Galatians 4.8-11
“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
Paul again draws a contrast between what we once were and what we have become through Christ. The previous contrast was “you once were slaves, but now you are God’s children.” The contrast here is “formerly you did not know God, but now you have come to know him … or rather you are known by him (since the initiative was God’s). When we did not know God, we were ignorant about God and about spiritual things, and because of our ignorance we were enslaved (unknowingly) to “weak and worthless elementary principles of the world.”
What Paul describes as “weak and worthless principles of the world” are any of the false philosophies, doctrines, or religions that plague the world of man. There are many of them, and Paul describes them as “those that by nature are not gods.” In other words, before trusting in Christ, we trusted in false gods. We based our life on things, trusted in things, worshiped things, gave reverence to things, and even loved things that are not worthy of such reverence. We were ignorant about the true God and we worshiped non-gods.
Martin Luther once said, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god.” It’s not a question of whether people worship but what they worship. Everyone gives their heart to something. The human heart is never neutral. It is a vessel, and it is never empty. Something will occupy the heart. This is why John Calvin referred to the human heart as an “idol factory.”
There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. Every person on the planet assigns ultimate value to something.
The insidious thing about worshiping the “weak and worthless principles of the world” is that it is largely unconscious. It’s the kind of reverence and worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, giving more and more focus and attention to certain things; assigning value to those things; seeking to find meaning and identity in those things; trusting in those things; pursuing those things. The result, Paul tells us, is that we become slaves to those things.
We have seen it in others, and we have experienced it in ourselves. Something other than God begins to occupy a place in our life reserved for God alone, and that thing becomes a source of our identity and value. We reverence it. Our life and happiness begins to revolve around that thing, and it becomes an idol. It distorts how we see ourselves and others, and leads to bad decisions. We constantly pursue it, but it never really satisfies. It promises peace, but it never delivers.
Paul, then, challenges the Galatians. Why would you return to the weak and worthless principles of the world? Why would you give things that are not gods a place in your heart that is meant only for the God who created you and redeemed you? Why would you go back and become slaves to counterfeit gods?
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life —is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
