Under Which Law Do We Live?

During my relatively short time as a student of the Bible I have been very interested in short and simple answers. Allow me to explain: I understand, as I’m sure you do, that when afforded an opportunity to discuss the Bible with someone, one does not always have a great amount of time available. Because of this unavoidable truth I have always been on the look out for quick answers to certain key doctrinal questions that I am often asked by those with whom I come in contact. One of those questions is concerning whether or not the Law of Moses is binding upon the Christian today. This article seeks to offer a short and simple explanation that will enable one to readily answer the question with only a limited amount of time at one’s disposal. The passage which supplies this quick answer is Galatians 3:23-25.

To properly understand this passage one needs to be aware of the purpose and design of the book of Galatians. Judaizing teachers were troubling the churches of Galatia teaching that it was necessary to keep the Law of Moses. Paul writes to show that salvation is not in the keeping of the Law but rather in obedience to the gospel of Christ. Galatians 2:16 could very well be a synopsis of the book: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Now to our text: It begins “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” The King James Version did us no favor by its translation of this passage. The text should read “But before THE faith came.” The definite article “the” is present in the Greek text but one needs no knowledge of the original language to know the intention of the writer, one need only use common sense. The word “faith” could not possibly refer to one’s personal faith or belief because the text speaks of “faith” as not having come during the time of the law. Yet Abraham certainly had faith (cf. Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:12) and he lived BEFORE the law was given! The reference then is not to one’s personal faith but to the system of faith i.e. the gospel (cf. Acts 6:7, Rom. 1:5, Gal. 1:23).

“But before [the] faith came, we were kept under the law…Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” A significant word in v. 24 is “schoolmaster.” During the first century wealthy Roman families often had a slave called a paidagogos (the word here translated “schoolmaster”). The schoolmaster would accompany a boy under the age of 16 to and from school and also be responsible for his behavior. He even had the right to discipline the boy. Once the boy reached manhood the schoolmaster was no longer needed. Just like the schoolmaster brought the young Roman boy to school, the Law brought us to Christ.

The analogy continues: “But after that [the] faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (v. 25). The Greek article “the” is again present in this verse though it does not appear in the KJV. Just like the mature Roman boy is no longer under the schoolmaster, the Christian is no longer under the Old Law. Christ came in the “fullness” (denoting maturity) of time (cf. Gal. 4:4). The Christian is made perfect (mature) by the faith i.e. the gospel (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). We might phrase it this way: If the Law of Moses is the schoolmaster (and it is, v. 24) then we could replace the word “schoolmaster” with “the Law of Moses” and do no harm to the text. Using this logic, v. 25 reads as follows: “But after that [the] faith is come we are no longer under the Law of Moses.” After the faith (the gospel) comes we are no longer under the Law of Moses. So the only question remaining is “Has the faith come?” Indeed it has: “The faith…was once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3, ASV).

So then we conclude by our brief examination of these three verses that the Christian is not amenable to the Law of Moses but rather to “the faith” or “the gospel” of Jesus Christ: “For ye are all the children of God by [the] faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (vs. 26, 27).