Why then the Law?

Reading of the Text

Galatians 3:19–20 ESV

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

In this portion of scripture we see Paul asking two questions pertaining to the law in light of the covenant made with Abraham in Genesis Chapter 15

The questions are: why then the law if the inheritance comes by faith? and given the answer to the first question, does that make the law contrary or opposed to the promises made to Abraham?

Verse 19

“Why then the law?..” - In the previous verses 15-18 we discussed that the covenant made with Abraham and how it can not be annulled or added to once its been ratified (V15)

That the promise was made to Abraham and his offspring, who is Jesus Christ (V16),

That the law that came 430 years after the covenant can not make void the covenant on the basis of Verse 15 (V17),

If the inheritance did come by the law then it would void the covenant (V18),

If the law functioned in this way it would contradict the covenant and make God a liar, of which God can not do (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18)

Numbers 23:19 ESV

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Hebrews 6:18 ESV

18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

So why then the law?

“..it was added because of transgressions..” - Things are distinct and diverse and as such their purposes and roles are. Take the nature of a woman, who by her strength carries her offspring as her child develops within her until the appointed time of birth, or the nature of magistrate to govern his own subjects, or the role of men to be spiritual leaders within the family unit, or the Pastor as he shepherds the flock of his congregation, or the sun that brings light and warmth to the earth while keeping the earth within its orbit, or do not boil a baby goat in it’s mother’s milk, and so on. Like Martin Luther said, “Let every creature serve in his due place and order”, and when we see things encroaching beyond the boundaries of it’s nature and purpose, those things become like a chimney built of wood, destruction is often near. So then let the law serve in it’s due place and order or destruction will follow

What then is its due place and order? Well we know the Judaizers of Paul’s time insisted that the law’s office pertained to justification that by adhering to the law they may be justified and receive the inheritance

Galatians 2:14–16 ESV

14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

The implication of the text is that these Judaizers believed that the new covenant was the renewing of the old covenant - what i mean is this - they believed that through the works of Christ, God’s people are restored to faithfulness to the Mosaic law, thus if gentiles wanted access to the messiah they must become like Jews, so while they may believe that the works of Christ and faith in him is necessary, they would not believe that faith alone in Christ is sufficient, further meaning that the works of Christ are not sufficient for salvation - This is a faith plus works religion - of which Paul and Peter in scripture clearly reject this notion as seen in this very letter, the book of Romans, and as in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council

Acts 15:1 ESV

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:5–11 ESV

5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

The Judaizers claim that one must be circumcised and keep the law, but Peter points out that God made no distinction between the Jewish believers who kept the law of Moses and the gentiles who did not keep it, which implies the Judaizers’ belief that one must essentially become “Jewish” to have access to Christ - Peter stands by salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone

So then what is the function of the law? and what does it mean that the law was added “because of transgressions”?

Note that Paul is not speaking of the law in its total usage here, but how it pertains to specifically for justification, Paul’s current subject of discussion

For example a use of the law is to restrain evil acts

If an individual wants a particular item from the store and lacks the money to purchase the item or simply wishes to save money they could consider stealing the item, however a law put in place to bring punishment upon those who steals might deter that individual from stealing out of fear of punishment - from this example we can already see that while this is a blessing from God, the law here simply deters behavior… it does not transform the heart

The function of the law in this context is that transgressing against the law reveals the knowledge that we’ve sinned

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.