Galatians 3:19-29, The Purpose of the Law
Paul has used the Scriptures to explain that everyone who is keeping the law in order to be justified (declared righteous before God) is under a curse, because no one can keep the law perfectly. The Law came 430 years after the promise to Abraham, who was saved by faith in that promise. So what is the purpose of the Law, then? McKnight observes:
It would also have been natural for thoughtful Jews to wonder if Paul believed at all in the authority of the law of Moses; if they concluded that he did not, it would also have been natural for them to think of Paul as a deviant. This means that Paul’s answer in this section is fundamentally important for the success of his mission and even more important for his own apostolic authority. If he cannot come up with an adequate response, Paul is done, the Judaizers will win, and the Galatians will convert to Judaism. (NIV Life Application Commentary)
Paul must give a biblical rationale for the purpose of the Law.
19 Then why was the Law given? It was added because of transgressions until the promised seed came, and it was given through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now the mediator suggests there is more than one, but God is one.
The Law was given to tell us what was sinful. As Paul says in Romans 7:7,
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
The Law tells us how to conduct our lives aright. But this function of the Law was only needed until Christ, the promised seed, came. He’s the “seed” to whom Abraham’s promise from God was given, and by extension to all who are in Christ. And beyond that, the Law was given through a mediator, the angels and Moses. It wasn’t spoken directly to the people as the promise was to Abraham. This means it is not of the same rank as the promise. It does not abrogate the promise.
21 Is the Law therefore contrary to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if a law was given that was able to make people alive, then for sure righteousness would have come by the Law. 22 But the Scriptures imprison everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ could be given to those who believe.
The Law cannot override the promise of salvation by faith because the Law cannot give salvation, cannot give life. Rather, as Paul explains in more detail in Romans 7:
9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:9-11)
By implication, Paul is arguing that the Galatians experienced giving of life when they believed the gospel of promise he preached. By subjecting themselves to the Law they were chaining themselves to death. The Law condemns, it does not forgive and give life like faith in Jesus Christ does.
23 Before faith came, we were held captive together under law until it was time for faith to be revealed. 24 So the Law was given as our guardian until Christ, who came so that we might be justified by faith. 25 When faith came we were no longer under a guardian. 26 For all who are sons of God are in Christ through faith.
The Law served to guard us, as captives, until Christ came. We could escape law until Christ came to justify us by faith. Then we no longer needed this stern guardian, like children raised in the household by a servant to oversee and give guard rails to their behavior. Now we are emancipated sons, sons in full adulthood, by faith in Christ.
27 For everyone who has been baptized into Christ has put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female. For we are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:19-29)
Galatians, Paul is saying, stop living in the past. Christ has come. The Law is no longer needed. Those who have been baptized into Christ, as you Galatians were, have put on Christ like a garment. You are wearing the robes of justification and righteousness. You have surpassed the boundaries of Jew and Gentile, the separation of slaves and free, the limitations of male and female. There is only one people now, the followers of Christ. We are the new seed of Abraham. We have received the promise.
McKnight has as intriguing analogy:
When the computer age arrived, we put away our manual typewriters because they belonged to the former era. Paul’s critique of the Judaizers is that they are typing on manual typewriters after computers are on the desk! He calls them to put the manual typewriters away. But in putting them away, we do not destroy them. We fulfill them by typing on computers. Every maneuver on a computer is the final hope of the manual typewriter. “Now that faith/Christ has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law”—but not because the law is contrary to the promises; rather, it is because the law is fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit in a manner similar to the way a typewriter is fulfilled in the technology of a computer. (NIV Life Application Commentary)
For further explanation see:
About the Author
Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
