Gal. 5:7-9 - You Were Doing So Well!

7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

This Did Not Come From God

Vs. 7 - “You were running well” - They were progressing nicely, maturing in the faith. What happened? Paul uses the image of an athlete running or competing in his letters. We understand competition, trying to win. Have you seen grown men competeing to see who can put a child’s puzzle ball together the fastest? (Been there. Done that.) We are encouraged to live out our faith in Christ by preparing and participating like an athlete would in a sporting event. (See: 1 Cor. 9:24, 26; Heb. 12:1)
We are encouraged to evaluate our performance - have we kept the faith? Are we fooling ourselves? Confusing motion with progress - running in vain? (See: Gal. 2:2; Phil. 2:16) Can we look back on our Christian life and say, “I believe I have done what was asked of me. I did my best for You, Jesus”? (See: 2 Tim. 4:7).
Remember: it is not the running that saves you. It is the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The running is an evidence of your commitment to the Lord. (See: Rom. 9:16; Titus 3:5,6).

“Who hindered you” - Who? Satan? The Judaisers? Yourself? Do not be deceived. Satan may play a small role. He is the teller of lies. (See: John 8:44) The false teachers also have a part in leading you astray.
The responsibility is entirely yours. Especially if you were living by the power of the Holy Spirit, and then diverted to a siding rather than stay on the main track.

Vs. 8 - “Did not come from Him” - The Holy Spirit who draws you to faith in Jesus will never reverse course to pull you away from the faith. God is faithful and will not lie to you. (Num. 23:19, Titus 1:2) He will not woo you to everlasting life; then say, “Ha ha! Just kidding! Eternal damnation for you!” C.S. Lewis said in The Screwtape Letters, “God does not coerce, He only woos you to believe in Him”. All too often we reject the truth of God and reach for the lie! (Rom. 1:25).

Vs. 9 - “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” - When making bread, leaven is a good thing. Six or seven cups of flour, some water, and little salt and 2-4 grams yeast makes bread. That little bit of yeast makes the dough expand two or three times the original volume.

The Jews are intimately familiar with unleavened bread. They prepared unleavened bread when fleeing from Egypt - there was no time to wait for yeast to work that incredible night. One of their festivals, Feast of Unleavened Bread, is a reminder they escaped with their lives from Egypt.

Leaven is a negative picture here, any amount will ruin the consecrated bread for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Likewise, any amount of sin or rebellion will break our relationship with the Holy God. Turning to legalism to follow the Law fouls your relationship with a loving and forgiving God. “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?.” Mic. 6:8

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