Guardian. I’ve really been pondering what that word means in general, and specifically in relation to today’s passage.
My husband and I recently went on a vacation to a sunny and warm location without our kids. Our parents lovingly filled in as their “guardians” until we returned. They fulfilled their duties as grandparents, complete with extra snuggles, sugary treats, and fun activities. They counted down the days with our boys and pointed to the calendar to assure them we were coming back. We facetimed through a grainy screen, shouted “I love you!” over Paw Patrol and a squiggly toddler in the background. They kept similar rhythms and kept the children safe, but they weren’t a direct substitute for Mommy and Daddy. Our children’s grandparents were temporary guardians, not a full replacement of their parents.
No metaphor is complete or perfect, but this picture helps me understand how Scripture describes the law in the Old Testament as a guardian until Christ came. The law was never meant to be the full redemption plan. The law’s purpose was to reveal our sin and transgressions, exposing our need for a mediator.
A common question I’ve heard asked is, “why don’t we follow Jewish customs and sacrifices anymore?” These verses in Hebrews and Jeremiah help explain why: we now live under the new covenant. Jesus came to earth, died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice to pay for sin, fulfilling the requirement of the Old Testament rituals. Jesus declared on the cross, “It is finished.” In Galatia, these believers were tempted to add works of the law to the free grace they received from the cross. Paul wrote his letter to Galatian Christians in response, helping them see the freedom they have from bondage and a false gospel.
Jesus also came to free you from bondage. Just like the Galatian believers, we are tempted to add works to our résumé before God. It would be like if my husband and I came home from our trip, walked into the living room to hug our kids, and they still wanted to facetime us from the same room. Instead, we are free to obey God from a place of grace and love and not from duty. We shouldn’t hold tightly to the works of the law when we have Jesus standing right in front of us. The law is not contrary to God’s promises. The law was always meant to be temporary, to point us to Jesus, who fulfilled the law perfectly so that we can be whole and saved.
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82 thoughts on "The Purpose of the Law"
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Great FaceTime analogy
This is explained so well and highlights how easily it is for us to naturally add other “works”on top of what’s been given to us through Jesus already.
So thankful for Jesus’ obedience to our Father and for His willingness to endure the cross! Thankful He is alive and sits at the right hand of the Father! Thankful for the fulfilled promise of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension into heaven!
Well explained!
Thank you Jesus for all that you’ve done for me.
Thankful to all of you SHE’s praying for my brother’s PET scan. What we thought may have been a tumor, was actually pneumonia. By the time he did his PET scan, the mass had all been cleared up. I was crying tears of joy! God is do gracious.
Oh, hallelujah, Marina!!! Celebrating this miracle with you and your brother! God be glorified!!! ❤
Whoop! Praise God
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What an answer to prayers!
Happy Wednesday ladies! Praying for you all today.
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Dear Shes
Not to overthink it…but, still, this taken from Biblia.com…
“In the New Testament, ‘the law’ refers back to that old situation when people looked at obedience to the commandments as the way of acceptance with God. The apostle Paul often contrasts this with the forgiven state believers now enjoy because of God’s grace. Paul loves to make that contrast between the impossible situation of trying to merit forgiveness, and the new situation of forgiveness by sheer mercy because of Christ’s sacrifice.
It might seem that the apostle Paul is disparaging the law when he contrasts it with the good news of the Gospel. But he is quick to deny this! We would not even know the difference between good and evil, he says, without the law telling us what to do and what not to do. But above all, Paul wants to make clear the God’s love fulfills the law. The law tells us the kind of life that our love for God and our neighbor would require.”
Now ‘nuff thinking it, call to living it!
Amen! ❤
I just found out my sisters grandson was murdered Sunday night. Can I ask for prayer for her, Debbie, and my niece, Jennifer? Thank you
Oh Father, our hearts are broken at this terrible, tragic, untimely loss. There is no Comforter like You. There are no words to help. But Your Holy Spirit knows how to comfort and strengthen, so we pray now that You would wrap Your arms around this family and help them to navigate these next days, months and years ahead with Your strength. Carry them through, and work in their hearts to know You are near. Send people to surround them with the help they will need. Help them to grieve and mourn with the hope that You are sovereign and still good. It’s so hard. There just aren’t words, but we trust You to step in right now and help this family.
Traci, I am so sorry! I am adding my amen to Kris’ prayer! I also pray for the authorities as they work through this situation so others are not hurt. Please let Debbie and Jennifer know they are in our prayers for peace and comfort that only God can give. ❤❤
Praying Traci ❤️
Oh so sorry! Prayers!
Hello Shes
Where you as delighted as I was in today’s reading to find ourselves “going deeper” in Jeremiah?
The Lord’s declaration brings shivers…”I will put my teachings within them & write it on their hearts. I will be their God, & I will be there people.”
Followed by the profound “knowing-ness”…”No longer will one teach is neighbor or his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord’, for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”. (Ch 31: v 33-34).
WOW! What an education!
“The law was never meant to be the full redemption plan” – can we all say AMEN?!!! I can only imagine what life would be like if we were still making animal sacrifices- which then got me to thinking ”what sacrifices am I making for the Lord?” I love my neighbor (even tho they are crazy and complain about my dog and kiddos; I honor my husband even when I want to throat punch him (IYKYK); I hold my tongue instead of joining in on the “soccer mom gossip” – many things are done to protect my heart and relationship with Christ yet they are nothing without Christ! Happy Wednesday She’s! ☮️❤️
I am impressed today in the fact we are in Gods Will!
My personal will names my loved ones who will inherit whatever is left of my earthly possessions. My name is written in Gods will, so I can claim every promise he has given!
The greatest gift in His will for us is our freedom from our sin. The gift of eternal life is a secure reality.
He is all I need today!
Love the “will” analogy!
I am so thankful that we live under the new covenant because no be one except Jesus could follow the law perfectly! Jesus did what we could never do and redeemed us from the law! May I never take His sacrifice for granted.
Praying for all of you!
Great devo, KASEY! As I read the Scriptures and the devotionals here and on HRT, I see similarities to the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. They had to have faith in order for the law to make sense to them. We have to have JESUS before the Holy Spirit makes sense to us. I hope I am not confusing anyone- finding it hard to put into words that are theologically sound!
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These ‘clips’ from Barnabas Piper on HRT are so good:
The Old Testament law was a protective measure—a gift from God to show His people what sin was, what honoring Him required, and a guide to an understanding of righteousness. …
God gave the law to protect His people, guide His people, and teach His people their need for a true and perfect Savior. …
Our faith is in Him as the perfect sacrifice, the Mediator and Great High Priest, and the coming King is credited to as righteousness.
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SUSAN JOINER – Yay, Wyatt! Thanks for that update and continued prayers!
Thank you for sharing HRT!
❤ welcome!
Hello Cee Gee, my heartfelt thanks
This excerpt you found from HRT has helped me immensely. I struggled yesterday, and shall remain so, as His daughter, in comprehending & expressing the immensity & wonder of this truth.
Lord, may I continue to contemplate, and rejoice in, the ultimate sacrifice of Your Son. All life long.
“The Old Testament law was a protective measure—a gift from God to show His people what sin was, what honoring Him required, and a guide to an understanding of righteousness…
Our faith is in Him as the perfect sacrifice, the Mediator and Great High Priest, and the coming King is credited to as righteousness.”
❤ so glad! It certainly helped me. ❤
Oh- Praising this morning for our Redeemer, our Rescuer, our Jesus!! This is SO powerful, the law has been fulfilled! We are no longer bound behind bars, we have FREEDOM in Christ!!
I still have many family and friends that are “under the law”, or feel they are tied to certain rituals…and I get it, they say they do it BECAUSE of their love, but it is a fine line, because I too have things I adhere too out of devotions… I don’t miss church because I want to go every week, I read the word every day without missing, I MUST pray…I must not commit adultery and I must love my neighbor. But JESUS..He is my mainstay, my motivator. He freed me from the law and rituals, and I don’t need another mediator between my sins and God…only Jesus!
This devotion was straight up a great way to decipher the law, the BC and AC! I am so glad I live in the period After Christ! I am watching a program on Prime about the journey through Israel, and how people would journey 100 miles to go to Jerusalem every year for Passover. It is incredible to see it all. Last night the episode I was on was showing the ruins of King Herod’s palace and his burial area (it is crazy how huge it is on this high built mountain!) and what it would have looked like…so amazing we can learn and visualize with these programs!! Highly recommend. I don’t know how that relates to today’s but just wanted to share.
I am loving Galatians!
❤ I don’t have Prime, but that sounds very interesting.
What is the show called?
I, too, would love to know what the show is called, so I can watch it.
It is called Drive Thru History: The Gospels. I see there is one called Drive Thru History: Acto to Revelation. That looks good as well!
I truly am thankful I didn’t live under the law. I can’t imagine having to slaughter an innocent, pure animal every time I sinned. Maybe if I had, I would have taken a second thought before I did something? Maybe if I saw the suffering my sin caused I would have thought about it more? I’m so thankful my sin has been paid for and covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, the only One who can take away our sins. I pray I am still as mindful of the consequences of sin so that I’m stopped in my tracks before I do something I shouldn’t.
Agree 100%
Thank You, Jesus, for being the perfect sacrifice to save us all. There is nothing we cand do to add to or take away from Your sacrifice and saving power. Thank You, Lord!
Thank you JESUS, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” I don’t need “works” just need JESUS! I am FREE indeed! Happy Wednesday sweet she’s, still here, my hours at work are early. I start at 6:50am. Its going GREAT! Tired but GREAT! Praying for you love!
Praise!! As in adoption, at finalization, we become rightful parents. No longer guardians, but mom and dad. We have six children and two were adopted. They are every bit our children as the ones we gave birth to. That long anticipated finalization made it so. I am so thankful to be the daughter of the King!
Amen! …continued prayers for you Mia as you navigate life with out your beloved. ❤️
Praying for you, Mia!
This has to be the best and easier way that I have seen the purpose of the law explained. Seriously, I always have such trouble articulating this, but the devotional did such a great job. Thank you for taking the time to be so intentional about helping us understand the law, Kasey.
Agreed! Yes, thank you Kasey!
Agree. I was feeling the same way.
Hallelujah
Excellent analogy!! Enjoyed this view of God’s grace through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
So good!
I was struck just now about Jesus being the fulfillment of the law. God came first, Jesus as part of that. The law came later after sin (perhaps to show us how to love?) giving us general guidelines to follow. But Jesus came as fulfillment of the law, showing us that those guidelines weren’t the end all… LOVE is. Because GOD is LOVE.
“ We shouldn’t hold tightly to the law when we have Jesus right before us.” Kasey’s devotional example of grandparents temporarily stepping in to full time parenting was inspiring. The law was only meant to protect temporarily until Jesus came to fulfill the covenant. Beautiful.
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When I saw the title of today’s devotional, I immediately breathed a prayer – “Lord please help me to understand what the law means.” It’s always been a little confusing to me – we need the law, the law isn’t in effect anymore, the law is done away with…This writing by Kasey has helped give much more clarity! And an answer to prayer.
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I also went to enduring word for a little more explanation, and finally it all made sense. This is what I found there…
The scripture (the law) puts us in prison – it reveals to us our sin. The bars of the prison are sin – it keeps us confined. The law can not help us but it can teach us, as our tutor to bring us to Christ – and He is the One who sets us free from sin, He removes the bars of the prison when we come to Christ in faith. Hallelujah! “Jesus came to free you from bondage.” The law was always meant to point us to Jesus.
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Love this community! Have a blessed day my sweet sisters, basking in the truth that we are set free from the prison of sin!!
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Jeff goes this morning to the radiologist to determine a treatment plan for his prostate cancer.
Prayers for wisdom for the medical team
Sharon, same! And thank you for the additional commentary. Also very helpful. Praying that God gives discernment toJeff’s care team as they decide on a treatment plan.
Praying for wisdom for Jeff and radiologist. My husband is a 10-year survivor ❤️
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I love this addition. Thank you.
Good share, Sharon! Prayers for wisdom and guidance for doc and Jeff! ❤
Praying for Jeff ❤️
Praying for Jeff
This devotional along with the scriptures really helps me to understand the difference between the Law and the new covenant under Jesus. This is one area that derailed my son’s faith as a young adult. He could not understand the difference between the two and kept getting hung up on the things that God required in the Law. These scriptures and the metaphor of a guardian really helps to explain it all.
Thank you to the Shes who shared about their prodigal sons. I am encouraged by your words that what was planted in their hearts and minds through church, songs, youth group, Bible reading and Sunday School is still in there. I pray every day for my own son that God will remind him of what he once knew and believed. I know that there are lots of praying moms all around the globe for their children who have stepped away from their faith. We stand together.
I think this is a big foothold the devil has on our generation. Specifically when you talk about homosexuality, it sends you straight into questioning God’s goodness in Leviticus. I often felt so guilty about “why do you still believe this and don’t believe this?” It is the enemies attacks just like in Galatians to take our eyes off of Jesus and back into rule following. The Bible recap was really transformative for me in approaching the law. Before I would read I would pray God if this is all pointing us to Jesus, show me how. What are you trying to tell me about yourself? For me, taking myself, and our current generation out of it and looking at it through the lens of “this purpose of this people group is to survive to bring forth a Messiah.” Helped me so much. And then God would show me his goodness and kindness through rules and authority, preventing disease, war, and infertility. Anyways all that to say, I love the law, it’s kind of like my dogs kennel. Even though as a puppy he was locked in there, He loves it, and now as a big boy the door is always open to come in and out.
Yes, Laura… I’m with you.. Let’s continue to hold our “Prodigals” before the Lord… asking Him to “do an inside job on them”, as He brings His Word that is alive and active (and they have already stored in their minds) to fruition in theirs lives! Believing for our sons and daughters to experience the freedom of Life in Christ!! ♥️
Praying
Laura, God is so gracious, the seeds that have been planted in his heart will always remain there. Praying it takes root and grows. God’s Word never returns void.
We have Jesus right with us! ❤️
Thank you, Jesus, for the blood applied (SHARON JERSEY GIRL thanks for the reminder of this song!) and thank you, God, for your perfect plan.
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Someone may have already mentioned this song recently, Then Christ Came, and also listened to Charity Gayle’s I Speak Jesus this morning. My heart is full of thankfulness and prayer.
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TINA – yes, Light of the World is a great song.
SUSAN JOINER – thank you for the Wyatt update. Continuing to pray.
G – love that your son was singing words of faith, may the message sink into his heart and mind. The littles always ask, is this Jesus music? ❤️
SARAH D – praying for the meet and greet Friday, and for you plus all teachers, students and administrators for this new school year.
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From the Faithlife Study Bible:
“The law had a temporary and protective role. It kept people mindful of their condition and guided them toward maturity in God’s ways.
The Greek word used here, paidagōgos—which may be rendered “guardian” or “tutor”—refers to someone who was responsible for protecting a child from harm, administering discipline, and instilling virtue.”
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Thankful for God’s kindness in giving the Law so we would know what sin is and how we rebel against His holiness. Thankful for His mercy is providing the way for us to be made holy in Jesus!
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CHERYL BLOW – any update on Brian?
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SARAH D- praying for peace of mind and a great school year for you
Thank you for sharing that resource, KELLY ❤️
❤️ Thank you Kelly!
This is from Monday. He is still in need of prayer but God is working!
He’s doing okay today. They put a chest tube in his right lung to drain the fluid. Sometime this week they will remove the chest tube in his left lung and insert a valve into the whole in his lung. His hemoglobin was good this morning so no blood today Thank you Jesus!!! Physical therapy is going to come I. And work with him some this afternoon. If everything goes good he should be out of ICU then end of this week. Thanks for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for complete healing.
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I will pray right now. Heavenly father, we thank you for Cheryl’s loved one. We pray physical will complete the healing and that it will go smoothly. I pray that his time and you will be comfortable and quick because of your miracle working power. I pray that the doctors nurses and the hospital will be so surprised how your healing is working through Cheryl’s loved one. Please comfort him and let him know that you are by his side every moment in this. I pray peace for Cheryl and that you would increased her trust and hope in you. We know that you are working and that you are not done yet. We believe in the report of the Lord and clear his healing right now in Jesus’s name amen.
❤️I’m thankful for the Lord’s fulfillment of the law!! I love Jeremiah 31:33- “ I will put my teaching with them and write it on their hearts. I will be there God and they will be my people.”
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Kasey, thank you for this morning’s devotion. It says what I try to explain so well.
Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. I no longer have to be subject to that law.
Thank you so much, Jesus!
Happy Wednesday my dear Sisters.
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Yes Tricia C, we are not bound to the law and the old covenant. Thank you Jesus indeed. If we were still under the law it feels like I’d be frequently sacrificing. Lord Jesus thank you for your all encompassing sacrifice.