Law and Grace (21) Guardian

Paul explained to the Galatians that parts of the Torah have been made redundant by the cross. As part of his teaching, he explains the purpose of the Torah. The covenant did not need law. God’s promise of the land was given to Abraham, 430 years before he gave the law.

The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise (Gal 3:17-18).

Abraham did not need law. He was leading a nomadic life in a large country with his family. His word was law in his household. As the patriarch of his family, he was responsible for sorting out all problems faced by his people. While they were in Egypt, the Israelites did not need a law, because they were fully controlled by Pharaoh and his slave masters. Once the moved into the land, they needed a justice system, so God gave them the law right on time.

Law was added because people were still sinful, despite being rescued from Egypt.

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come (Gal 3:19).

The promised seed is Jesus. Until he came, sin and transgressions would be a problem for any society of people living in close proximity to each. The law was added to deal with serious transgressions.

But Scripture has locked up all together under of sin (Gal 3:22).

The children of Israel were all locked up together in a small country and still prone to sin, so they needed the law to enable them to live together in peace. That was a huge blessing in the age before Jesus came.

Paul explains that the law was a guardian until Jesus came.

The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Gal 3:24-25).

The word guardian (paidagogos) is often translated as school master, but that it a bit misleading, because it gives the impression that the law was given to teach people how to be righteous. This is wrong, because the law cannot teach us about righteousness, because it does not even have a full list of personal sins.

The guardian was a servant responsible for taking a boy to school. They were charged with keeping the child safe until they got to where they were going. Their role was to protect the boy from trouble. This is a good analogy for what the law does. It protects people from the worst effects of sin until the time when Jesus has come to set people free from it. That guardian roles continues after the cross. A group of Christians living together in a community would not need the law, because love should overcome all conflicts, but those who do not believe in Jesus still need the law for protection from each other.