So, if following the works of the law does not result in salvation then what is the benefit of the Old Testament law? Is it even necessary? In case people accused Paul of saying that the law was not important, he revealed the purpose of the law. The purpose of the law was to expose the sinfulness of man until the Seed of Abraham (Jesus Christ) was revealed (3:19-20). If the law was only necessary to expose the sinfulness of man and could not provide salvation, was the promise of a Seed against the law? Paul says “certainly not” because the law and the promise of God are not in opposition. “If there had been a law given which could have given life…righteousness would have been by the law”; however, God’s word clearly reveals that everyone is under sin and therefore cannot be brought to salvation through the law. Paul then uses an illustration of a prisoner saying that “Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The disobedience to the revealed law kept us a prisoner of sin until faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ came (who perfectly fulfilled the law) and set free those who were held captive by sin (3:23). The law only served as a tutor meaning that it guarded our behavior and taught us what was right. Ultimately, the law helped us understand that we could not attain salvation on our own because of our sinfulness, but it brought us to Christ who was able to declare us righteous before God the Father (3:24).
Dear God, thank you for giving us the law to expose our true sinful condition, but thank You for providing faith through which we can have salvation!
