A Proper Appreciation of the Law would lead to an
appreciation of the Messiah
So, in the letter to the Galatians he
spelt out the purpose of the Law. It was a schoolmaster to lead the Jewish
people to their Messiah.If the Jewish people had accepted their Messiah, they would have had a
graduation ceremony. Then, no longer under the tutorship of the Law, they could
have enjoyed all the privileges and responsibilities of sons of God, as Paul
indicated: “But when the fullness of the
time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to
redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as
sons”. (Gal. 4:4,5) They would have entered into that condition of grace
that the Church now enjoys, for we “are
not under law but under grace”. (Rom. 6:14) Alas, the leadership of the nation
failed their finals. The Law had given the Sanhedrists power over the people
and they did not want to relinquish it. Moreover they considered themselves
patriotic Jews by defending not only the Mosaic Law but also the extrapolated
laws of the teachers, now preserved for us in the Mishnah. They even accused
the Messiah of breaking the law, He who had come to fulfill the Law and redeem
them from the Law. But God is very gracious. Although nationally, because of
the failure of their ruling body, the Jews did not pass their exams, the grace
of God made it possible for individuals to graduate. Peter exhorted all who
heard him to separate themselves from the national decision taken by the
Sanhedrin. Then they could be saved. Saul, the Pharisee, (in some ways a
special case) graduated in the school of the Messiah. Moreover, he gave private
tutorials and led others to faith in Yeshua HaMashiac (Jesus the Messiah).
Believers said of him, he is preaching the “faith
which he once tried to destroy.” (Gal. 1:23) So Rabbi Saul, champion of Law
and works, as he testified: “And I
advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being
more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers”, (Gal. 1:14)
became the Apostle Paul, champion of grace and faith: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of
God”. (Eph 2:8)
Furthermore, in his letter to the Galatians
he urged the readers to “Stand fast
therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be
entangled again with a yoke of bondage”. (Gal. 5:1) To paraphrase his
argument - now that you have been saved by grace, do not think that you remain
a child of God by works. That path makes the cross of Christ of no effect. By
the time we come to his letter to the Colossians, his theology of the crucified
Messiah is more mature. There he
declared that the Messiah dealt a fatal blow to the Law: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way” (Col.2.14). So, for those who have
put their faith in a crucified Messiah, the curse of the Law is negated by the
action of the cross.
Anne Ross Cousin wrote
–Death and the curse were in our cup,
–O Christ, ‘twas full for Thee!
–But Thou hast drained the last dark drop,
–‘Tis empty now for me.
–The bitter cup, love drank it up;
–Now blessings’ draught for me.
To
Summarise
The Law was given:
to
provide an ethical, moral and social structure to Israel
to
emphasize the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of man.
to demonstrate the grace and mercy
of God (through the sacrificial system);
to lead them to recognize the grace
and mercy of God when the Son of God came as their Redeemer and sin bearer.
However, the Law is now no longer
the pattern for righteous living. For that we need to look to the Messiah, who
not only fulfilled the Law but also died to remove the curse of the Law.
