Basic HTML Version
himself said, is "ho1y, and the com–
mandment ho1y, and just, and
good" (Romans 7: 12). He went on
to say "the law is spiritual" (verse
14).
Does Christian faith abo1ish
God's law? Paul himself answered
this question: "Do we then make
void the 1aw through faith? God for–
bid: yea,
we establish the law"
(Ro–
mans 3:3 1).
Did the death of Christ abo1ish
God's Jaw? Not if we believe the
apost1e John, who wrote plainly:
"And hereby we do know that
we
know him,
if
we keep his command–
ments.
He that saith,
I
know him,
and keepeth not his command–
ments, is a
LIAR,
and the truth is not
in him" (I John 2:3-4). He also de–
clared: "By this we know that we
!ove the children of God, when we
!ove God, and
keep his command–
ments.
For this is the !ove of God,
that we
KEEP HIS
COMMAND–
MENTS . .."
(I
John 5:2-3).
John was merely saying the sa'lle
thing Jesus Christ had said when he
told a young rich man who desired
to inherit eterna! 1ife: "Keep the
commandments" (Matthew 19:
17).
God's Jaw is
in
force today. Jt was
never abolished and never can be. It
is spiritual and eterna! (Psalm
111
:7-8).
It is a law of love.
Why, then, do a few scriptures
seem to condemn "works of the
law"? In Galatians 3: 1 we read,
"O
foolish Galatians [the Galatians of
Asia Minor were recent converts
who had fallen into error] who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not
obey the truth .... Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith? . . . Having
begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the ftesh?" (Gala–
tians 3: 1-3.)
Throughout this book, Paul up–
braids those who became deluded
into believing they could receive sal–
vation by the "works of the Jaw."
What does that phrase mean?
Pau1 is not talking about the spiri–
tual Iaw of God, summarized in the
PLAIN TRUTH September 1973
Ten Commandments. Was there
sorne other law in existence which
the Galatians were trying their ut–
most to observe?
A Ritualistic Law
Galatians 3: 19 explains what law.
"Why then the law?" Paul asks. He
answers,
"lt
was added because of
transgressions, till the offspring
shou1d come to wbom the promise
had been made . .." (RSV). This
particular law was added because of
transgressions. The fact that trans–
gressions occurred before this 1aw
existed must mean that another law
was a1ready in exístence, which the
people were transgressing! A new
law, whatever it entailed , was
added, but for what purpose?
This added law Paul calls a
"schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24)
which we are no longer under (verse
25). He says this particular law is
"not of faith" (verse 12). It did not
exist prior to the time of Moses
(verse
17).
It
was added fou r hun–
dred and thirty years after the
promises were made to Abraham.
Here then is the crucial questíon:
What was this temporarily added,
schoolmaster-type of law?
The
Holy Bible in Modern
English,
trans1ated by Ferrar Feo–
ton, makes the truth evident. We
read the words of Paul, " ... we
know that a man is not made righ–
teous by
ritualism"(Galatians
2:16).
He adds: " ... we believe in Christ
Jesus, so that we may be made righ–
teous from a faith of Christ, and not
from legal rituals, because by legal
rituals no person
will
ever become
righteous" (verse 16).
In verse 21 , Paul says,
" I
do not
set aside the gift of God; for if righ–
teousness were through a ritual,
then Christ died to no purpose."
In cbapter three of Fenton's
translation, Paul continues, "Silly
Galatians! ... Did you receive the
Spirit from a law of rituals, or from
comrnunication of a faith?" (verses
l-2.)
In verse 10, Paul adds: "For who–
ever are dependent on a law of rit–
uals, are under a curse; for it is
written, that all who do not continue
in all the writings of the book of the
law to do them, are under a
curse . . . . But the ritual did not
come from faitb ; on the contrary,
the performer of them must live in
them" (verses 10-13).
And in verses 17-18, Paul ex–
plains, "And
1
assert this - the rit–
uals, beginning four hundred and
thirty years after, could not cancel a
Settlement previously estab1ished
by God, so as to abolish the prom–
ise. For if the inheritance comes
from a ritual, it is no more from a
promise ...."
During the time of Moses, God
added a ritualistic, ceremonial Jaw
- consisting of various washings,
ablutions, sacrifices, and the like
(read Leviticus and Numbers).
These foreshadowed the coming of
the true sacrifice for our sins, Jesus
Christ. That law of rituals has been
superseded. Christians are no longer
under it (Hebrews 9:9-10). It was a
temporary schoolmaster that taught
the people to Jook forward to the
sacrifice of Jesus as the Messiah. It
also taught the habit of obedíence.
How About You?
The truth is that salvation and
inheriting eterna! life involves - as
the apost1e James said - faith
and
works, obedience coupled with the
grace of God.
Those who believe that it is suf–
ticient merely to live a good life -
apart from real conversion, repen–
tance, faith in Christ, and receiving
the Ho1y Spirit of God - are in
great error, and those who believe
in
faith alone or grace without godly
works, are also in error.
o
If
you desire more information
on the subject covered here,
then write for the free article,
"The New Testament Teaching
on Law and Grace."
25