Galatians 5:7-10 7You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10I 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.
The Galatians had started off well but something happened along the way. The rhetorical question in v. 7 allows them to pause for a moment and evaluate their present position. They had departed from the gospel Paul had preached to them. They should have known the truth, but the outsiders had come along and brought a distorted interpretation of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. These false teachers and mixed up grace and law. They did not know Scripture and failed to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. The Galatians were not obeying the truth but were following a lie. Just like the Ephesians, they had “heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21).
Paul leaves no doubt in this letter about the truth and what the Galatians need to do to correct their errors. He may not know the names of the false teachers, but he had dealt with similar people in Antioch, Jerusalem, and other locations. His other letters show that this problem was not just a few churches but was widespread. This wrong interpretation of the law and its relationship to the gospel was a major issue that he needed to correct lest people’s faith deteriorate to human intellect, which then would fall prey to the deceit of the flesh. The end result would be sin and alienation from God’s grace. The teaching about circumcision and obedience to the law was not from God who had called the Galatians. This was not the work of the Holy Spirit.
Paul’s fear is that this problem would grow and eventually drag the Galatians back into the world. The proverb he quotes in v. 9 reveals the issue: if this is not dealt with now, it will lead to bigger problems. He is confident in the Lord that the Galatians will agree with him and respond in the right way to his letter. His argument in this letter has been logical, consistent, forceful, and supported by the Old Testament. They do not need to worry about the false teachers because God will deal with them. They will bear the penalty for what they have been teaching. Paul is not soft on these false teachers, probably because he sees the issue as critical. The last part of v. 10 hints that Paul does not know exactly who is causing the problems, whoever he is. It does not matter who specifically is the problem, but more significant is what people like this teach. The Galatians need to be vigilant and know the truth of the gospel so that they can recognize the false teaching and not depart from what the Holy Spirit wants to do in them.
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