Galatians – How do you Relate to God

We are sons and daughters adopted into God’s family, made right before God not because of anything we have done but by grace through faith in Christ.

Paul in this passage (Galatians 4:1-20) parallels how children in those times even though they would be heirs to an estate would be subject to a guardian who would be in charge of them until a certain time, “What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.”(Gal 4:1-2). Until the child is of age he does not have rights or access to his inheritance. Similarly, all were subject to elemental spiritual forces until God sent His son at the appointed time to redeem us so that we might be adopted as children of God .

Galatians 4:6 “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

As part of that inheritance, we receive the Holy Spirit, that enables us to have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. For the Jews who refused to let go of the Law and take a hold of the grace that the Lord was offering and for the Gentiles who were succumbing to such a belief, they were failing to see how God wanted to relate to them. God wanted them to relate to Him as their Heavenly Father but they were only looking to Him as the Lawgiver.

Psalm 103:10-12 says; “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

God has always desired a relationship with us that is based on grace and not on our works for He sent His son to die for us while we were still sinners.

How do you relate to God

Is there anything in your past or current circumstances that has tainted your perspective on His grace through Faith. Does a tendency to feel that your prayers may have more effect when you have been doing your daily time with God creep in? God desires a relationship with us – yes. And how do we grow in our knowledge of Him, how do we learn to recognise His voice more – it is all through spending time with Him and in His word. That is a goal we must have. The intention is to grow closer to Him, we have to be cautious in recognising that all of those disciplines we carry out to strengthen our walk in God is to propel us to walk in proximity with Him and not in any way earning us a badge to win His favour.  

As Paul continues to express his concern for the Galatians and how skewed they were getting in their understanding of the Gospel, he draws their attention to when he was with them and how they treated him.

Galatians 4:13-16 “As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and 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. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

Less than Ideal Situation

Paul’s extended stay with the Galatians was because of an illness – his plan might have been interrupted, but there was so much fruit that came out of that situation. Through Paul having to remain there, he taught them the gospel and had that time to invest in them.

There are many times we have had our life’s course interrupted or changed and hated it. Change is something we are never too eager to grab a hold of. But as we see here with Paul, even though it was something that he did have to endure (the illness), God brought good out of the situation. It is also important to take note that Paul continued to do what God had called him to do even in his less-than-ideal situation. What a lesson for us all, be it the valley or the mountain top may we look beyond our circumstances and ask God to work in us and through us for His glory.

Fruit we bear

The other lesson that we can take away from this passage is the difference in attitude and action of the people. At first, when they received the gospel, they were a blessing to Paul in his trial. And now they treat him as though an enemy. As Paul was pointing them to the truth, they seemed rebellious towards him and his message. Paul implies that under the influence of those perpetuating this perverted gospel, they changed their attitude towards Him. He questions where their Joy and compassion when they received the gospel had gone?   

We can find that when we are not walking in obedience to God, it is evidenced in the fruit we bear. Galatians 5:22 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit – Love, Joy , Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-control. And when not in alignment with God, it grates to hear those who speak truth to us.

When corrected by someone in love, it might sting, but may we turn to God and ask Him to soften our hearts and open our eyes to the truth so that enemy does not succeed in getting us to be spiritually insensitive to the truth.

God Bless.