177: The Tutor

Paul said the law was like a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.

“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our TUTOR to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are NO LONGER UNDER THE TUTOR. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:23-26)

Paul likened the law to a “tutor.” The word translated “tutor” is the Greek word “paidagogos.”¹ A “paidagogos” was a slave employed in the culture of that day who was given the responsibility of the moral supervision of a boy who was between the ages of six and sixteen. This guardian watched over the boy’s behavior and made sure he followed the rules.²

What is Paul talking about here? He’s talking about the Israelites under the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law. The law was like a guardian whose job it was to make sure that they obeyed – or else! But Paul says that after faith in Christ has been revealed, we are no longer under an outward guardian to make sure we are minding our “p’s and q’s” because today we have the “inward guardian” of His righteousness within us.

The law can only show us that we fall short. It can never bring about the righteousness that God requires. Only Jesus could fulfill the law for us!

The law had a purpose at one time:

The law was given to bring out sin and make everyone guilty before God.
The law was given to arouse sin.
The law was given to make us conscious of God’s anger.
The law was given to bring attention to our unworthiness and sin.
And as Colossians 2:14 says, the law was against us, contrary to us, opposed to us, hostile to us.

The law was NOT given to make us righteous.
The law was NOT given to bring us life or salvation.
The law was NOT given to build us up.
The law was NOT given to help us overcome sin.

The law is holy, just, and good, but it cannot make you holy, just, and good. Only grace will bring true holiness.

Grace was given to condemn sin.
Grace with given to make us innocent and righteous before God.
Grace was given to make us conscious of God’s love.
Grace was given to bring attention to Christ’s worthiness.
Grace was given to set us free.

The law was not added to make us better people, and it was not added as a moral guide. The law of God, the Ten Commandments, “the ministry of death” as 2 Corinthians 3:7 describes it, was given to increase trespasses. The law did not make man a sinner, and the law did not cause death to enter mankind. The law functioned much like a dye that is put in a person’s body to reveal a disease. It couldn’t cure the disease; it could only show that disease of sin was there.

On the other hand, the Gospel of grace reveals a righteous condition that you already have in Jesus as a believer! Or it’s a righteousness that you can receive today if you will believe that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believe that God is not counting your sins against you! He can’t because His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, took your sin into His body on the cross so that you could be just like Him. God loves you!

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Jesus gave His life FOR us, gives His life TO us, and lives His life THROUGH us.

The Gospel.

(from pages 125 and 270 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹G3807 (paidagōgos), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3807&t=KJV, accessed on 6-9-14
²Kenneth S. Wuest, Galatians, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1944, p. 110″