Lesson 14: Understanding the Right Time
Read Galatians 3:1-29 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gal.3
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The biggest thing Paul wanted his readers to understand with today’s verses was that there was a purpose for first giving the Law and then telling believers that they had now been set free from the Law. Just because we are set free from it now does not mean that the Law had no purpose or was bad.


The purpose of the Law was not so it could bring life – verse 21 – rather it was given so we could understand death, especially spiritual death. Before the law was given, we had no way of knowing how completely worthless our efforts to be righteous were. We had no way of knowing that one sin outweighed a lifetime of good deeds, even if that sin was something we did not consider to be wrong at all.

Think of driving in an area where you have not driven before. You are used to having speed limits set at about 35 in towns, and the main street through town being a two-way street. So as you drive into this new town you slow down to 35, and you continue driving carefully on your side of the road. Suddenly a police officer waves you down and begins to write you a ticket saying you are driving the wrong way down a one-way street, and driving faster than allowed. You did not know, and you were doing the best you knew how, but it was not good enough and it resulted in a ticket with a heavy penalty. You had been doing your best, but you did not know you were driving in a way that was against the law.

This was God’s purpose for giving the Law – so we would know what was wrong. The difference between God’s Law and a speed limit sign, however, is that breaking God’s Law results in death rather than a traffic ticket.

God’s Law, which we cannot keep by our own efforts, was sent to give us knowledge of sin and death. Jesus came, when the time was right (Galatians 4:4), so He could fulfill the Law and give us a way, other than works of our own righteousness, whereby we could come to Him.

*In what ways do you find yourself still trying to come to God by doing what is commanded in the Law?