Exposed: Galatians 3:21-26

The Law exposes our sin; the faithfulness of Jesus atones and justifies God’s gift of righteousness upon us.  The Holy Spirit is a gift.  Heaven is a gift.  Eternal life is a gift.  Relationship with God is a gift.  These things only feel like gifts after our sinfulness is exposed.

Here, Paul focuses on the nature of the Law.  The Law reveals our nature.  Laws draw a line in the sand between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.  Laws constrain behavior. Laws are present so we take notice when we cross them and others can hold us accountable.

To make the point stronger, the Law came to imprison our nature.  The Law expertly sifts us all into the category of the guilty.  Our nature is imprisoned.  We are the ones who are measured by the Law and found wanting.  By we, I mean all of us.  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

Laws aren’t written to explore the depth of grace.  Laws aren’t present to offer redemption and love.  Laws are present to cut to the heart of the matter and expose it.  Laws are there so those who break the Law are imprisoned.

Allow me to make this point in the real world.  I often tell my students that while I have more than a few friends who are police, I appreciate that the local police force as a whole doesn’t know my identity.  If the police don’t know me, it’s because they haven’t had a reason to get to know me since I haven’t broken the law.  The enforcers of the law know the law-breakers far more than the law-abiders because the law expose wrongdoing.  Those who abide by the law find themselves exposed by the law less often.  It’s the nature of the law.

Thus, the Law becomes our guardian.  It functions like the bumpers on a bowling lane.  So long as we stay within the law, we don’t feel its influence.  When we get out of line, the law exposes us and pushes us back in the direction we should be going.

This isn’t the end of the story, though.  While the Law sifts creation into the category of guilty, we don’t need to stay there.  Jesus’ faithfulness on the cross is the sacrifice that atones for our sin.  Sacrifice is a tool used to turn one thing into another.  While the Law sifts people into the category of guilty, Jesus’ faithfulness upon the cross takes us from the category of guilty to the category of faith.  This is the place of promise and righteousness.  This is the place where we abide with God and receive His Spirit.  This is the place where God invites us to join Him in His work.  The Law exposes our sin; the faithfulness of Jesus atones and justifies God’s gift of righteousness upon us.