Galatians

3:19

The Law

The temporary nature of the law

In what sense is the Mosaic law temporary? A number of possible arguments have been proposed:

i] Most commentators argue that the law is temporary with regard to its primary function, ie. its function to expose/accentuate sin in order to promote promise/grace. It is for this reason that Paul argues that the children of promise are no longer under law. "Temporary" must then be understood in logical terms, not temporal terms, given that the law, even today, serves to expose sin and thus drive the sinner to God for mercy. Paul's point is that the temporary dispensation of the Mosaic law remained in force until (in logical, not temporal terms) the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant in the coming of the "seed" of Abraham (Christ) in whose faithfulness is found the promised blessings (life).

ii] Divine law has two main functions: a) The primary function of the Torah for Israel, as is the function of God's law today, was to expose/accentuate sin and thus drive faithful Israel to rest in faith on God's faithfulness for the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant. ii] A secondary function, again a function found in God's law today, serves to define covenant obligations, which obligations guide the life of faithful Israel and thus promote national sanctification. It may be argued that the law has a third function, namely, that it serves to restrain sin, that it is a "disciplinarian" in the sense of a school-master keeping order. So, the law maintained the "restrictive supervision .... of national Israel", Dumbrell, "restrictive oppressive supervision", Longenecker. If the law served this purpose for Israel, does it not serve the same purpose for us today? In what sense then is it temporary? It is likely that this so called third function of the law is a myth since the law actually promotes sin.

iii] The Mosaic law is "an interim measure to deal with the problem of transgressions until it could be dealt with definitely and finally in the cross of Christ", Dunn. Possibly as a temporary "remedy for transgressions", eg. "the sacrificial system", Dunn, but more likely to enact "the curse of the law", "to condemn, enclose and punish", George (probably not "enclose"). At the time of writing it may have commonly been held that the Mosaic law had a beginning at Mount Sinai and a terminus at the time of messiah's coming, the terminus for Paul being Mount Calvary (although there is evidence that the Mosaic law was viewed as eternal, eg. Baruch 4:1). Whether or not this view was commonly held, Paul argues that the law was a temporary measure "until the inheritor of the promise, Christ, arrived", Hunter, from which point the law no longer served as the custodian, the paidagogos, of the covenant community now found in Christ, and this because the messiah had come. So, "the acknowledgement of Jesus as Messiah logically implied the abrogation of the law", Bruce, and this because it was "an interim dispensation", Manson.

iv] Paul possibly holds that the Mosaic law is temporary because it is fulfilled/completed by Christ. Jesus supersedes the Mosaic law with new-covenant law (eg. the Sermon on the Mount - hate replaces murder, lust replaces adultery), a law that transcends the ethic of Sinai, a law that reflects the fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:33. New perspective commentators develop this new-covenant approach. They see the Mosaic law as a temporary means by which God managed his people Israel, "an order of things admirably adapted to preserve [Israel] as a distinct and peculiar people", Brown. Thus, the law serves as a particular shape which is no longer applicable to the new covenant community now made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

v] Paul's conclusion that the law is terminated in Christ is based on the fact that "Christ was the seed of which the promise to Abraham speaks", 3:16, cf. Betz. Christ is remnant Israel bound to the nations ongoing sin and thus under the curse of the law, but as faithful Israel, obedient to the law, he expunges the curse in himself. Christ therefore stands as the one covenant compliant Israelite whose obedience sets him apart as the rightful inheritor of the promise. The Mosaic law, with respect to the curse, is therefore terminated in Christ, and terminated for those who are in Christ, and is replace by blessing, blessing for Christ and blessing for those who are in Christ. So, Paul is possibly addressing the termination of a cursing law - the Mosaic law, with its attached curse, that held Israel to account and denying its possession of the Abrahamic promise, cf. Longenecker.

vi] Finally, it is possible that the temporary nature of the law reflects the "now/not yet" issue, an issue of realized eschatology where the Mosaic law is replaced with a law in the heart, but which, at the same time, must sit with an inaugurated eschatology where the commandments still have a role to play, cf. George.

Option [i] probably best expresses Paul's mind, but is shaped in the salvation-history of [iii] and [v]. In simple terms, the law is abrogated when it is no longer needed to hold a believer to their sin and this because of the faithfulness of Christ. What is not terminated is the ongoing "divine principles of the law", Dumbrell, a law that continues to be "holy and just and good", Rom.7:12. Divine law, and such rightly includes Old Testament moral law, continues to guide godly living, cf. Matt.5:17-20.

Galatians Introduction.

lectionarystudies.com