Today's readings are Judges 14.1-20 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Judges+14.1-20 ) and Galatians 3.1-22 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Gal.+3.1-22 ).
Galatians 3 has been used to annul God's law. People who are in grace are free from the law. We are not saved by the law, it is a curse. Yet this is not what Paul is saying. Let's take just a brief moment to consider what Paul is really saying about God's law. First, the one who is able to keep the law receives life. It is a good thing and a blessing to those who keep God's law. The problem is that we are not able to keep God's law. Therefore, it becomes a curse to us. How are we to be pleasing to God then? We are pleasing to God only by receiving his Word in faith. Then what of the law? Is the Mosaic law part of God's word? Indeed it is. Are we to receive it by faith? We most certainly are. So what do we do? We can't keep the law. But Jesus has kept the law on our behalf. As we believe this he imputes his righteousness to us so that God sees us dressed in Christ's righteousness, not by our faithfulness but by his faithfulness. So what is God's law good for? Without a doubt it convicts us of sin. When applied to the broader community it restrains evil, at least helping to keep behaviors in check. And God's law shows us what is pleasing to God. Since Christ gives us a desire to be obedient to God, the law provides us with ways we can try to be obedient, though we will often fail. So we establish the law and we rejoice in grace.
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