4:9 What were the weak and beggarly elements Paul refers to here?
4:9 What were the weak and beggarly elements Paul refers to here?
The weak and beggarly elements Paul refers to here were the mass of lifeless ordinances that made up the now defunct ritualistic and ceremonial Old Testament Jewish law (cp Lev 23:1-44; 25:1-55).
These ordinances had no power to rescue men from eternal damnation, and they brought no rich endowment of spiritual blessings.
The Galatians were allowing the legalistic Judaizers to influence them to observe the Jewish religious calendar instead of holding fast to the freedom from the law that was theirs to enjoy simply by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ (cp Ga 3:1-3 with Ga 4:17).
The Galatians were observing days, months, times and years which the law only required the Old Testament Jews to observe (cp V10 with V21).
While Paul is rebuking the Galatian Christians in V10, this is for our admonition also. It is a warning to the contemporary church not to allow itself to be caught up in sabbath keeping or to have regard for any ritualistic ceremony or feast or festival that has no warrant in scripture for New Testament Christians.
(See also comments on Ac 12:4).