fredlott63

Should we obey the commandments?
It has been said that Jesus never mentioned the Ten Commandments. If you read Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21 and 22 you will see some of the Ten Commandments. I think I did an analysis of the commandments that I will re-post. If not I’ll just do another paper. In this block of instruction we will cover the acts that defile a man in Matthew 15:19.
· Evil thoughts – This is where sin starts. Before an action is committed the thought has been pre-planned in your mind. There can be no thought police. This encourages some to plan wicked acts.
· Murders – You cannot mentally murder someone. One thing that satan enjoys is false accusations of innocent people. But let’s remember, God came to this planet and wrote with His finger in stone “don’t murder”.
· Adulteries – God came to this planet and wrote with His own finger in stone not to commit adultery. Those what if situations that pop up in your mind come from satan. Anytime that the solution to a problem is breaking God’s commandments it will cause more problems. Anyway we know what happens when members of the opposite sex get enticed.
· Fornications – We should not have sex with people we don’t know. This proves that Jesus knew the difference between adultery and fornication. Matthew 5:23 is not addressing fornication. If you are married then you have no business approaching a woman if she is not your wife. Sex should be enjoyed only in a committed relationship as sex with strangers brings disease.
· Thefts – God came down to this planet and wrote with His finger in stone do not steal. Stealing is wrong and if you follow Christ you will not take things that aren’t yours. Ephesians 4:28 says let him that stole steal no more.
· False witness – God came down to this planet and wrote with His own finger in stone do not bear false witness. God hates liars. If you read Revelation 21:8 they will be on the first train to hell.
· Blasphemies – We should all recognize that there is a time when we shouldn’t speak our minds, that there are acts we should not commit and things better left unsaid.
Jesus says in John 14:15 that if you love Him you will keep His commandments. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says He did not come to destroy the law. These people who tell you that we can love God and ignore His commandments don’t know what they are talking about. We should read God’s word and apply it to our lives. We should read for ourselves because these false prophets are manipulating scriptures into saying things God didn’t mean. Jesus says in John 14:23 that is you love Him you will keep His word. John writes in 1 John 2:4 that anyone who says I know God but does not keep His commandments is a liar. God hates liars.

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

Your entire post is well laid out, and presents a succinct and compact summary of what Jesus said about sin. But, (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) Scripture tells us we are different as regards the scriptures themselves.

The Jews were given laws written in stone for two reasons; 1st, to see iof they would obey, and 2nd to show them the futility of attempting to keep such an all-encompassing law of regulations.

Christians are taught to go deeper than what is written, all the way to the "Spirit of the law" because "The spirit giveth life, but the letter killeth."

That is a reference to the fact, where there was no law, sin was not imputed - "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." [Rom 5:13]

There is a sin "not unto death" and there is "a sin unto death." "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death."[I John 54:16-17]

When a man is tempted, THAT is the time to overcome temptation, get it out of your heart, do not give it time nor space to come to fruition. It is still unrighteousness, but not unto death, for you have not completed the temptation to fulfillment as sin unto death.

What say you?

fredlott63

Of the 10 commandments, 4 are between us and God and 6 are between us and others. No man can come between you and God but our conscience should keep us from breaking the last 6. We shouldn't murder, steal, or commit adultery.

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

Exactly. But we don't do all that bad stuff because we live with the Spirit of the law, and do not require the letter of the law.

"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."[II Cor 3:6]

And how does the letter kill? Because the letter is of the law, and where there is no law, there is no sin imputed -
"For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law."[Rom 5:13]

In other words, since God had not told men of what laws they were acting against, He did not hold them accountable for infractions of which they were not told.

But when He had the laws written, the Men to whom it applied became cognizant of sin, and therefore temptation became rampant, for where there is a law, there will be a temptation to disobey.

God gave Israel laws to see if they would obey -
"And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." [Deut 8:2]

fredlott63

Murder and theft are crimes. Adultery is only a crime if you are a republican.

susanblange Loc: USA

The Decalogue was written in stone because it is forever valid. Not just for the Jews, but for all mankind. It is important not to add to the law or diminish from it. We are not to covet because it is the evil imagination of the heart, and it leads to sin. "Thou shalt not kill" should be "Thou shalt not murder". Murder is the intentional taking of an innocent life. It does not apply to warfare, self defense, or capital punishment. There is a difference between simple lying and false witness. Everybody lies, although God doesn't like it, and in a perfect world we won't lie. False witness is different and is one of the seven deadly sins.

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all," [Rom 4:13-16]

COVENANT OF LAWS WITH ISRAEL WAS THROUGH MOSES, NOT ABRAHAM
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.(LEV 26:46)

NOT WITH OUR FATHERS; NOT WITH NATIONS
"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it."(DEUT 4:7-14)


ALL OF US ALIVE HERE THIS DAY; NOT OUR FATHERS
"And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."
(Deu 5:1-3)

2 Corinthians 3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

COVENANT OF LIFE
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

COVENANT OF DEATH
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. 12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory (of Testament) to glory (of covenant), even as by the Spirit of the Lord.


Deuteronomy 1:1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

Deuteronomy 4:5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

susanblange Loc: USA

Abraham believed in God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. He was willing to sacrifice his son as God commanded him and that was to teach him trust and obeisance. The covenant God made with the children of Israel was made thru Moses. It was a legal contract and it began with a man who believed in the living God. At the end, salvation will come back to a belief in God. Joel 2:32. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered..."

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

God made two Covenants with Abraham, one through Abraham, to Christ; the other through Moses and the children of Israel who came out of Egypt, their children throughout generations, and any proselyte who chose to join themselves to the law.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Israel's return to God is a different issue than the issue we are discussing.

You said the law of Moses was for all nations. I have given scripture that denies that very thing. Are you now satisfied that the law of Moses was limited to Israel and any proselyte who chose to joint themselves to it? That was the scope and venue of the law given to Moses.

fiatlux

If you obeyed the Ten Commandments (Mosaic Law), of necessity you must also carry out its punishments: it is integral to the law. Are you ready to stone your children for disrespect?

The Ten Commandments are not separate from all of the Law. There is no separating out into three parts, much of which Christians are supposedly allowed to choose to ignore, the Law. It is a whole. Do you burn your daughter to death for an unwanted pregnancy? Obeying the Law means you must!

Why people do not get that love covers all of the Law is a mystery to me. Love is without the decreed punishments, obviating what we take as the Law. Compassion, mercy, and forgiveness instead of stoning and burning that were essential parts of obeying the Law. Punishment was a crucial part of obedience to the Law, and the proscribed punishment for breaking the Law was part of keeping the Law. Is that what you want?

Some thought:
Paul suddenly stops the flow of his argument and asks a question: What, then, was the purpose of the law? (v. 19). This question reflects Paul's awareness that his argument so far would lead his readers to wonder whether he has denied any purpose to the law. If the inheritance of the promised blessing does not depend on the law, as Paul has just declared (v. 18), then why was the law given by God? Paul's answer is important for us as we wrestle with similar questions regarding the application of the Mosaic law. How should Christians relate to the Mosaic law today?

In this section Paul first asks his major, initial question regarding the purpose of the law and replies briefly (vv. 19-20), then asks a supplementary question regarding the relation of the law to the promise of God and supplies an explanation (vv. 21-22), and finally presents two images to illustrate more fully God's purpose for the law (vv. 23-25).What Was the Purpose of the Law? (3:19-20)


Paul's brief reply to this question points to (1) the negative purpose of the law, (2) the temporal framework for the law and (3) the mediated origin of the law.

1. According to Paul, the law has a negative purpose: It was added because of transgressions (v. 19). Paul has already demonstrated what the law does not do: it does not make anyone righteous before God (v. 11); it is not based on faith (v. 12); it is not the basis of inheritance (v. 18). So if the law is divorced from righteousness, faith and inheritance of the blessing, to what is law related? Paul says that the law is related to transgressions. A transgression is the violation of a standard. The law provides the objective standard by which the violations are measured. In order for sinners to know how sinful they really are, how far they deviate from God's standards, God gave the law. Before the law was given, there was sin (see Rom 5:13). But after the law was given, sin could be clearly specified and measured (see Rom 3:20; 4:15; 7:7). Each act or attitude could then be labeled as a transgression of this or that commandment of the law.

Imagine a state in which there are many traffic accidents but no traffic laws. Although people are driving in dangerous, harmful ways, it is difficult to designate which acts are harmful until the legislature issues a book of traffic laws. Then it is possible for the police to cite drivers for transgressions of the traffic laws. The laws define harmful ways of driving as violations of standards set by the legislature. The function of traffic laws is to allow bad drivers to be identified and prosecuted.

2. The temporal framework for the law is clearly established by the words added . . . until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come (v. 19). Paul has already emphasized that the Mosaic law was given 430 years after the Abrahamic promise (v. 17). The word added implies that the law was not a central theme in God's redemptive plan; it was supplementary and secondary to the enduring covenant made with Abraham. As the word added marks the beginning point for the Mosaic law, the word until marks its end point. The Mosaic law came into effect at a certain point in history and was in effect only until the promised Seed, Christ, appeared. There is a contrast here between the permanent validity of the promise and the temporary nature of the law. On the one hand, the promise was made long before the law and will be in effect long after the period of the law; on the other hand, the law was in effect for a relatively short period of time limited in both directions by the words added and until.

As we shall see in our study of the next few sections of the letter (see 3:23-25; 4:1-4), Paul's presentation of the temporal framework for the law is a major theme of his argument for the superiority of the promise fulfilled in Christ over the law. This theme differs radically from the common Jewish perspective of his day, which emphasized the eternal, immutable nature of the law. But Paul's Christocentric perspective led him to see that Christ (the promised Seed), not the law, was the eternal one.

3. Paul designates the origin of the law in his statement that the law was put into effect through angels by a mediator (v. 19). By this Paul does not mean that the law was given by angels rather than by God. He is merely pointing to the well-known Jewish tradition that God gave the law through the agency of angels as well as by a mediator, namely Moses. References to the agency of angels in the giving of the law can be found in the Greek version of Deuteronomy 33:2 and Psalm 68:17. We can also see this tradition about angels in Acts 7:53 and Hebrews 2:2.

The presence of angels and the mediation of Moses in the giving of the law were understood by the Jewish people to signify the great glory of the law. But Paul argues that the giving of the law through a series of intermediaries, angels and Moses, actually demonstrates the inferiority of the law. His argument is cryptic and enigmatic: A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one (v. 20). Literally, this sentence reads, "But a mediator is not one, but God is one." A contrast is being made between the plurality of participants in a process of mediation and the oneness of God. In the larger context of Paul's argument here, there is also the implied contrast between the promise given directly by God to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ, the seed of Abraham, and the law given through numerous intermediaries.

By faith the Galatian converts have already entered into the experience of the Spirit (vv. 1-5), which is the fulfillment of the promise (v. 14). Evidently they are now being persuaded that if they observe the rituals of the Jewish people, they will experience new dimensions of spiritual life and blessing--that if they become members of God's people, the Jews, they will be guaranteed intimacy with God. Paul warns them that the circumstances of the giving of the law demonstrate otherwise. The law had a mediated origin. Thus the law does not provide direct access to God. Only the fulfillment of the promise in the bestowal of the Spirit to those in Christ guarantees direct access to God (see 4:4-8).

Paul's affirmation of the common confession of all Jews that God is one (v. 20) implies a contrast between the universality of God and the particularity of the law. The particular focus of the law is specified by its mediation through the angels and Moses to the Jewish people. The preachers of the false gospel in Galatia limited the sphere of God's blessing to the Jewish nation. Their message implied that God is the God of the Jews only. But the unity of God means that he is the God of the Gentiles as well as the God of the Jews (see Rom 3:29-30). The universality of God is clearly expressed in the promise for "all nations" (Gal 3:8). The bestowal of the Spirit on Gentiles who had not become Jews was irrefutable evidence for the universality of God.

Moses, the mediator of the law, brought in a law that divided Jews from Gentiles; therefore he was not the mediator of "the one," the one new community promised to Abraham (v. 8) and found in Christ (v. 28). Christ, not Moses, is the mediator of the unity of all believers in Christ--Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female.

These arguments against the supremacy of the Mosaic law should not be interpreted to mean that Paul is antinomian, totally against the law. He is, after all, showing that the law had an important place in the redemptive plan of God. But the giving of the law was not the final goal of God's plan. The law was an essential step, but only a step, toward the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises in Christ. Christ is the beginning, end and center of God's plan.

In the churches in Galatia the law was supplanting the central place of Christ. The churches were becoming law-centered. It was necessary, therefore, to put the law back into its rightful place. Its purpose is negative: to point out transgressions. Its time is limited: 430 years after the promise, until Christ. Its origin is mediated through angels and Moses: it does not provide direct access to God, and it divides Jews from Gentiles.Is the Law Opposed to the Promises of God? (3:21-22)


This question is an understandable response to Paul's stark contrast between the law and the promise (vv. 15-18) and his confinement of the law to a limited role in God's historical plan (vv. 19-20). People who were preoccupied with the supreme value of the law must have been stunned by such a devaluation of it. How could Paul speak against the law? Was the logical conclusion of his line of reasoning the position that the law stood in opposition to the promise? Absolutely not! says Paul. Since both the law and the promise were given by God, they must be complementary rather than contradictory in the overall plan of God. Paul explains the relation of the law to the promise in a two-part answer to the question. First, he presents a contrary-to-fact hypothesis that ascribes a positive role to the law (v. 21). Second, he turns from hypothesis to the reality of the law's negative role (v. 22).

In order to clarify the relation of the law to the promise, Paul poses a contrary-to-fact hypothesis: If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law (v. 21). The very way that Paul phrases this hypothesis (as a contrary-to-fact conditional statement) indicates that he does not for a moment think the law can impart life. By life Paul means living in right relationship with God (see 2:19: "that I might live for God"). If the law could empower one to live in a right relationship with God, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. This was in fact the position of the rival teachers in the Galatian churches. They were promoting the law as the way to live for God. It was actually their position that set the law in direct opposition to the promise; it contradicted the gospel. For as Paul has already said (2:21), "if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

It is only when the law is given a positive role that it is directly opposed to the promise fulfilled in Christ. You are faced with an absolute contradiction if you are told that only by believing in the cross of Christ will you be able to live in a right relationship with God and then you are told that only by keeping the law will you be able to live in a right relationship with God. And that is precisely what the Galatian believers were being told by the rival teachers. But Paul does not accept the false hypothesis of a positive role for the law. Since believing the gospel has already been proved to be the only way to receive life in the Spirit and righteousness (3:1-18), such a positive role for the law is excluded.

The strong adversative conjunction but at the beginning of verse 22 indicates that Paul is turning from the unreal hypothesis of a positive role for the law to the reality of the negative role of the law: but the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin (v. 22). In reality, the law has the negative function of condemning everyone. Literally, Paul says that "the Scripture imprisoned all under sin." Probably Paul has in mind Deuteronomy 27:26, the specific Scripture he quoted in verse 10: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." This citation from the law summarizes the purpose of the law: to demonstrate that all are sinners and to put all sinners under God's judgment. Paul's emphasis on the universality of human sin (v. 22) and the universality of God's judgment on all sinners (v. 10) reduces Jews to the same status as Gentiles--the whole world is a prisoner of sin. So identification with the Jewish people by circumcision and observance of the Mosaic law does not remove one from the circle of "Gentile sinners" (2:15) and bring one into the sphere of righteousness, blessing and life. Rather, it leaves one imprisoned under sin.

But we are not left as condemned sinners under the curse of God. The law was given to show that all humanity is held under the bondage of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (v. 22). Now we can see how the law and the promise work in harmony to fulfill the purpose of God. The law puts us down under the curse; the promise lifts us up in Christ. We are left with no exit under the condemnation of the law so that we might find our freedom only by faith in Christ. The law imprisons all--both Jews and Gentiles--under sin to prepare the way for including all believers in Christ--both Jews and Gentiles--in the blessing promised to Abraham.

So the law should not be viewed as contradictory to the gospel. By reducing all to the level of sinners, the law prepares the way for the gospel. But neither should the law be viewed as if it were the same as the gospel. The law has a negative purpose: it makes us aware of our sin. But it does not, indeed it cannot, set us free from bondage to sin. The promise of blessing comes only through faith in Christ.The Law Is a Jailer and a Disciplinarian (3:23-25)


Paul expands and dramatizes his explanation of the negative function of the law by personifying the law as a jailer and a disciplinarian. In his portrayal of the roles given by God to the law, Paul shows that these negative roles are a necessary part, but only a temporary part, of the entire drama of God's plan of salvation.

The law took the part of God's jailer on the stage of history: before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed (v. 23). Notice the important shift of focus from universal to particular: in verse 22 the whole world is declared by Scripture to be a prisoner of sin, but in verse 23 Paul says we were held prisoners by the law. In the first case the law is related to all people without distinction, Jews as well as Gentiles. All are condemned as sinners by the law. In the second case the law is related to Jews. For a certain period of time, Jews in particular were held as prisoners under law. When we read the Mosaic law we can see how every aspect of Jewish life was restricted, restrained and confined by the law. In this sense the law was a jailer over the Jews.

It is essential to distinguish between these two functions of the law: the universal condemnatory function and the particular supervisory function. Every person in the whole world of every time and every race is under the condemnation of the law given in Scripture. The law makes it clear that everyone is a prisoner of sin in order that it may be absolutely clear that the salvation promised by God can be received only by faith in Jesus Christ (v. 22). That is the universal condemnatory function of the law. The condemning sentence of the law against all humanity can never be overturned. It stands as a permanent indictment of the sinful rebellion of the whole world against God.

The Mosaic law was given not only as a permanent standard for all humanity but also as a temporary system to supervise a particular people. As we read through the Mosaic law we are impressed with a complex system of laws that were set in place to guide the conduct of the Jewish people. According to Paul's imagery in verse 23, the law functioned as a jailer to lock up the Jewish people in a vast system of legal codes and regulations. But that lockup was meant to be only temporary. Verse 23 begins and ends with clear references to the time when the imprisonment within the system of Mosaic law would end: before this faith came . . . until faith should be revealed. Of course Abraham had faith in God long before the Mosaic law, as Paul emphasized in 3:6. But the specific nature of this faith that Paul has in mind has just been stated in verse 22: faith in Jesus Christ . . . Before this faith came, we [the Jewish people] were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith [in Jesus Christ] should be revealed. The function of the law as a jailer is not permanent; it is limited to a certain period in history.

The temporary function of the law is also described by the image of a disciplinarian. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ (v. 24). The NIV here is more a loose paraphrase than a word-for-word translation. The NRSV is an excellent, literal translation of this phrase: "Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came." Behind the English word disciplinarian is the Greek word paidagogos, from which we derive pedagogue. The first meaning listed in Webster's Third New International Dictionary for pedagogue is "a teacher of children or youth"; the second meaning given is "one (as a slave) having charge of a boy chiefly on the way to and from school in classical antiquity." In Paul's day the pedagogue was distinguished from the teacher (didaskalos). The pedagogue supervised, controlled and disciplined the child; the teacher instructed and educated him.

A fascinating dialogue between Socrates and a boy named Lysis highlights this distinction. Socrates begins the conversation by asking Lysis, "Do they [Lysis's parents] let you control your own self, or will they not trust you in that either?"

"Of course they do not," he replied.

"But someone controls you?"

"Yes," he said, "my pedagogue here."

"Is he a slave?"

"Why certainly; he belongs to us," he said.

"What a strange thing," I exclaimed: "a free man controlled by a slave! But how does this pedagogue exert his control over you?"

"By taking me to the teacher," he replied.

Josephus tells us of a pedagogue who was found beating the family cook when the child under his supervision overate. The pedagogue himself was corrected with the words: "Man, we did not make you the cook's pedagogue, did we? but the child's. Correct him; help him!"

These examples of the use of the term pedagogue in Greek literature point to the common perception of this figure in the Hellenistic world: he was given the responsibility to supervise and discipline the conduct of children. He did not have the positive task of educating the child; he was only supposed to control the behavior of the child through consistent discipline. The point of Paul's use of this image in depicting the law is that the law was given this supervisory, disciplinary role over the Jewish people. But the supervisory control of the law was only "until Christ" (to Christ in NIV). This phrase has a temporal meaning, as we can see from the parallel phrase in the previous verse: until faith should be revealed. In the outworking of God's plan of salvation in history, the period when the Jewish people were under the supervisory control of the law was followed by the coming of Christ. The supervisory discipline of the law over the people of God came to an end when Christ came.

The purpose of the disciplinary function of the law was to demonstrate that God's people could only be justified by faith: that we [the Jewish people] might be justified by faith (v. 24). Under the constant discipline of the law, the Jewish people should have learned how impossible it was to keep the law. The law constantly beat them down like a stern disciplinarian, pointing out all their shortcomings and failures. The pain of this discipline was designed to teach them that they could only be declared righteous by God through faith.

In verse 25 Paul draws a conclusion that demolishes any argument that Christians ought to live under the supervisory control of the law: Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. The Galatian believers were evidently succumbing to arguments that their life in Christ should be lived under the supervisory discipline of the Mosaic law. But to live under the supervision of the Mosaic law is to live as if Christ had not come. Now that Christ has come, we live, as Paul has already affirmed in 2:20, "by faith in the Son of God." To live by faith in Christ sets us free from the supervision of the law.

Since Paul is still speaking here in the first-person plural (we) his primary reference is to the freedom that Jewish believers now experience from the supervision of the law because they have put their faith in Christ. If Jewish believers are no longer under the supervision of the law, then it is surely foolish for Gentile believers in Christ to put themselves under the law's supervision. No wonder Paul began this chapter with the rebuke "You foolish Galatians!" They have received the Spirit by believing the gospel, but now they are trying to make progress in their spiritual life by observing the law. But their attempt to observe the law as if they were now under the supervision of the law is not progress; it is retrogression to the period in history before Christ came.

We have some friends who immigrated from a country under dictatorship to North America. Their move to the States marked a turning point in their history. They no longer live under the tyrannical government of their former country. Now they are under a new government. It would make no sense for them to start living again as if they were under the supervision of their former government.

Similarly, Paul sees the turning point in his life to be the time when he put his faith in Christ. Before that time he lived under the supervision of the Mosaic law. But after he put his faith in Christ, his life was lived by faith in Christ, under the supervision of Christ. He had immigrated (see Col 1:13) to the kingdom of Christ.

Of course those friends who have now immigrated to America cannot assume that they are now free to do whatever was forbidden in their former country. Although they cannot be prosecuted under the laws of their former country for murder or theft, they are now bound by the laws of their new country not to murder or steal. Our new life in Christ is not under the supervision of the law; it is under the rule of Christ by his Spirit. Freedom in Christ from the supervisory rule of the Mosaic law empowers us to "live for God" (2:19).

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

It will take much more than a cursory reading to determine the degree of agreement to which I commit myself, but it certainly looks promising from my perspective. It seems to be very well presented. However (You knew THAT was coming) the more subtle aspects of the law were just as detrimental to righteousness. There is much in both testaments about "sins of Ignorance" that I have yet to hear anyone speak of. Yet there were laws covering sins committed in ignorance, by priests, by rulers, by the congregation, by strangers among the congregation, every category was spelled out, with the remedy under the law.

The new testament references this as "times of ignorance,"
and informs us of God's change in attitude thereof, in that He commands all everywhere to repent. And how does one "repent" of ignorance? By living under the rule of the spirit instead of the letter of laws.

But the greater problem for the Jew who thinks they can live under the law today, is simply one of ignorance. A great part of "The law" was about the sacrifices and feast days of the Covenant. They required a presence in the temple, which no longer exists. NO JEW TODAY CAN LIVE BY THE LAW. It is futile even to attempt it, because there are no longer animal sacrifices made in the temple, which also was an integral part of that law.

It has been rightly spoken, that the punishments of the law are as much "of the law" as were the limitations and impositions of the law.

But the greater majesty of the Covenant with Abraham through Christ comes about by a deeper significance than I find preached anywhere; and that is the simplicity of faith; faith not IN Jesus Christ, but the development in Christians of the Faith OF Jesus Christ.

Christians are instructed by Paul in Romans 3:22; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:22; And by John in Rev 14:12, about what they reference as "Faith OF Jesus Christ." And it is a subject very important to pursue and understand as it needs to be developed in all who would receive a deeper appreciation through understanding the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Study the Christ, and the depth of His faith in a resurrection having no middle man; a resurrection that demanded the deepest absolute belief that God would raise Him from the dead, as no other ever in the history of Mankind. A Resurrection by God Himself, not through a prophet or a priest or a High Priest, or any other man. Just
God and the Faith of Christ that God's word was truth.

We must develop in our faith, that "Faith of Jesus Christ," that if God says it, I will believe it, and live my life in dependence totally upon nothing other than the fact God said it. He does not have to demonstrate it for me, because He already proved it in His Christ. And His promises are true. And He is My Father, and I am His child, by the Faith OF Jesus Christ.

Jesus began life as a child, and grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and with Men; because His faith grew most of all. His faith grew to the point He could die the death of sinners, and not doubt God would raise him from that death, to a life beyond the reach of any other Man, to sit at God's right hand and rule the kingdom of God till the last enemy, death, is destroyed.

THAT IS AS STRONG AS FAITH GETS. Unquestioning of God's word. That is why we must not simply memorize a translation and think we have the living word of God. TRANSLATORS are MEN; MEN who sometimes let bias interfere with their duty to be true to God's truth, and instead, ply their trade in souls to lead men in thinking, so as to promote one denomination over another.

We should learn of "Sin not unto death," because that is the sin of his own which Jesus bore to the cross; We should learn of the sins of ignorance, not because we are under the law, but precisely because we are freed therefrom, to live by the spirit, which casts out ignorance and fear and doubt.

And we should pursue humility, because by it we begin to emulate him who died that I might live.

fiatlux

NO! Do not not obey the Ten Commandments! Such obedience is death to the soul.

fredlott63

God gave us the 10 Commandments. Only satan would give permission to violate them. Are you serious? It is okay with God if we murder and steal?

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

If I told you you should not eat booggers you would say "God wants us to starve?

It is NOT the same argument. Why don't you deal with what is actually said?

Nobody said we should violate the ten commandments.

fredlott63

Read the post by Fiat Lux.