Eph. 3:1-13, Emptiness in Galatians (1)

(Our hiatas is complete.  Thank you for praying for us and our family.  We are going to post what I call "Odds and Ends" for a few days, beginning with a 3-post set from Galatians.)

Recently it came to my attention that in Paul’s letter to the Galatians there is a lot of concern about “vanity” or “emptiness” or “ineffectiveness.”  It makes sense since Paul is concerned with living in my own strength vs. living in the grace of God.  Perhaps I have overlooked some, but here’s a few to consider for application.

·       2:2: …lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.  Greek kenos means empty, devoid of truth but also means “without effect, fruitless, of no purpose.”  I have a hard time thinking Paul was concerned that he might have been wrong in his message.  He tells us elsewhere that that he received this from Christ (Gal. 1:7) and he, as an apostle, was chosen by Christ (Gal. 1:1).  The problem, as I see it, was that Paul’s message was for the entire Church (Eph. 3:1-13).  Paul’s ministry would be “empty” if Peter, James and John (Gal. 2:9) did not embrace it then they were working against the truth of Christ in the very Body of Christ.  There is a present-day application here.  Paul’s letters are fundamental to the Church’s doctrine.  They help us understand the rest of the NT (2 Pt. 3:14-16).

·       2:21: … if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.  The word is dorean, meaning freely, without a cause, in vain.  Can we please get this straight.  The law does not bring eternal salvation.  The law does not bring the day-by-day experience of salvation.  For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).  I am not made better or worthy or “better than you” by the law!  Quit emptying the cross of Christ.

·       3:4: Have you suffered so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain?  The word is eike, meaning without success or effort.  Someone recently gifted us a copy of Elizabeth Elliot’s Suffering is Never for Nothing.  That’s a powerful thought.  Except that here Paul is saying suffering can be for nothing worth-while if it turns us away from the truth.  In NT days there was a problem among believers who were influenced by Judaism.  They were often persecuted by the Jews for having rejected the law.  The tendency, sometimes, was to say, “I would have less trouble if I would just turn to the law.  My Jewish kin/neighbors will leave me alone.”  Further, there was another line of thought. We receive the free gift of eternal life by faith in Christ.  But then, we must work or satisfy the law in order to grow in Christ or remain in Christ.  This is what Paul is confronting.  Trials are “tests!”  That’s what they are by definition.  Will we fall harder on the grace of God?  Or will be doubt God’s goodness and trust in our own wisdom and strength? 

·       4:11: I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain (eike again).  His concern is for the Galatian believers.  If they turn from grace to the law, then his ministry will have been fruitless or ineffective.  Remember: Paul is the apostle of Christ.  If his ministry is ineffective, then Christ has not been honored.  By the same token, your ministry is ineffective if it is not the ministry of Christ and the gospel of Christ.  How often have we seen the dissipation of the fruit after the death or departure of a “mighty” servant of God?  It is quite possibly the result of a man-exalting ministry.  Quite possibly.