April 20-The Law Warden
“Our wise and beloved brother Paul has talked about these same things in many of his letters. Some of his comments are not easy to understand, and there are people who are deliberately stupid, and always demand some unusual interpretation—they have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of the Scripture—and the result is disaster for them.“ 2 Peter 3:15-16 TLB.
Philip and I decided if the Apostle Peter—the ROCK—thinks Paul is hard to understand, then we should get a little grace, right? Because sometimes it IS hard to understand, but as Christians, it is our duty to read and study and do our best to discern the scripture for all its worth. And it has great value.
Galatians. 3:19-29 The Law
If Abraham was counted as righteous because of his faith, and he received the promises, why did the Law come at all? Why not just keep on having people have faith? Why bring the Law into it?
Well, the problem is that people would sin. (Duh?) So the Law came to be like training wheels for God's people. Different translations say here that the Law was a "tutor" or a "nurse" or a "disciplinarian." The idea is that the Law was like a very strict trainer for God's people. (I get in my mind that teacher with the tight bun and the ruler who never smiled.)
Under the Law, they were shown what faithfulness looked like, and there was even a system for making atonement if they messed up. But the Law could not make the people faithful, and it became a curse. Paul describes it as both a guardian and a prison warden.
Israel under the Law is like a child kept under the oversight of a very strict servant, and the child fails often. What was intended to bring the nation up in righteousness instead became bondage and suffering to them.
This may be a little weird for us to think about. We often think of being slaves to sin, but here, Paul also tells us that you can be a slave to the Law.
“Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus...There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:24-26, 28 NLT
Praise you God that we no longer are under the law, that we no longer need that strict guardian, that the Son has made us free indeed. Praise you Father that we are no longer Jew or Gentile, rich or poor but we are all one in you. We sing alleluia and holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. You go before us, stand beside us and we know you always stand behind us. You are our God. Amen and amen.
Love you dear friend,
Pam and Philip
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