Weak And Worthless Things

In the same way, as Paul said in verse 23 here... before God’s way of faith in Christ came to pardon us, we were held in a prison of law, too. Just like the prison of sin, Law can own us - it can control us, it can confine and restrict our movements. It tells us where we can go and what we can do.

Now, that doesn’t mean the law was a bad thing. Paul says that before faith came, the law had a purpose. Here’s how one commentary puts it:

“God gave both the Law and promises, but for different purposes. And it was not the purpose of the Law to give (eternal) life. Theoretically salvation could have come by the Law if people had been capable of keeping it perfectly, but they could not (Rom. 8:3-4).

By recognizing that while the Law could not justify or give life, it did prepare the way for the gospel. What part then did Law play in this respect? It declared the whole world… a prisoner of sin.”

Also, Matthew Henry writes:

“The law did not teach a living, saving knowledge; but, by its rites and ceremonies, especially by its sacrifices, it pointed to Christ, that they might be justified by faith.”

Paul’s point in calling the law a prison is not to downplay its role, but to tell us that, in Jesus, we’ve been released from that prison! If you’ve been released from prison, why would you want to go live there again?

And that leads to our next point: Galatians 4:9: But 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?

Again, Paul’s using pretty strong language here. Calling these things “weak and miserable principles,” or weak and worthless elemental things in NAS, or weak and beggarly elements – KJV. Paul’s trying to be certain the Galatians fully grasp the essence, the importance, of what they’re doing by returning to the law as a way to gain God’s favor.

Did they understand that they would be going back to a state of religious slavery? Was this what they really wanted? If so, why would they be attracted to a system that was weak - because it couldn’t justify or energize for godly living, and miserable (because it could not provide an inheritance).

I found in the Life Application Bible this chart showing the three distortions of Christianity that seem to be the most prevalent. You’ll find it in your bulletin as an insert.

CHART: THREE DISTORTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY

Almost from the beginning there were forces at work within Christianity that could have destroyed or sidetracked the movement. Of these, three created many problems then and have continued to reappear in other forms even today. The three aberrations are contrasted to true Christianity.

Group: Judaized Christianity – book of Galatians is about this

Their definition of a Christian: Christians are Jews who have recognized Jesus as the promised Savior. Therefore any Gentile desiring to become a Christian must first become a Jew.

Their genuine concern: Having a high regard for the Scriptures and God’s choice of Jews as his people, they did not want to see God’s commands overlooked or broken.