Daily Devotional for Thursday, July 14

True Purpose of the Law

The Law cannot save, so what was its purpose? There are a lot of pages in the Bible that contain the laws of God. Were these just wasted words? Absolutely not! The Old Testament Law provided many good things for the nation of Israel. It provided organization, a standard of morality, a form of worship, governance and safety. But never did it provide salvation for any Israelite. 

Where the people of Israel went terribly wrong was thinking that they could be saved by keeping the Law. Over time, and especially in the later part of the Old Testament and during the intertestamental period, the heresy of Judaism arose. It was never a correct understanding of the Old Testament but a bad interpretation of it. Fundamentally, Judaism said to be a good Jew one had to follow the teachings of the Law, and you would be right with God. In fact, it said that simply being born a Jew was good enough to be right with God. 

In the passage today, Paul spells it out clearly. The Law served as our “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” Literally, “schoolmaster” means a child leader, and the sense here is of guidance. Paul had told the Galatian churches that the Law exposed sin. A recognition of sin leads sinners to God seeking forgiveness, seeking salvation. This is called conviction today. Recognizing the need of salvation leads the sinner to the only Savior, Jesus Christ. Some well-known evangelists still employ the Law, especially the Ten Commandments, to show people their sinfulness and need of salvation.

Thought: The Law points us to Christ. 

Phillip Miller