Of course those who brought this false teaching bear special responsibility. Paul quite rightly seeks to turn the Galatians against those who are no real friends to them. We must not be afraid to point out even to young Christians who their enemies are. Some fear that they will appear negative, quarrelsome, unfriendly, if they identify enemies of God’s people, but the battle was not of our making; it was already established long ago. It is an unavoidable reality of the Christian life that we are under attack from the devil and his host, and these attacks often take the form of false teachers whose doctrine must be resisted at all costs.
Because this time of blessing comes at the start of the life of faith, the believer can look back and know that he is not being urged to live in a way that is impossible. By the Lord’s power he can continue to live that life of joy and love for Christ that he has already experienced. The first days of the Christian life are given to us by the Lord as a sure foundation when our love for Christ is deep and our appreciation of what has been done for us is crystal clear. We rightly make those days the measure of true Christian living and affection, for our zeal for the Lord is strong, our priorities are right and put the Lord above every other consideration. Our turning our backs on the world is without compromise as we realise the great danger from which we have been delivered, and fear of sin mixed with love for Christ drives us to serve the Lord with all our hearts.
That heartfelt yearning for something so precious is used by the Lord to restore the backslider as the Lord draws him again with the cords of love, for he looks back to that experience as the time of God’s authentic dealing with his soul. Here Paul, the model pastor, uses the sweet reminder of their early love for Christ to make them question what it is that has deprived them of that joy, for he could be absolutely certain that in their present state they had lost it. It is not possible for the true Christian to let go of the doctrine that is consistent with the gospel and still retain joy. A pastor must be unafraid to meet head-on the sin and error of those he ministers to, but he must do so in such a way that they know he is driven by concern for their eternal good.
To obey the truth is to believe all that Scripture teaches, to be careful to understand it, and to avoid all that is inconsistent with it. But the truth is not simply theoretical. The man who receives the truth knows that he is committing himself to live by it, to love God, to love fellow Christians, and to love and pity those who are still lost. Truth that does not produce a changed life is like stagnant water which begins to smell.