Why, then, the Law?
Galatians 3:19, 23-26 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made … Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
So, let me ask you … if God is the God of grace – and when you see what Jesus did for us on the cross, there can be no doubt about that – then why did He introduce the Old Testament law? Why did God even entertain a bunch of rules that, at the end of the day, His people would simply be incapable of keeping?
It’s an important question to know the answer to, because it’s all too easy to slip back into that old way of thinking, that following Jesus is all about adhering to a set of rules.
So, here’s God’s answer, through the Apostle Paul:
Galatians 3:19, 23-26: Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made … Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
So the Old Testament Law was only ever put there as a temporary measure, until God was ready to reveal His grace through faith, in the coming of Jesus Christ. It was put there to keep people in line, I guess, until God was ready to reveal Jesus.
And when you look at the history of Israel throughout the Old Testament, from beginning to end, the thing that stands out, is that God’s people couldn’t seem to keep the law for very long.
In fact, the very name Israel, means ‘to struggle with God’. The whole story of the Old Testament is about Israel struggling to keep the law, struggling in their relationship with God. God sent them prophet after prophet to call them back to Himself. He punished them over and over again, to bring them to their senses. And for a little while that would work … until they wandered off again.
If you asked me, “What’s the central theme, the central point of the Old Testament?” my answer would be this: that try as they might, God’s people simply can’t stick to the rules.
We can’t follow the law. We will never be able to put ourselves into a right relationship with God, simply by following the rules.
The whole of the Old Testament screams out at us – This isn’t working! There has to be another way!
There is. That’s why God sent Jesus. That was always the plan. The whole point of that Old Testament struggle, for you and me today, is to teach us beyond any shadow of a doubt, that following the rules simply doesn’t work.
What’s more, it never will. That’s why we need Jesus.
And that … that’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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