The Importance of the Law
T. Blarney, D. D. Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life… Law, as law, can do nothing but enjoin the right, and then, justify on perfect obedience, or condemn on proved violation. A sinful man, hearing the law and nothing else, or hearing it more distinctly, and with more corroborating consciousness, than the provision for relief is perceived in its intention or experienced in fact, can only despair and die. Strength withers with the extinction of hope; effort is vain when performance is impossible (see Romans 8:3, 4). The law was weak because corruption was strong; and corruption strong because the sense of guilt could not be removed. In proportion, in fact, to its anxiety to realize the ideal of virtue, and its spiritual insight into the inefficacy of ritual observances, humanity, while under the law, was disheartened and bewildered, and was thus made to long for deliverance and life. Sometimes it felt goaded and exasperated, and became desperate and reckless from the feeling of its helplessness (Romans 7:5). The gospel brings hope to the despairing and life to the dead, by its ample arrangements for both pardon and strength; by its atoning sacrifice and sanctifying spirit. Obedience becomes possible because it may be of another sort, and is to be presented for a different object. It is acceptable to God as the result of what He has done, not as a ground of what He is to do. The impulses and instincts of the Divine nature of which the saved are partakers, make duty a necessity, labour a delight, obedience a spontaneous service, conformity to the law a privilege and a joy. (T. Blarney, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. WEB: Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law.