Galatians 5:7-9
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump
What were you like after you got saved? Did you dive into bible study? Did you find a good church? Did you begin to read God’s Word regularly? Did you tell others about your conversion? I remember those days well, even though it was back in 1994. My wife and I became Christians within weeks of one another and it was like a whole new world opened up to us! The Bible came alive, and every church service took on deep meaning. We began to look at life through a new set of eyes and once we returned home for Christmas…our evangelistic fervor was obvious (though not very welcome).
The Galatians had gotten off to a great start, as well. Did you, too?
In the Galatians church, it didn’t take long before the old ways began to creep back in, apparently at the hands of a few false teachers. The word “hindered” is the exact opposite of “clearing the way” in the original language. The British theologian J.B. Lightfoot described it as, “A metaphor derived from military operations. The word signifies ‘to break up a road’… so as to render it impassable and is therefore the opposite of… ‘to clear a way.’ The Galatians were doing well until someone broke up the road they ran on.” Instead of continuing on the highway of freedom that the Gospel of Jesus Christ secured for them, many of them returned to the old, battered road of legalism.
Have you gotten off track somehow?
There are many believers who ran well when they first came to Christ. But somewhere along their Christian journey, legalism began to sneak in and instead of running…they began limping…because they no longer were partaking in the grace that saved them the in the first place (Gal 3:2-3). They have fallen into the trap of trying to live the Christian life on their own (by keeping rules, by trying to be good enough, by trying to do enough good works to make sure they pleased God, etc.) instead of relying on the Holy Spirit for the supernatural power to live this supernatural life in Christ and for the glory of God.
Perhaps there is another force at work.
Yes, there are times when we get ourselves off track, but we can also be led astray by bad teaching and/or bad influences. Benjamin Franklin put it this way: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the rider was lost; for want of a rider, the battle was lost; and for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost. All this for want of horseshoe nail.” In other words, big problems usually start small. In the Jewish culture, leaven was always used as a metaphor for the corrupting (and oftentimes subtle) influence of evil. What leaven is there in your life? Perhaps it is a friend…or a co-worker…or maybe even your church. Every Christian needs to be on the alert for corrupting influences, and willing to root them out once they are found.
Are you?
