No Longer Under a Guardian
Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, (Galatians 3:23-25)
From verses 23 to 25, Paul wraps up his argument using the purpose of the law. In verse 23, Paul shares that before faith in Christ, “before this faith came,” everyone was “confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.” During that period of time, the law acted as a “guardian.” Another way to translate this word used here can be “custodian” or even a “strict nanny.”
Commentator Max Anders gives some cultural insights that help us understand this word a bit more: “In the Jewish culture a slave was assigned to each child to escort them to school and to assist in their supervision. This nanny was not a thirteen-year-old, sweet, little baby-sitter. This supervising nanny was more like a stern sergeant who had the bark of a German shepherd and the bite of a Doberman pinscher. Every time the child took liberties without permission on the path to school or did something wrong, this authoritarian nanny pointed her finger at the child and in no uncertain terms told the child what it had done wrong and delivered the punishment.” In the same manner, the law acted as such, pointing out our failures, our sin, and threatened great punishment from God if behavior was not corrected. Yet, because man is imperfect, to be able to uphold this level of standard was impossible.
Thankfully, by the grace of God, He sent His Son, “that faith has come,” and therefore, are freed from the strict nanny, the law, “no longer under a guardian.” Anders summarizes it nicely, “God brought hope to mankind’s hopelessness in the most amazing way by sending Jesus Christ into the world. The law led us to Christ for forgiveness and righteousness.” We cannot make ourselves righteous by our works alone. We are made righteous before the Father only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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