GALATIANS (16): The Purpose of the Law (Galatians 3:19-23)

Previously we saw that God established His way of salvation by grace through Abraham, so that when He introduced the Law through Moses, He never intended it to be a means of salvation. So, the question naturally arises: What then is the purpose of the Law? We see that one of its main purposes is to reveal the fact that we are sinners, who cannot save ourselves, so that we will welcome the Gospel of salvation by grace. The Law lifts the lid off man’s respectability, revealing what he is like underneath, by turning our sin into transgression, making us law-breakers. Thus, it exposes our sin and reveals its nature and sinfulness, that it is rebellion against the will and authority of God. The Law also imprisons us, and restrains and modifies our behaviour, but it has no power to forgive us, change us from within or save us. But the Law does PREPARE us for salvation through Christ, (1) by revealing our need for salvation, and (2) by pointing beyond itself to Christ, through the types and shadows (especially the sacrificial system), the true source of forgiveness and salvation. So, the Law also illuminates and confirms the Gospel. Paul also points out the inferiority of the Law to the Gospel, by pointing out that the Covenant of Moses between God and man was mediated through angels and Moses (a fallen man), creating an imperfect connection between God and man (so that there was still a separation between them), and was therefore temporary and preparatory by nature. On the other hand, the New Covenant of grace is perfect and everlasting, having been made between God the Father and God the Son, and God is One (2 perfect Persons, who are One), so that when we are put in Christ (through His human nature), we come into a perfect, unbreakable union with God on the basis of an everlasting Covenant, established in the precious Blood of the God-man Jesus Christ, our eternal Mediator. Thus, in Christ, we are one with God, all separation between us and God having been removed forever, in fulfilment of Christ’s high priestly prayer for us in John 17:20-23.