The Hold of the Law

Galatians 3:23-26

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

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Just hold on loosely
But don't let go
If you cling to tightly
You're gonna lose control

"Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special

For those of you who believe this story sexist, you're probably right, but the point is important.

There is an old story about a girl of dating age and her mother walking along a beach. The girl asked her mother "how can I keep the love of a man?" Her mother picked up two handfuls of sand. One she clenched in her fist. When she did the sand came out of the sides of her hand and between her fingers until her hand was nearly empty. The other hand she held loosely and most of the sand stayed.

Hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.

This is one of the ways laws work. When the law tries to hold too tightly onto control, what the law seeks to contain, control will invariably fall from the iron hand. We've seen it too many times. The best example is prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition was the law that set organized crime into motion in America. Since then, the hope to control alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and any number of other activities have only grown when made illegal.

In short, the law doesn't work when it comes to sin. It points out what the sin is, and from time to time can specify punishment, but in and of itself it can't end sin. The Law defines sin, but it can't end it.

This is my opinion, and it's bound to be long-term objective, but I believe it to be better to live so that we have no need for alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and whatnot than it is to try to control it.

Literally, in my opinion, it is better and ultimately more effective to work to end the need for abortion than it is to try to control abortion access by making it illegal. The need for abortion is bad, only by ending the need will we ever end abortion.

I'm not talking about solving the old issues, I'm talking about reframing the issues as the first step toward living the way God wants us to live.

Paul writes, "Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed." Aren't issues like alcohol, drugs, gambling and so on examples of how we are imprisoned and guarded under the law? We know it is illegal because the law says so. So the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came.

Paul continues, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith." We are saved by grace through faith. It is through God's good grace that we are saved, not by the law.

Yes, the 613 mitzvah, the 613 commandments of the Old Testament are important. They show us how to live, but they will not save us. They cannot save us. This is why we need Jesus, the Living Torah, the Law Incarnate. The law educates, but it is a guidepost, not a fence post. To God alone can we hitch our lives and beings.