“I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.” (Galatians 5:10, ESV)
When I worked as a manager in the printing industry, I was responsible for the quality of the products produced. One critical area was ensuring the color of the finished product met the customer’s standard. So, the customer would give us a standard from which we would check every roll of printed paper produced. Anything that fell out side the customers standard was defective and considered waste.
As a normal practice, I would go into the quality control room and spot-check sheets retained from the outside of each printed roll. I would check these against the customer’s standard. Occasionally I would find sheets that did not match the standard and this would mean a significant financial loss to the company.
On one occasion, the press crew leader had used the incorrect color standard. It was not one the customer had approved. In this case, I took the correct standard and gave it to him. He then immediately adjusted the color on the machine and began producing the correct printed product. The pressman could have ignored my instruction, with detrimental results. Yet a true pressman ensures that he is running to the true color standard.
Similarly, Paul wrote to the Galatians regarding the standard of the truth of the gospel and that which was false. He indicated that legalistic obedience to the law for justification was a false gospel. It was not the standard that they were once taught. Paul had taught them that justification was by God’s grace through faith in Jesus alone. Those in Galatia had to decide whether they thought the false teachers were presenting the truth or if the gospel Paul preached was the truth of God.
Here is the interesting thing. After Paul presented a variety of arguments that supported the truth, he indicated that he was confident that they would follow the truth. Why was he so confident? Well, earlier he indicated that they had started well. They had started by true faith, the faith in Jesus alone that resulted in their justification. Thus, if they were true believers, they would not depart from the truth. They would not be dissuaded from the true message of the gospel. While they could be temporarily confused by the false teachers, they would return to the true standard of the gospel and reject the false.
John alluded to this point in writing the following.
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19, ESV)
If you read this verse in context, John was writing about the issue of the truth versus that which is false. Here too there were false teachers and some were departing from the truth. His point is that true believers have the anointing of God by His indwelling Spirit. Thus, they will know the truth and not depart from it. Those who depart from the truth had not truly experienced it.
In the case of the Galatians, Paul was convinced that they had received the truth and would leave the confusion brought about by the legalists. He believed they would remain true to the message of justification by grace through faith in Christ.
True believers may be confused for a moment, but they will return to the truth of God. They will experience the blessings of eternal life. On the other hand, the false teachers “will bear the penalty.”
Renewing the Heart 