Galatians 3:24 Commentary and Bible Study

The law said to Israel and to the whole human race, ‘If you insist on being justified by your works, here is the standards you have to keep’, and to make its point clear, it added, ‘and you know you cannot keep these standards, therefore don’t come to me for justification.’ It is as if there was a banquet and the host, knowing that all the guests would go to the wrong place, arranged for a sign to be put up saying, ‘Not here, but in another place’ – ‘This is not the place; go to Calvary’.Paul uses the illustration of the schoolmaster or tutor. He continues to describe the entire history of the Jews as the life of a single person, first childhood and then adult life. The time that Israel spent under the law is compared to the time of childhood under a schoolmaster or tutor, and the time when faith in Christ came is compared to adult life. In Christ the believer is made willing to obey God and act spontaneously from the impulses of his own heart, for his heart chooses what is good freely and not by constraint.The law led the Jews to Christ by both negative and positive influences. Negatively it showed them their sin and convinced them that they could never satisfy God’s just requirements thus leading them to despair of establishing their own righteousness. It also led them to Christ positively by means of the ceremonial law attached to the covenant. This represented to them the person and work of Christ, and showed them that what the law could not do he could do perfectly. The temple worship, priesthood, and sacrifices were the perfect exposition of the work of Christ, but properly understood they were in themselves ineffective, a shadow and not the reality. To cling to them was to cling to a mere illustration with no power in it. Sinai did not stop with condemning Israel, but at the same time showed them God’s remedy for their situation. Again, it was not a gracious covenant but a legal covenant and the attachment of the ceremonial law, prefiguring grace did not alter the basic character of that covenant as a covenant of works.