44 and 50 I was an addict. Yes, a true addict. A running addict. I have to get my daily fix. I ran 11 miles per day from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays I ran 16 or 22 miles, alternating these runs every other Saturday. And I loved the high from running. I loved the energy, the good sleep at night, and the feeling of knowing I was heart healthy. BUT IT IS NO MORE. My body caved in or gave in. I still remember the energy and the excitement but it is no more.
Sad? Yes. Inevitable? Yes.
Brothers and sisters, what we do in life physically we often also do spiritually. We often lose our zip and zeal for the Lord after a period of time.
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW IT WAS AT FIRST? Perhaps when you were first converted to Christ and baptized into Him? Do you remember the joy, the excitement, the thrill?
ILL.- I was baptized into Christ on a Monday night with a handful of people present and my favorite preacher singing. Afterward, I went to work at Safeway at 10 p.m. The produce manager unlocked the door for us night stockers to come to work. He took one look at my messed up hair and said, "What happened to you?" I said, "Tom, I was baptized tonight." He said nothing and he claimed to be a Christian.
Apparently, he was some surprised at my sudden decision to become a Christian, but it wasn’t a sudden decision. God had been working on my heart for many years and even since I was a small boy when I heard the gospel in Sunday School.
After giving my life to Christ I immediately wanted to tell others. I went around that Safeway store, talking to everybody about my decision. And they listened. I was excited. I was thrilled to know that God had forgiven me of all my sins and that I had the promise of eternal life. IT SOUNDED LIKE A GREAT DEAL TO ME!
Did you hear me? I went around talking to everybody about Jesus and my decision. Did you do that? DO YOU STILL DO THAT? If we don’t do that today, what’s wrong with us? Have we lost some of our zip and zeal for Christ? Are we no longer excited? Has Christianity become "old hat" to us? And if so, how can we get back our zeal?
And this leads us to the Galatians.
Paul said: I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy?
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ALL YOUR JOY? What a great question! What a piercing question! In the case of the Galatians they were turning from freedom in Christ to slavery in the law. No wonder they lost their joy! Any time you are penned in and not allowed to run free you will lose your excitement for life.
ILL.- It could be like going to a big county fair. When you are small you go with mom and dad and you have to hold their hand. You are somewhat limited. You can only do so much. You are tied to them. BUT there comes a day when you become a teen. And mom and dad let you go and you run on own! And oh, how much fun it is, and how delightful it is to enjoy life on your own: see the sights, enjoy the rides, eat the food, etc.
And why would you want to go back and be tied to your parents? So it is for us who are in Christ. We are free to enjoy life, to see the sights for ourselves, to live for Him and please Him on our own. AND SO, BEING TIED TO THE OLD LAW IS GOING BACKWARDS IN FAITH. AND a person will most certainly lose their zeal and excitement for God if they try to be tied to God legalistically instead of through faith in Christ.
CONCLUSION----------------
19My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
Paul was experiencing labor pains! Well, not exactly, not really. But he said he felt like he was having labor pains, waiting on Christ to be born or formed in the Galatians.
ILL.- Do you remember how it was when your children were little and you had to teach them everything? And perhaps you thought, "When will they ever learn?" But they did learn. They did grow up. This is somewhat how Paul felt toward the Galatians. He wanted them to grow in their faith in Christ and become free from the law and live by the law of love, which was the way of Christ.
Any time we turn from the law of love and try to live a rigid, legalistic life, we are actually turning away from God. God loved. He gave and we gained. And we, too, are to live a life of love.
