By Barnabas Piper
“No one is justified before God by the law” (Galatians 3:11). “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse” (v.10). It’s difficult to read these statements as anything but derogatory about the law. It cannot save and it actually condemns, so what exactly is the purpose of the law? Is there anything good about it at all?
Paul posed this very question in Galatians 3:19. The previous eighteen verses seemingly diminished and undermined the law of God, the very commands God gave His people as a means of being set apart for holiness as His own. Rather than jumping to those conclusions, Paul provided clarifying statements about the purpose of the law, adding depth and nuance to our understanding of God’s plan and purpose.
First, the law was “added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come” (v.19). Paul clarified this a few verses later in verse 24 when he wrote, “the law, then, was our guardian until Christ.” The Old Testament law was a protective measure—a gift from God to show His people what sin was, what honoring Him required, and a guide to an understanding of righteousness.
Second, the law is not contrary or in opposition to the promise of God to save through Jesus. In Galatians 3:21, Paul explained that the law was not given with the ability to give life. It was never designed to be the means of justification. Following the law without faith was never meant to be salvific. God gave the law to protect His people, guide His people, and teach His people their need for a true and perfect Savior.
Jeremiah 31 helps us understand the connection between the law (old covenant) and the promise of Jesus (new covenant). In Jeremiah 31:31–34, the Lord declared that He would make a new covenant, not like the old one which Israel broke. This covenant would be written on their hearts—it would be believed by faith and given by the Spirit. The old covenant law paved the way for the new covenant. Hebrews 10:1 clarifies even further by describing the law as “shadow of good things to come.” The sacrifices and rituals of the old covenant law could never purify and never justify, but they looked forward to the promised saving sacrifice of Jesus.
So what was the purpose of the law? It protected. It foreshadowed. It paved a way forward. This was God’s intention, not to save through the law but to create a family for himself: “Through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). Our faith is in Him as the perfect sacrifice, the Mediator and Great High Priest, and the coming King is credited to as righteousness.
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