One of the characteristics of God is that He does not change. We can take great comfort in this. How tragic it would be if all our lives we did our best to do God’s will, only to find out that what pleased Him in the past is the very thing which brings His anger upon us now.
There are some who say that God overturns what He said in the past by a newer saying. But, because God does not change, His word does not change either. The Scriptures say about God: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19 NIV)
But this raises a question. The Apostle Paul wrote to the followers of Christ in the Roman province of Galatia that people are justified by faith rather than obeying the Law of Moses. To establish this, Paul pointed out that Abraham was justified by faith and God promised that all nations would be blessed through him. However, since the Law of Moses was given after the promise to Abraham isn’t the promise abrogated by the Law? Paul answers this question in chapter 3, verses 15 through 18.
“Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void, or adds to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn’t say, “To seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “To your seed,” which is Christ. Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.”
To illustrate the point that the Law of Moses did not abrogate the promise God made to Abraham, Paul reminds his readers about human covenants. In the Greek language the word which is translated ‘covenant’ also means ‘will’. This makes Paul’s point extremely clear. Once a will has come into effect, no one can annul it or make any changes to it. The will stands just as it was written. In the same way, the promise which God made to Abraham cannot be changed or annulled by the Law which was given to Moses over 4 centuries later. The principle that all peoples will be justified by faith in ‘Abraham’s seed’, that is Jesus Christ, still stands.
If people are justified by faith rather than obeying the Law, then some might argue that there was no purpose for the Law of Moses. Paul addresses this issue in verses 19 and 20.
“What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.”
Paul writes that the reason the Law was given was because of transgressions. Elsewhere Paul explains that it is “…through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20 NIV) In other words, the Law shows us how much we need to be justified by faith. The Law serves to help us recognize our problem, but offers no solution to it.
Paul also points out that the Law was intended to be temporary. It was only to be in effect until Abraham’s seed, that is Jesus, came. Does this mean that Jesus abolished the Law? No! As Jesus, Himself, said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17 NIV)
Another characteristic of the Law is that it was brought into effect by angels through a mediator. In contrast, the promise made to Abraham was given directly by God. This shows that the promise is superior to the Law of Moses. Paul continues, in verses 21 through 25:
“Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. But the Scriptures imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
Since the promise made to Abraham is clearly superior to the Law given through Moses, some might conclude that the two are opposed to each other. Did God contradict Himself? Paul points out that this is not so. Instead of being contradictory, the promise and the Law are complimentary. The promise is needed because law cannot impart righteousness. The Law is needed to demonstrate the necessity of the promise. As long as we think that we are capable of obtaining righteousness through our own efforts, we will not see the need of faith. The Law, however, forces us to acknowledge that our own efforts are not enough. We are incapable of keeping it. In the Law there is no way out of our own insufficiency. It is though it has us locked up in prison.
The purpose of the Law, then, was to cause us to seek another solution. Paul writes that the Law served as a custodian to bring us to Christ. In Christ, the promise made to Abraham is fulfilled and the Law leads us to Christ. Once we have put our faith in Christ, the Law has served its purpose. There is no longer any need for it. The real question is this: Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ, or are you still trying to obtain righteousness by your own efforts? Are you relying on the promise God made to Abraham or are you still trying to earn your way to heaven?