Galatians
1:10 For
am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a slave of Christ.
Paul now turns to the topic of defending his right
to preach the gospel of grace and Christian liberty. Those who opposed his
ministry were claiming that Paul was sacrificing the truth of the Old Testament
in order to persuade the unbelieving Gentiles to his way of thinking. Some went
so far as to claim that he was softening the truth of the Mosaic Laws in order
to make it easier for Gentiles to believe in God.
All Christians know a time in their lives when they
sought the praise of other people. We call them “people pleasers”. In our
Christian journey, too, we have all come across those believers who seemed to
measure our Christian standing by the number of times we attended church or by
how much we tithed or where we went on mission trips. Such standards are a
meaningless way to gauge someone’s standing before God. All it measures is our
standing before men. Our sins remain and our sinfulness persists.
The truth is that our obedience to the law, Mosaic
or otherwise, does not earn us any measure of favor or forgiveness for our sin.
Belief in Jesus Christ is the only way ordained by God the Father for us to be
forgiven. Renewal for our sinfulness comes when the Holy Spirit is sent by
Christ to indwell the true believer. Then, and only then, do we know we are
forgiven and can then begin to walk in the light of His truth and faithfully
follow Jesus Christ.
