Young children like exploring their surroundings. However, prudent parents will restrict their freedom of movement to keep their children safe from unknown threats. Toddlers may burn their hands on a hot heater, stick their fingers in an electrical outlet, take the tablecloth off the table only to find it covered with a cup of hot tea, or encounter other hazardous situations if they are permitted to play unsupervised around the house. Restricting children’s freedom is essential!
Moses gave the Israelites the law of God, which had a similar purpose. “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned,” according to Galatians 3:23. Similar to how the freedom of movement is restricted for young children, people are legally “imprisoned” and “held captive.” It is evident from the parallel to toddlers that this verse does not present the law in a negative or unfavorable manner. The legislation ensures that you cannot grab items off the table or stick your fingers in the outlet. Accidents are avoided by law.
Maturing in faith
Children won’t be under constant supervision forever however. One day, the child will walk freely through the house. The law is not meant to last forever either. Galatians 3:23 ends with us being guarded by the law “until the coming faith would be revealed.” And in verse 24 it continues, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” The law is necessary until the time of Christ. After that, we walk freely. In verse 19 it says that the law “was added because of transgressions.” This means that transgressions are prevented by the law. These are the accidents just mentioned. Through the law people who are inclined to sin are kept in check, so that they do not sin as badly as they would without the law. But that is not the only meaning or purpose.
Covenant promises
If it says that the law has been “added,” you may ask yourself, “what has it been added to?” This is explained in Galatians 3:6, where the Bible says that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” In the book of Genesis the Lord God makes all kinds of promises to Abraham. God promises Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. He promises that He will give him the land of Canaan as an inheritance. He promises that He will make him a great nation. And Abraham believes those promises of God. God reckons or considers that faith to be righteousness. In other words, God says, “Abraham, I declare you to be righteous, not based on anything you have done, but because you believe in My promises.”
In this chapter, Paul shows that this is how God always handles people (Galatians 3:7). God blesses Abraham because of his faith. The same is true for any country. They will be blessed by faith. Being a child of God is the source of this benefit, as stated in Galatians 3:26, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” You will always be with God as a child—here on earth now, in heaven after this life, and ultimately on the new planet. How fortunate we are!
The law was added
The benefit or prize that God bestows upon people for their faith in Him has been “topped” by the law. It should be noted that the promise to Abraham and the nations does not end here. God made a promise to Abraham through the covenant. He makes no demands of you. These are blessings that come with no conditions. That cannot be altered by anything. However, it now has something extra to it.
God commanded the people of Israel to follow his laws. The Israelites received a curse rather than a blessing if they didn’t. The blessing of God is one of the central themes of the Bible. We hear about a curse when the law is added. Why was the law added, then? “It was added because of transgressions,” verse 19 tells us. That’s in part done to rein in the violations. That’s not all, though. If that were the case, then the Lord God could have allowed Jesus to come and atone for people’s sins right after Abraham. The law would not have been necessary at all.
The function of the law
However, there’s more. Consider once more the young youngsters whose freedom is sensibly restrained. They gradually begin to realize that their choices are limited since they wish to engage in unhealthy activities. And even later on, youngsters begin to realize that their parents’ limitations are for their own benefit rather than to annoy them. This is the law’s intent. It is evident from the law that we are sinners in need of a Savior.
The purpose of God’s commandment is not to instruct us on how to live in order to enter paradise. The purpose of the law is to demonstrate that we are unworthy of entering heaven on our own and that we are in need of a Savior who pardons our sins and grants us eternal life.
