The Law As the Schoolmaster

Dispensationalists who teach that Old Testament law has been completely cancelled out by Christ, quote Galatians 3:23-25 as proof for their claim: "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (The last phrase in the New King James Version translates as "we are no longer under a tutor.")
In order to fully understand this passage we need to answer two questions.

1. What does Paul mean by the term "law"? and
2. What does he mean when he says "we are no longer under a tutor"?

We need to keep in mind the context and history of the book of Galatians and the specific problems that Paul was addressing [See Justification and the Law]. One of the issues was that of the Judaizers who were teaching two serious doctrinal errors. They believed in salvation through Christ and human works, and they wanted Gentiles to first become Jews before becoming Christians. In essence they were teaching that the Gentiles had to first follow the Mosaic ceremonial laws before they were qualified to become Christians. It is this second error that is in Paul's mind when he condemns circumcision in Galatians 5:2-3, and also when he refers to the elements in Galatians 4:3, 9. "But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." (Galatians 4:9-11). Therefore, because Paul is concerned with counteracting the Judaizers' view that Gentiles were to keep the whole system of Jewish ceremonial law, it is clear that he is speaking of law in terms of the Mosaic administration of God's covenant with the Jews. He is telling the Galatians why it is no longer necessary to follow the ceremonial laws of the old covenant.
What, then, does Paul mean when he says that those who have come to Christ are no longer under a tutor?

Given the meaning of law within this context, Paul is saying that the ceremonial law served as an instructor in salvation by grace. It taught the old covenant people of God about the perfect redemptive work of the coming Messiah through pictures (known theologically as types). But since Christ has come and offered himself as a perfect sacrifice "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), the tutor is no longer needed. Under the old covenant, the Jews were saved by faith in the coming Messiah, and not by their works. However, this old covenant, with its pictures and ceremonies, was inferior to the new covenant. Paul is comparing the old covenant to the immature life of slavery under a tutor, with the new covenant where believers are described as sons, who are heirs of God (Galatians 4:1-7).
As John Calvin wrote in his commentary on Galatians and Ephesians, "A schoolmaster is not appointed for the whole life, but only for childhood, as etymology of the Greek word [paidagogos] implies. Besides, in training a child, the object is to prepare him, by the instructions of childhood, for maturer years. The comparison applies in both respects to the law, for its authority was limited to a particular age, and its whole object was to prepare its scholars in such a manner, that when its elementary instructions were closed, they might make progress worthy of manhood. And so he adds, that it was our schoolmaster [eis Christon] unto Christ. The grammarian, when he is trained as a boy, delivers him into the hands of another, who conducts him through the higher branches of a finished education. In like manner, the law was the grammar of theology, which, after carrying its scholars a short way, handed them over to faith to be completed. Thus, Paul compares the Jews to children, and us to advanced youth."

To put this a little clearer: when we were children in school, we needed teachers and headmasters to point us in the right direction and discipline us when necessary. Once we were fully instructed, we moved on, but are not to forget or neglect the things taught to us in school. Similarly; before we were in Christ, we needed a schoolmaster to point us in the right direction and discipline us. The Law is that schoolmaster. Once we have come to Christ, we move on, but are not to neglect or forget those things taught to us beforehand.

This then leads us to the question of; what Law are we no longer under?

The Law of works
After the fall of man in the garden of Eden, God has always dealt with man on the basis of the covenant of grace. Grace did not come only at the cross, it has always been there. It is just the direction one looks to the grace that has changed. In other words, from the fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), until the second coming of Christ, anyone who is saved, whether under the old covenant or the new, is saved by grace through faith. No one, can be saved by his own works of righteousness. Even the sacrifices of animals under the old covenant did not save "because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). The sacrifices were pictures that pointed forward to Jesus Christ who "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

Galatians 3:21 teaches that the law of God is not against the promise. The law as a covenant was an expression of the covenant of grace. The ceremonies pointed to Jesus Christ and taught the people to trust in the shed blood of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 53:3-12), "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). The law of works - essentially the ceremonial laws - ended with the coming of Christ and the new covenant because it had served its purpose and was no longer needed. The pictures are replaced by the reality, Jesus Christ.

The Law of Sin and Death
Another manner in which believers are no longer under the law is that believers are not under the curse of the law - the Law of Sin and Death. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." (Galatians 3:13-14).

Paul says that by Christ's death on the cross, believers are set free from the curse or penalty of the law which is due to us, for as God said, "The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Ezekiel 18:4b). John the Baptist declared that "whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36). Paul, by saying that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), is showing us the just punishment of man by God. Man has no escape within his own power, or within the law (Galatians 3:21).

The sinner finds himself without escape; and the magnitude of his dilemma is revealed in the words, "for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."" (Galatians 3:10).

But, at the cross, Jesus Christ bore the guilt and the penalty for the sins of the world. The complete wrath of God that we deserve for our sins was placed upon Christ. However, just because Christ bore the judgement that we deserve does not mean that believers are no longer under law as a guide for daily living and the ongoing process of sanctification. Such a view is antinomianism (anti-law), for there is no sanctification by lawlessness.

The Law Convicts Sinful Man of Sin
The third way in which Christians are no longer under law is as a means of conviction to lead us to Christ. Paul says: "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:19-20).

It is a mistake to argue that God's law is evil, unfair or harsh. The law is not the problem; man is. Man has an evil heart that loves sin. One of the reasons God has given the law is to expose sin in order to convict rebellious hearts. "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." (Romans 7:7-12).

We can see from Paul's personal experience he knew that the law convicted him of his sin. As a Pharisee, he was taught that keeping the law was an external matter that was achievable by man. By saying that he "was alive apart from the law" (v. 9) he is saying that without a biblical understanding of the internal aspect of keeping the law, he was deceiving himself and being self-righteous. But when the command "Do not covet" (v. 7) came into his consciousness, his self-righteousness came to an end. What Paul is actually referring to is to the original purpose of the law; to direct and regulate man's life in the path of righteousness and, therefore, to guard and promote life.

While still a Pharisee, Paul expected salvation through the law. He expected happiness and holiness, but instead he descended into the despair of guilt, condemnation, misery, wrath, and the displeasure of a righteous, just and holy God. "For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death." (Romans 7:11). Sin had deceived Paul, for what Paul wanted the law to do, it could not do. This was not because the law was defective, or because the law was evil, but because the law was not designed by God to secure our salvation.
This is the experience of every believer. He first turns to the law, to his own self-righteousness and strength, but he soon finds out that all the law can do is aggravate the guilt and misery. God uses the law as a mirror of man's heart. Once man knows his guilt and that he cannot obey the law, man is brought to his knees and runs to the cross of Christ. The burden of guilt is washed away by Christ's blood and his perfect righteousness. Once man has accepted this gift, the condemnation is removed, and he is no longer under that effect of the law.

However, it still serves its purpose of being a mirror of our sinful desires that keep rearing their ugly heads in our lives. The difference is that there is no longer any condemnation, but conviction of the Holy Spirit that guides us in righteousness.

Preparation of the Heart
Although the law does not save man, it does prepare the heart for the gift of grace. I believe that it is this function that Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:24, which then leads one to Christ for justification by faith. Before any man can receive the Lord Jesus Christ, he must be shown the sinful state he is in and that by his own power he cannot escape. The law exposes many areas of one's life which would not have otherwise been recognised as sin. It is essential to declare the ten commandments – the holy standard of God – in order to show the sinner his heart of hatred toward God and man. Only then will he be able to accept the grace of God in Jesus Christ to provide him with righteousness and love. As Walter Chantry put it, "It is the sharp needle of the law that makes way for the scarlet thread of the Gospel.

Next topic in the series: Would Jesus Oppose the Death Penalty?

Baruch atem b'Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW