Galatians 3:21-25 (NIV)
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 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. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
It is vital that everyone, both Christians and Jews, understand what the true function of the law was and is. Today it is quite common among people, even non-Christians, but most disturbingly among Christians as well, to find those who believe that the way to qualify to go to heaven is to be a “good person”. And, of course, most everyone believes themselves to be a “good person”, especially when they compare themselves with others, as if God grades on a sliding scale.
But when the law is brought before a person, even a so-called “good person”, the righteous requirements of the law strip away any possible self-righteousness, leaving us clearly seeing that the best of us are guilty before God. That is the law’s purpose: to confront each of us with our own unrighteousness and need of a Savior outside of ourselves.
Thus, the law is not opposed to the promise, as if there were two options for salvation. It merely serves to show people that we need the salvation that only comes by grace through faith in Jesus. It is designed to bring us to our knees before the holy God, crying out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13)
As Paul points out in verse 21, if righteousness could possibly come through human will in obeying the law, then Jesus died for nothing, and His message to us would merely have been, “Try harder!” But the law serves to show that no one, not the best person in the whole world, can measure up to the holiness of God in our own strength.
Paul’s last statement in this section, that “we are no longer under the supervision of the law,” has been warped and twisted by some to mean that once we become Christians, we no longer have any moral requirements laid on us, and that requiring adherence to any standards at all, such as the Ten Commandments, is gross legalism. Some quote part of Romans 6:14 in support of this view, “you are not under law but under grace.” But the whole context, the whole of verse 14 (“For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace”) as well as the rest of Romans 6 shows that this is a skewed view. Instead, the salvation that come through faith in Jesus not only cleanses the heart of past sins, it gives victory over sin through the presence of the Holy Spirit working in the core of each individual, giving us power to obey God’s righteous requirements in a way that no one could ever do in their own strength.
Father, it is clear that Christianity is not and never was a “self-improvement project”. Instead, it is a rebirth, the making of a new creation, a complete transformation inside and out through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit working in each person, who then obeys Your righteous moral requirements from the heart, just as Jesus did. I know from my own experience how easy it is to fool ourselves into believing that we are “good people”, or at least “good enough”, in our own strength and efforts. But, as John writes (1 John 2:6), “This is how we know that we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” Universal human experience shows that this standard can never be met through willpower or desire alone, by striving to keep the law on our own. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit, received in salvation by grace through faith (Acts 2:38-39) can we meet that standard. Thank You not only for Your love and grace, but for Your transforming power and presence in my life as well. Amen.