June 2, 2022
Listen to the Podcast
Just Push Play
“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
Galatians 3:23-26
So many rules! I remember sitting in Sunday school thinking, I am just going to live my life, free, the way I want, and one day, if this is really the true church, when I get old I’ll come back, repent and make it right, but there is no way I can live my whole life under all this pressure, under all these rules. Not going to happen. I think I was 13.
I left the church and will never return, but the question still remains- am saved by following all the rules? Why would we not pay attention to them anymore? Why am I not saved, made worthy, justified by following rules?
Today’s question and Galatians 3:23-26 is going to help us answer:
How are we saved by faith and what does that mean?
In this post…
Are we Saved by Faith?
Okay- this is straight Christian gospel today. This IS in fact, the good news. Did you know that is what the word ‘gospel’ means? The Good News! Today is all about the good news.
Another fun fact- did you know there are not just 10 commandments? In fact, there are 613 spanning over Torah, the old testament. It was God’s 1st covenant with His chosen people- the Israelites- the Jews. He set it up because they needed law. They needed to know what God’s perfect law for them would be.
Under this law, with all 613 rules, or laws of the Torah was the culture Jesus was born into. It was the world where God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Under this law animal sacrifice, and blood sacrifice was required in order to cover all matter of sins. In truth, the law exposed the fact that man would never be perfect. Man was incapable of not living under the original sin of Adam, the sins of the flesh. In short- people are a mess and the law, and the inability for man to follow it proved that.
The law more than anything showed that humankind was in need of a savior. There was no way humans could ever not sin. It is innate within us. We were in need and still are in need of a savior to justify our sins every single day.
And that was and is the good news. In a time, when the hope that was in the law from God seemed impossible to uphold, a savior came to save His people. He didn’t come to abolish the law. He came to fulfill it. He became the ultimate sacrifice for all who have faith in Him. And with this faith and only with this faith, we become part of the adopted family of God, having been fully justified by His sacrifice.
Christ freed His people from the law and freed us to be fully covered by faith in Him.
That is literally what the whole Bible, the good news, Christ is about. We are saved by faith.
Galatians says all this so beautifully. The Galatian people were struggling with this. Paul spells it out plainly for them through the Holy Spirit-
“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”