Law and Grace

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

Certainly the Law of Moses regulated the lives of the Jewish people, but it did not and could not provide spiritual life to the people.

If life and righteousness could have come through the Law, then Jesus Christ would never have died on the cross.

But Jesus did die; therefore, the Law could never give the sinner life and righteousness.

It was “worship of the Law” that led Israel into a self-righteous religion of works, the result of which was the rejection of Christ.

Why then was the Law given?

The Law was given to reveal Sin.

Galatians 3:19 KJV 1900

19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Galatians 3:22 KJV 1900

22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

It is here that we see the way that Law and grace cooperate in bringing the lost sinner to Jesus Christ.

Law shows the sinner his guilt, and grace shows him the forgiveness he can have in Christ.

The Law is “holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12), but we are unholy, unjust, and bad.

The Law does not make us sinners; it reveals to us that we already are sinners.

The Law is a mirror that helps us see our “dirty faces” (James 1:22–25)—but you do not wash your face with the mirror!

You are washed in the only thing that can remove sins stain - The Blood.

1 John 1:7 KJV 1900

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

There is a lawful use of the Law, and there is an unlawful use.

The lawful use is to reveal sin and cause men to see their need of a Saviour.

The unlawful use is to try to achieve salvation by the keeping of the Law.

When people claim they are saved by “keeping the Ten Commandments,” they are revealing their ignorance of the true meaning of the Law.

The Law Given to prepare the way for Christ.

Galatians 3:23–26 KJV 1900

23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Here Paul uses an illustration that was familiar to all his readers—the child guardian.

In many Roman and Greek households, well-educated slaves took the children to and from school and watched over them during the day. Sometimes they would teach the children, sometimes they would protect and prohibit, and sometimes they would even discipline.

This is what Paul means by schoolmaster.

By using this illustration, Paul is saying several things about the Jews and their Law.

First, he is saying that the Jews were not born through the Law, but rather were brought up by the Law.

The schoolmaster was not the child’s father; he was the child’s guardian and disciplinarian.

So, the Law did not give life to Israel; it regulated life.

The Judaizers taught that the Law was necessary for life and righteousness, and Paul’s argument shows their error.

But the second thing Paul says is even more important: the work of the guardian was preparation for the child’s maturity.

Once the child came of age, he no longer needed the guardian.

So the Law was a preparation for the nation of Israel until the coming of the promised Seed, Jesus Christ.

During the centuries of Jewish history, the Law was preparing for the coming of Christ.

The demands of the Law reminded the people that they needed a Saviour. The types and symbols in the Law were pictures of the coming Messiah.

Points to Jesus.

One of the purposes of the Law, to create in lost sinners a sense of guilt and need.

The Law has performed its purpose: the Saviour has come and the “guardian” is no longer needed.

It is tragic that the nation of Israel did not recognize their Messiah when He appeared.

God finally had to destroy the temple and scatter the nation, so that today it is impossible for a devoted Jew to practice the faith of his fathers.

He has no altar, no priesthood, no sacrifice, no temple, no king (Hosea 3:4).

All of these have been fulfilled in Christ, so that any man—Jew or Gentile—who trusts Christ becomes a child of God.

The Law is not greater than the promise.

But the Law is not contrary to the promise: they work together to bring sinners to the Saviour.

The Promise can do what the law could never do

Galatians 3:27–29 KJV 1900

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

To begin with, the Law could never justify the guilty sinner.

Look at the seemingly contradiction:

Exodus 23:7 KJV 1900

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

Romans 4:5 KJV 1900

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Jesus did that, the Law could not.

Furthermore, the Law could never give a person a oneness with God; it separated man from God.

There was a fence around the tabernacle and a veil between the holy place and the holy of holies.

The phrase put on Christ refers to a change of garments.

The believer has laid aside the dirty garments of sin and, by faith, received the robes of righteousness in Christ.

Finally:

“All one in Christ Jesus”—what a tremendous claim!

The Law created differences and distinctions, not only between individuals and nations, but also between various kinds of foods and animals.

Jesus Christ came, not to divide, but to unite.

This must have been glorious news for the Galatian Christians, for in their society slaves were considered to be only pieces of property; women were kept confined and disrespected; and Gentiles were constantly sneered at by the Jews.

The Pharisee would pray each morning, “I thank Thee, God, that I am a Jew, not a Gentile; a man, not a woman; and a freeman, and not a slave.”

Yet all these distinctions are removed “in Christ.”

This does not mean that our race, political status, or sex is changed at conversion; but it does mean that these things are of no value or handicap when it comes to our spiritual relationship to God through Christ.

The Law perpetuated these distinctions, but God in His grace has declared all men to be on the same level that He might have mercy on all men.