The Schoolmaster

Today’s Passages – Galatians 1 – 3; Proverbs 8

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 36 – 40)

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” – (Galatians 3:24)

If people cannot be saved by keeping the Law, then why was the Law given? I believe the Law was given for two reasons:

First, I believe the Law was given to man to show him what God says is right and wrong. I do not believe the Law covers every possible human scenario, but it established what God says that man should and should not do in his relationship with God, and in his dealings with other men. The Law also helped to govern a just society. Society needs to have rules if it is to function properly and peacefully. The Law helped the people of Israel to function as a nation, and to get along well with each other.

Secondly, the Law was given to prove to man that He needed God. Remember, the sinful nature of man preceded the Law. My preacher used to say that rules do not create rebellion, they merely expose rebellion. Therefore when God put down His laws in writing, man either submitted to it or rebelled against it; but no man was able to perfectly obey the Law. Every man fell short. So what was man to do? He was guilty before God, and “the wages of sin [was] death”? Since man could not be saved through his own righteousness in keeping the Law perfectly, He was forced to turn to Christ. Jesus is the only man that obeyed every tenet of the Law completely; and then died to pay the debt for those of us who couldn’t.

Go ahead and try to get to Heaven by keeping the Law if you must; but you will soon find that it is an impossibility. Sin, which is the transgression of the Law, is part of who we are. The Law cannot save us, it only condemns us. Only Jesus can save us.