Mark,

I'm not entirely sure if I'm understanding your question correctly,
but here's what I get out of it. Maybe the NIV might make it
clearer, or maybe it won't:

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I
trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would
not be a servant of Christ."

I guess ultimately Paul is making the distinction about whose
approval you're trying to win by doing what you do--it's either men
or God, and he's saying it can't be both. Of course, there's also
the possibility that he's talking ONLY about his own ministry and
his own motives for what he preaches (as he talked about in the
preceding verses), and saying that if he were still trying to please
men, he wouldn't be doing what he's doing, because the men around
him are certainly not pleased with him preaching the good news about
Jesus Christ! Looking at the context, his main point seems to be
that what he's preaching came from God, not from men. So I'm not
entirely sure if I would take this to mean that in ALL cases it's
impossible to please both men and God.

Anybody else willing to take a stab at this?

--Wayne


--- In pugetsoundchristiansingles@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Enriquez"
<enriquezm@w...> wrote:
> Hey everyone,
>
> I'm trying to figure out exactly what Galatians 1:10 means, and
I'm hoping y'all can help me out. Here's what it says in my KJV,
compact e-sword version:
>
> "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men?
For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."
>
> Is Paul trying to say:
>
> 1) I can't be an effective servant of Christ if I'm trying to
please men?
>
> or
>
> 2) If I'm trying to please men, the last thing I would have done
is to be a servant of Christ?
>
> I'm leaning towards 2, but I don't have enough info to say that
for sure. Let me know what you think. And if you think one or the
other, let me know why you think so.
>
> Thanks for helping an aging brother out!
>
>
> Mark
>
> "Pleasure is a poor substitute for excellence."
> -unknown