"Don't let your past control your present or determine your future." It is good advice when we are talking about past sins, regrets, or failures. It is bad advice when we are talking about our past experiences with God's grace and faithfulness. We need to remember the past, especially if we are in danger of turning away from the gospel and relying on ourselves in the present.
Paul raises his fourth of five questions in Galatians 3:1-5, which are designed to drive the people back to their roots in Christ. "Did you suffer so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain?" (Gal. 3:4).
Don't waste your past!
The verb translated "suffer" (ἐπάθετε) is an aorist active indicative asking us to examine our past experiences to inform our present decisions. It generally means to experience something that comes upon us from outside ourselves, which we experience passively, like sickness or misfortune. The basic sense of the word is negative. We experience something evil or bad - we suffer - unless the context makes it clear that the experience is good (TDNT, 5:904-905). However, in certain contexts, the word is used in a good sense to experience something favorable (M&M, Vocabulary, 498). So what is Paul talking about in this verse?
PAST PERSECUTIONS OR PAST BLESSINGS?
A very common view is that Paul is talking about past persecutions (Lightfoot, Galatians, 135; Meyer, Galatians, 7:107). The normal usage of the word implies a negative experience which is why we translate it to suffer. Christians suffer ill-treatment and persecution at the hands of non-Christians. Paul's idea would be that suffering persecution for the sake of the gospel would be suffering in vain (εἰκῇ). It would be pointless pain (Bruce, Galatians, 150). Why, if we suffered in the past for Christ, would we turn away from Christ in the present?
The problem is that there is no evidence that the Galatians had suffered persecution in the past, as everyone acknowledges. Luke gives us no record of significant persecution for the churches in southern Galatia if that is the audience for the letter. If it is northern Galatia, we have even less information. Of course, it is possible that they suffered persecution about which the New Testament is silent. If they did, to compromise their faith after suffering for their faith would be pointless.
There is some evidence in the context of Galatians 3:4 that we should see the experience as, perhaps not pleasant but positive. The next verse (Gal. 3:5) picks up the theme of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:3) to emphasize their past positive spiritual experiences. Paul talks about the exciting reality that the Spirit provided (έπιχορηγῶν) to them and the powerful works (δυνάμεις) He performed among them. The lexicon suggests this translation: "Have you had such remarkable experiences in vain?" (BAGD, 634) This fits with Paul's question about having begun with the Spirit; why would you try to live the Christian life by your own efforts? (Gal. 3:3) Paul's idea would be that attempting to live without the Spirit after first experiencing the power of the Spirit would be pointless (Longenecker, Galatians, 41:104).
PAST EXPERIENCES IN GENERAL
I think the best solution to this difficult passage is to understand the word in a general sense to experience all manner of circumstances that come upon us from outside ourselves (NIDNTT, 3:723; Burton, Galatians, 150). These circumstances are often not pleasant but, in the end, yield results that are positive as God works out His plans in our lives (Rom. 8:28). We suffer in this life, but not all suffering is persecution; most suffering is not. We often go through bad experiences, but God has provided His Spirit to empower us through those experiences. To forget those past experiences when we face our present circumstances is pointless. It is in vain. It makes for an empty life.
Don't waste your past! Remember those times, both dark and bright, as times when God's Spirit faithfully provided all we needed to get through our circumstances. Remembering the past is not pointless when we remember God's presence with us and God's power that helped us in the past. I love the little poem by F.W.H. Meyers:
God, who whatever frenzy of our fretting
Vexes sad life to spoil and destroy,
Lendeth an hour for peace and for forgetting,
Setteth in pain the jewel of His joy.
(Elizabeth Elliot, A Path through Suffering, 42)
