The Law: Prison Guard & Child-Guardian

23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. – Galatians 3:23-25

The context of these three short verses is the continuation of the argument Paul is using against the Judaizing teachers who are claiming the Gentiles must go back under the Law of Moses and keep parts of the Law. Paul shows this to be false because of the limitations of the Law. First, there is the limitation found in chapter three verses one through five showing the Law could not give the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the Law could not give righteousness (3:6-9). Furthermore, the Law could not justify; it could only condemn (3:10-12). Finally, the Law could not change the fact righteousness always comes by faith (3:15-18).

Paul then moves on to answer a very important question. If the Law of Moses has all these limitations “what purpose then does the law serve?” (3:19a). The Law was given to spotlight man’s sinfulness, although it was temporary. The Law came through mediators. However, in verse twenty-one the Law was never designed to give spiritual life. It kept man imprisoned under sin. Although it had these negative functions, it had produced some very important outcomes. For example, the Law was indispensable to God’s Scheme of Redemption.

Paul uses a contrast to show just how temporary the Law’s role in the Plan of Redemption was in the use of “before” and “after.” In verse twenty three it begins with “But before faith came” and concludes with “But after faith has come” in verse twenty-five.

To demonstrate the roles and limitations of the Law in God’s overall Plan, various metaphors have been used. It has been called a burdensome yoke (Acts 15:1,5); a bond containing ordinances (Col. 2:14); a middle wall of partition (Eph. 2:14) and now in our text it is shown to be like a prison guard or school bus driver or tutor.

Metaphor: Prison Guard

Paul first claims that the Law of Moses was like a prison guard. Jews “were kept under guard by the law” (3:23b). This was previously indicated by verse twenty-two: “but the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The term “kept” is translated from a Greek term meaning “hold in custody” (Arndt-Gingrich). Soldiers who guard a town under siege to keep an enemy out and citizens from leaving. The Greek also used the word of fish trapped in a net. As in the miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:6). It was used of Paul when he was trapped in Damascus (2 Cor. 1:32; Acts 9:24). The Law acted as a jailer keeping his prisoners shut up. The literal translation is the nation of Israel was “imprisoned by the law”. This kept Gentiles and Jews separated. The Law gave the Israelites strict rules and a constant reminder of their guilt as would a prison warden. Paul demonstrates that he too was imprisoned by this same Law, when the text reverts to first person plural.

The Law of Moses did not release the sinner from the consequences of their sins, but left them in a sort of death-row with the rest of the sinners of the world. They were due a pardon through the coming Messiah but had not received it yet. The Law focused on the demands of justice, like in, “an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth”. The Law showed men all “under sin” (3:22); all “under the law” (3:23); “under a curse” (3:10) and all “under the curse of the law” (3:13). The duty of the prison guard is to keep the criminal under lock and key. He has no authority in himself to release them from bondage.

Sinners under the Law were kept under guard until the time of “faith” when through Christ they could receive a release from prison: “kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed” (3:23c). The time of the revealing is in the preaching of the Gospel message of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Metaphor: Child Guardian

The next metaphor is that “the law was our tutor.” What is a tutor? The term for tutor is translated various ways among the translations: trainer (Berean Literal Bible), schoolmaster (King James); guardian (New American Standard Bible), a guide (Aramaic Bible in Plain English), teacher (Contemporary English Version), disciplinarian (New Revised Standard Version), child-conductor (Young’s Literal Translation: child-conductor), and pedagogue (Douay-Rheims Bible). The Greek term is paedagogus from which comes the English words pedagogy and pedagogics: the science of teaching. There is no exact equivalent in the English language.

Thayer gives the following definition: “a tutor, i.e. a guide and guardian of boys. Among the Greeks and Romans, the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood; They are distinguished from oi didaskaloi (teachers, DRV) The name carries with it an idea of severity (as a stern sensor and enforcer of morals) in I Cor. 4:15, where the father is distinguished from the tutor as one whose discipline is usually milder, and in Gal. 3:24 where the Mosaic law is likened to a tutor because it arouses the consciousness of sin, and preparing the soul for Christ, because those who have learned by experience with the law that they are not and cannot be commended to God by their works, welcome the more eagerly the hope of salvation offered them through the death and resurrection of Christ, the Son of God.” (Thayer, p. 472).

In the Greek/Roman culture certain legal limitations applied to immature heirs. Therefore, throughout their levels of maturity, they had to have some form of guardian. As a newborn they were given to a wet-nurse. When weaned, they were placed under the guardianship of a nanny. Then after a few more years, they would have a special guardian called a “pedagogue.” Wealthy Roman and Greek households entrusted young boys to a reliable, well-educated slave. These trusted slaves or servants would take their young charge to and from school. They would review their homework to insure it was completed. They provided protection from harm and sternly enforced moral behavior. Plutarch wrote, “And yet what do tutors teach? To walk in the public streets with lowered head; to touch salt-fish but with one finger, but fresh fish, bread and mean with two; to sit in such and such a posture; in such and such a way to wear their cloaks.” The Law as a child-guardian would demand of the Jews “do this! Don’t do That! Set aside this day, this week, and this year. Pay your tithes. Bring your offerings, keep the Sabbath.”

Discipline was perhaps one of the more important roles expected of these tutor/guardians. The early Christian writer Theodoret of Cyrrhus: “students are scared of their pedagogues.” Discipline was administered by tweaking the ear, cuffing the hands, whipping, caning, inching, etc. They have been depicted in ancient drawings with a rod or cane in his hand. J.B. Phillips translated the term as “a strict governess.”

Just what was the purpose of the Law as a “tutor”? It was “to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (3:24). In other words, the Law was put in charge until Christ. How did the Law bring one to Christ? To protect them from the consequences of sin which was death (Dt. 6:24,25). Second, the Law identified the sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:7;12,13). It made sinners conscious of sin in an attempt to keep them from sin. The Law of Moses was for the fulfilling of the promises made to Abraham. Christ is the promised seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16). Additionally, the Law pointed to the coming Messiah. Jesus quoted often from the O.T. to prove His divinity (Lk. 4:17-21; 24: Jn. 5:39). The Law foreshadowed the better things to come in Christ (Heb. 10:1f). Furthermore, Paul says of the Law: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The Law provided various examples for Christians to learn. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

But the Law could not give justification from sin. Justification is only through faith in Christ.
“But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (3:25). Here Paul speaks of the limited duration of the Law of Moses. Consider the verb “was” in verse twenty-four. This “verb gegonen (was), a perfect verb describing completed action that continued until, but terminated when, the Christ came” (Willis 164). “To Christ” in verse 24 should be translated “until Christ”. The Law was not to be permanent but preparatory till the “child” comes to maturity. The Greek/Roman young man at sixteen put on a toga of an adult and was free from his slave guardian. The Law’s role ended when Christ set us free. The Law was not the teacher who gave freedom from sin, but it brought us to the Teacher. Jesus tells us how to be free from sin: by obeying the Gospel.

Who would want to go back to being in prison for unpardonable crimes against God and sit on Death Row? Who would want to be a child losing their freedom to a slave who was like a mean old taskmaster? The Law did its job. We are now under Christ and not the Law.

– Daniel R. Vess