Galatians 3:21-23 (NKJV)

‘Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.’

This is so beautiful. The law in itself is not bad. Indeed, the law was given so that those who do not have faith in Christ may have an awareness of sin and a realization of the need for a savior. If there was a way that the law could give eternal life and spiritual righteousness, the law would have. But the law cannot deliver from the nature of sin, so while the law reveals sin, the law cannot free you from sin. So the law was a preparation for faith in Christ.

Put another way: the law allows sin to be magnified and the weight of the curse to be pronounced as no one can fulfill the law; so that man will recognize the need for a savior to free us from the crushing curse from the law. The law is good but the law reveals sin, which crushes us. But praise be to God, who revealed Christ and through faith in Him, we are free from the law, though thankful that the law makes us aware of the need for a savior. In the simplified reasoning of Paul (verse 24), ‘…the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.’ Hallelujah.

‘Lord, thank you for the law because without the law, I would not have known sin; and because I had not succeeded to fulfill the dictates of the law, your law made me realize my need for a higher law, the law of faith. So I celebrate the first law because it led me to the second law, which is the faith in Christ that frees from the curse of the first law.’