Thursday 12 Dec 2019

December 12: Galatians 3:19-24

Key Verse: Galatians 3:22
But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Devotion:
If God’s promise was good enough for salvation, why then do we have the law (the Old Testament)? If Christ’s gift of salvation to us is perfect, why should we have all the laws written in our bibles? The answer is surprisingly simple... By reading the books from the Old Testament we can find out even God’s chosen people (the Israelites) were sinners, and yet His promise to send a Saviour for us stood from the beginning. How did the Israelites know they were doing things wrong? They knew they did wrong because they had the law given to them from God via Moses. That is the one thing which allowed them to know what they were supposed to do and allowed them to see what they did wrong in God’s sight.

The law was not intended as a means by which the Israelites could discover a way to be justified but rather as a means by which they could discover they were sinners. It is not until we understand we are sinners that we can turn to God and ask for His forgiveness. The bible gives us this knowledge and even pointed the Israelites towards the truth: Christ would come to be their Saviour. Moses was the mediator back then, being the person in the middle hearing the woes from the people and God’s reaction to those woes; he was trying to find a way forward for both sides. He had to explain God’s rules to the people and also to take the peoples worries back to God.

The fantastic truth is the law promised that by the faith of Jesus Christ we would all be able to receive salvation. It was a promise which spanned time, a promise to stand true for all those before and all those to come; a promise saying whosoever believes on His name should receive everlasting life. But before faith came, man was kept under the law so the faith, which was to come, could be understood by all. What a perfect gift God gave to us. What a perfect explanation before the gift. What a perfect end and His gift...

Points to Ponder:
How do you know when you have done something wrong?

Have you read your bible to understand God’s law?