Tag: guardian

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Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do. (Part 3)

Galatians

We saw yesterday that the law was not some alternative way God developed to bring about salvation, but rather was something that was meant to lead us to Christ.

Paul goes into further detail in the next few verses.

Paul said,

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. (Galatians 3:22-23)

A lot of this is similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 7-8. And basically, what Paul says there is that before the law came, people were not really aware of what sin was. They just lived their lives, blissfully unaware that a lot of their behavior was displeasing to God.

God then brought in the law to show the people, “This is the way to live.”

The problem was, the law didn’t cause people to say, “Oh, really? I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll live your way now.”

Rather, for many, it stirred up an even more rebellious attitude toward God.

And even for those who were repentant and wanted to please God, they found that they still weren’t able to keep the law. Their sinful nature still had such a hold on them, it was impossible for them to keep the law. They were in bondage to sin.

Still, what the law did do was help put some restraints on sin until Christ came. The new NIV puts verse 23 this way,

Before the coming of faith, we were held in custody under the law.

In other words, for those Old Testament believers, the law couldn’t make them perfect, but it did help them from going completely wild into sin.

Staying with the new NIV in verse 24,

So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

A guardian back in those days was someone who was in charge of supervising the life and morals of boys. Wherever the boys went, the guardian went with them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.

It was also his duty to take them to and from school, thus putting them in the hands of the true teacher.

That’s what the law did for Old Testament believers.

First, it helped keep them out of trouble (although not all trouble, because all still sinned).

Second, it eventually led people to the true teacher, Christ. How?

Through the law, God gave the Israelites many pictures of a Savior to come through, among other things, the sacrifices, the Passover feast, and the Day of Atonement.

These things in themselves could not save them from their sin. But through these pictures, Moses and all the Israelites following after him until the time of Christ saw Jesus and what he would do on the cross (John 5:39, 46).

And as they did, they put their faith in him.

The law in itself then, couldn’t save them. But it led them to put their trust in Christ, though they of course didn’t have all the details yet because Christ hadn’t come yet.

And it was on the basis of that faith, not keeping the law itself, that God saved them.

So then, we come to the ultimate point of this passage. Paul said,

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Galatians 3:25)

With the coming of Christ, faith has truly come with all the details filled in.

We are no longer like Moses and all the Old Testament believers forced to look at the pictures. Now in Christ, we have the reality, and thus the law is no longer needed as our guardian.

Rather, we look solely to Christ for our salvation. And through the Holy Spirit whom Christ gave to live in us, we start to naturally do the things that are pleasing to God.

So as we go through life, let us not put all our focus on trying to keep a bunch of rules. Rather, let us look each day in gratitude to the cross, and walk each day under the guidance of God’s Spirit.

That’s the true Christian life.

Categories
Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do.

Galatians

A lot of times, people look at the ten commandments and other laws that God gave in the Old Testament and they think, “This is what makes us righteous in God’s eyes. If I want to have eternal life, I have to keep these rules.”

But that way of thinking shows a misunderstanding of what the law is and isn’t. It shows a misunderstanding of what the law does and doesn’t do.

So Paul goes into detail about what exactly the law is all about. He writes,

Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.

The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. (Galatians 3:15-17)

The first thing that Paul says is that once a covenant has been established, one simply cannot set it aside. The word “covenant” probably holds the idea of a will.

When a person makes his final will and then dies, it cannot just be set aside. Why? Because it’s a one-way “contract.” All the terms are set by one person. And its execution is based on one person’s “promise.”

That’s how God made his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. When he confirmed it, it wasn’t dependent on anything that Abraham did. It was solely based on God’s promise.

In Genesis 15, we see God making promises to Abraham and telling him about his descendants’ future.

Then God, appearing as a smoking firepot and blazing torch, walked through the pieces of some animals Abraham had cut in half.

That may seem strange, but in those days, it was the common custom of two people making a covenant.

After making the covenant, usually both parties would pass through the pieces, with the implicit meaning of, “If I fail to keep my end of the bargain, may I be put to death.”

But in this covenant God made with Abraham, Abraham didn’t walk through the pieces, only God did. It was a one-way contract.

And according to Paul God’s promises were made not only to Abraham, but also to his seed, that is Christ.

Paul’s interpretation of Genesis 12:7, 13:6, 15:18 and other verses which cover God’s promises to Abraham is very interesting.

Obviously “seed” or “offspring” (as the word is translated in Genesis) can be plural or singular and it appears that in Genesis, God was speaking with the plural meaning in mind.

But Paul seems to say that while the blessings of the covenant would come to all of Abraham’s true children, the promise was made specifically to Christ, and that it is through him, all of Abraham’s children would be blessed.

Paul then makes clear that one thing that the law doesn’t do is make the promises of God to Abraham and us dependent on our ability to keep the law. Why?

Paul tells us in verse 18,

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. (Galatians 3:18)

In other words, if the blessings of God depends on our keeping the law, then it is no longer a one-way covenant based on God’s promise. Rather, it’s dependent on our actions, and how well we can keep the law.

But that’s not the basis on which God gave Abraham these promises. It was a one-way contract based on grace.

And because it was a one-way contract, God cannot simply set it aside. He must keep his promises, for that is his nature. What he says he will do.

The thing to remember then is that the law was never meant to replace God’s covenant with Abraham and make the blessings God promised to Abraham and his spiritual offspring dependent on keeping God’s law.

What then was the purpose of the law? We’ll look at that tomorrow.