It’s hard to be wrong. It’s even harder to be on the end of a rebuke that brings our wrongdoing into the open in a way that requires a response. It’s during these times that the voice inside us starts speaking lies to us. “If you give in to this, you will give them the upper hand.” “If you back down on this, you will tarnish your reputation.” “If you admit to wrong, who will respect you?” Pride so often prevents correction in our life. We don’t want to admit wrong because our pride does not want us to allow people to see we are fallen. We so often forget that pride doesn’t protect us from being fallen, it’s the cause of it. Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Our church has been on a journey through the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians is basically a public rebuke letter from the Apostle Paul. Judaizers had come among Galatian churches to persuade them with a works-based gospel. They were attempting to add adherence to the Mosaic law as a necessary element of salvation. It is not the fault of the Galatian church that these false teachers came to them, but the Galatian church is guilty of giving them a platform and being lured away from the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Galatians were wrong, and Paul had made that very clear.
Throughout Paul’s letter he told them of his astonishment that they were being lured away by a lie. He told them they were being foolish and wondered who had bewitched them. At the same time, Paul called them brothers and showed confidence that they would indeed heed his warning. At the very end of his letter, Paul finishes with these words. “From now on, let no one cause me trouble.” (Gal 6:17).
We are left wondering about the response from the Galatian churches. Did they humbly accept the rebuke from Paul and repent of allowing false teaching to creep into the church? If one has the same confidence as Paul, it seems likely that they would have heeded his warning.
If we consider the trouble that was brought into the churches of Galatia through the Judaizers, we can imagine what a repentant response from these churches would have been. Perhaps they finished reading the letter and then discussed all the major points. Maybe they took some time to contemplate how they had allowed their confidence in Christ to be swayed by the lure of performance. Maybe they took time to talk about how confidence in performance had brought division among them. Perhaps they admitted their error and committed to standing with Paul in the one saving truth they had originally come to know. Did they get on their knees and confess their sin to the Lord? Did they write to Paul asking for his forgiveness for causing him such trouble? Did they admit their wrong in the way of rectifying it? I wonder if they shut down the voice of the Judaizers among them. I wonder if any of the Judaizers realized their error and came to know the truth of the gospel. I wonder if the Judaizers were sent on their way having been corrected and rejected. I wonder if the Galatians were persecuted for their faith after rejecting confidence in the law of Moses to live in Christ in the law of love.
I hope that’s the way the Galatian church responded. I hope it’s the way I do. How about you?
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