Paul the apostle has spoken
authoritatively in the first few verses of the book of Galatians. He
began with an introduction which included a statement about his
authority, a blessing of grace and peace, and the gospel message that
Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil
world. However, though Paul gave God the Father and Jesus His Son
glory for giving this good news, there were those among the churches
in Galatia that were perverting his gospel. He emphatically wrote,
“Let them be accursed” in the previous two verses of our
study, and today he continues his thoughts about this matter in verse
ten in chapter one where he wrote:
For do I now persuade
men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ.
Paul
wrote in a rhetorical manner, “For do I now persuade men,
or God?” The idea behind the
word “persuade” is to “induce by words to believe, to make
friends of, win one's favor or gain one's good will.” Paul presents
this argument for the Galatians to consider: Who do you think that I
want the favor of - God or men? Paul's answer is hidden within the
question. His implication is that there is no comparison between
pleasing God and men. This perhaps is the reason that he is so direct
in his comments when he accursed those who pervert the gospel. Paul
was not necessarily seeking the favor of man, but rather the favor of
God.
Paul
also includes in this verse, “or do I seek to please men?
for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
There were teachers among the Judaizers who were known to be pleasers
of men. They promoted ideas that elevated men and women in the eyes
of others such as “look how holy this one is or that one is because
they keep the law” or “this one is more holy than that one
because they do this holy thing and the other person doesn't”. Is
it not amazing how people measure their holiness against one another?
Paul wrote in Second Corinthians in chapter ten and verse twelve:
For we dare not make
ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend
themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Paul
says that his attention is upon God. His aim is to please the
Heavenly Father. He knows that to try to please men would mean that
he was the servant of men. Paul, rather, was a servant of Jesus
Christ. He would not void his servant relationship with Christ by
substituting it for a lesser role of serving men. Paul's focus and
life was upon pleasing the Lord, and it was the Lord Jesus only whom
he would serve.
Who do
we serve? Are we caught in the trap of seeking other's favor? Do we
rely upon our own “self-worth” being established by whether we
align with other's admiration or not? Do we conduct our business in
such a manner that it will always please others even if it means a
compromise to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Perhaps as we meditate upon
these thoughts today we will discover areas where we desire that men
favor us more than God, and when we do, let us alter our paths to
align with the one who has the power to eventually say, “Well
done thou good and faithful servant.”
Next
time we see the source of Paul's gospel, so read ahead, and we shall
join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to
Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it
locally
at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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