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I. BEFORE THEIR CONVERSION.

1. Ignorance of God. There is a twofold knowledge of God.

(1) Natural (Acts 14:17; Romans 1:20), but this is

(a)  imperfect,

(b)  weak.

(2) Revealed: of the Father in Christ; neither of which did the Galatians possess.

2. Idolatry.

(1) False gods are set up in two ways,

(a)  when that which is not God is worshipped as God,

(b)  when men acknowledge the true God but do not conceive of Him as He will be conceived.

(2) There is a spiritual idolatry. What a man loves most is His god — wealth, pleasure, sin.

(3) That the sin of idolatry be rooted out there must be

(a)  an illumination of the mind,

(b)  a renovation of the heart.

II. IN THEIR CONVERSION.

1. They knew God.

(1) The foundation of this knowledge: the revelation of God in Christ (Hebrews 1:2; 2 Corinthians 4:6).

(2) Its properties

(a)  special: whereby we acknowledge Him to be our God in Christ through faith;

(b)  distinct, not confused: His presence with us, providence over us, will concerning us; life is as

(c)  effectual (1 John 2:4; 1 John 3:6).

2. God knew them.

1. This knowledge is the root of ours. We know Him because He first knew us.

2. The ground of all our hope and comfort (Isaiah 49:15).

III. IN THEIR APOSTASY, which was —

1. An intolerable sin.

2. A voluntary sin.

3. A senseless sin.

4. A common sin.

(W. Perkins.)

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KJV: Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

WEB: However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.