Galatians 4:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You observe days and months and seasons and years!

NIV: You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

NASB: You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years.

CSB: You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years.

NLT: You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.

KJV: Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

NKJV: You observe days and months and seasons and years.

The Galatian Christians had initially responded to Paul's message of salvation by grace, though faith (Galatians 1:6). However, a certain group, known as the Judaizers, had begun to claim that salvation also required adherence to the law of Moses (Galatians 2:4). Paul has been pointing out how "foolish" it is for the Galatians to turn from a gospel of faith, to a gospel of works.

Paul now points to some specific works of the law that these Galatian Christians have begun to follow. They have started to observe specific "days and months and seasons and years." He means that they have started to observe and celebrate all the special days and holidays Israel was commanded to observe under the law of Moses. These days would have included the weekly Sabbath with all of its restrictions, beginning Friday at sunset and lasting until Saturday at sunset. It would have included specific festivals and fasts and days of remembrance. From the time of Moses until the time of Christ, all Israelites were required to obey God by observing these days. Failing to observe them was reason enough for God to remove His blessing under His covenant with Israel.

Is Paul saying that it is always wrong for believers to observe any special "holy days"? Not necessarily, but one does need to be aware of motives. In Romans 14, Paul describes those kinds of actions as a matter of conscience: "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord" (Romans 14:5–6).

The problem was that these Christians were observing all the special days, not to honor the Lord, but to be honored by Him. They hoped to be more fully justified and holy as followers of Christ. They believed this because they were listening to the group of false teachers known as the Judaizers.

In doing so, the Galatian Christians showed they were not convinced God had already fully justified them by their faith in Christ. They were making themselves slaves to sin again by expecting God to approve of their works instead of simply accepting them, in love and by His grace, as His children in and through Christ.

Galatians 4:8–20 reveals that the Galatian Christians have already begun legalistically following the law of Moses, by observing special days. Why would they want to go back to slavery by following the law to be justified by God, Paul asks? Why have they gone from blessing him and trusting in Christ to rejecting him for telling the truth? The false teachers are only using them to bring glory to themselves, Paul insists. Paul is in anguish for them as a mother in childbirth. He longs to see Christ formed in them.

In this chapter, Paul uses three new methods to teach his Galatian readers an important lesson. It is futile to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right before God, since justification comes only by faith in Christ. First, Paul shows that the arrival of Christ made it possible for all people to become God's children through faith in Him. Next, Paul makes a more personal appeal, asking what has changed to cause the Galatians to turn on Paul's teaching of the gospel. Finally, Paul builds an allegory from Scripture, illustrating the difference between being born into slavery and being born into the promise by faith in Christ.

Galatians 3 ends with Paul stating, once more, that those who are in Christ are Abraham's offspring, just as He is, making us heirs along with Him. Galatians 4 continues that idea, showing how Christ's arrival signaled the moment all people could receive the inheritance with Him and be adopted as God's children. Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. The chapter ends with Paul's allegory about the difference between being born into slavery under the law and being born into freedom by the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Chapter 5 will continue by expanding on the freedom we have in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.