Galatians 1:10, commentary and pictures

Paul after his conversion declared that he did not persuade men nor seek to please men, for if he still pleased men he could not be the servant of Christ, and the gospel he preached was not after man, neither received from man nor taught by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, so he refused to alter it to win human favor. This stood against his former life in the Jews' religion, when to please religious leaders he persecuted the church of God beyond measure and wasted it, profited above many his equals in his own nation, and was exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers. His conversion recorded in Acts opened his eyes to understand the work he had been doing, after which he himself suffered from the same will of men who hated Christ.

In Galatia the refusal to please men met false principles and false doctrines entering through middle men who claimed to believe the truth while bringing heresies and mingling Jewish traditions with the gospel, saying except ye be circumcised ye cannot be saved and turning some away from the truth. Against them Paul as Christ's servant pronounced a curse on anyone preaching any other gospel than that preached unto them, certifying that his gospel was not after men. Serving Christ is incompatible with seeking people's approval and requires seeking God's approval and permission first rather than fellow men's, since human approval and recognition do not secure God's approval.

Those who seek God's commendation must listen to His counsel, obey His will, and remain faithful to the truth rather than be diverted by ambition or falsehood. Looking to men to permit this or that instead of looking to God makes believers weak and binds them with man-made restrictions God disapproves, whereas serving Christ means working under bonds to God, whom He impresses on mind and conscience to do His work, in brotherly unity according to the principles of His law. Regarding the favor of men as more desirable than the favor of God will assuredly lead into difficulties, because it leads to sacrificing principle and fidelity to God for worldly gain or recognition.

The verse forbids being a policy man who departs at times from strict rectitude in order to be successful in profession, with danger in the first and slightest departure. It requires preserving God-given dignity in the fear of God, keeping hold of the arm of Infinite Power, cherishing God's truth in the soul in the strength of heaven lest it be wrested away, sternly refusing every bribe to dissimulate, and holding fast integrity in the strength of grace, with the assurance that an honest, truthful physician can succeed because he has God and heaven on his side. Attaining perfection of character requires both thought and action, and while brought in contact with the world there must be guard against seeking too ardently for the applause of men and living for their opinion.

This guard is kept by walking carefully in order to walk safely, cultivating humility, and hanging the helpless soul upon Christ, so that a person can be in every sense a person of God and in the midst of confusion and temptation in the worldly crowd keep the independence of the soul with perfect sweetness. The verse applies to accepting unpopular truth, where pride and desire for the unbelieving world's praise can keep a person from yielding fully to truth and giving Christ the whole heart, and avoiding reproach by trying to please the world separates a person from God. Looking for the approval of mortal man with far greater anxiety than for the approval of God trifles with personal responsibility, and the verse requires carrying personal responsibility by wrestling with difficulties with earnest prayer and diligent effort instead of seeking human approval.

No one is safe who lives to please men and does not seek first God's approval, for love of approval is a great defect that controls actions and thoughts, marks everything with desire for praise and self-exaltation, makes popular applause the low standard of right and wrong, and makes being first in the estimation of men the ambition, as when Saul became jealous and convinced David would supplant him because David was exalted above him in song. Preaching to please the people makes a minister an unfaithful watchman, showing failure to sanctify himself so that others may be sanctified and revealing weakness and deficiency of character and lack of efficiency in parts of the work. When such a man is kept long as president over the same conference his defects are reproduced in the churches under his labor, while the churches grow accustomed to his management, look to him instead of to God, and settle down indifferent and lukewarm.

Human agents must not use their talents and opportunities to please themselves but to glorify God, making the very best use of every day and improving every talent to reach a higher standard, because eternal destiny is being formed and all will be justified or condemned by words and works. The same stand against pleasers of men and perverters of the gospel belongs to all those who labor for God in advance work in 1899.