p. 6 | The Law a Schoolmaster by T. H. Starbuck

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 5, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 35.

The Law a Schoolmaster

By T. H. Starbuck

THE INTERRELATION OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. NO. II.

BY T. H. STARBUCK.

The Law a Schoolmaster.

“But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were under the law, shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Gal. 3: 22–25.

In this scripture the apostle is addressing Christians regarding their condition and experiences both before and after becoming Christians. Their relation to the law in both conditions is the subject under consideration. Before they became believers in Christ, they were guarded in an imprisonment under the control of the law. This refers to the same thought that is expressed in Romans 7 about the woman being bound by the law to her first husband. The imprisonment is under the abnormal or penal force of the law. Outside of faith in Christ all men are under sin, or under the law, as stated in Gal. 3: 23. All men are in prison as long as they cling to the ways of sin. When they hear the Gospel and become believers in Christ, they are delivered from the law and cease to be under it. Verse 25.

It is the moral law of which he reasons, for no other can hold men imprisoned on account of sin, or release them from its bondage when they believe. The law was our schoolmaster. Verse 24. The original word rendered was has many shades of meaning. It is a very expressive word, and has no exact equivalent in the English language. It is rendered by various terms, such as, “to be,” “to become,” “to make,” “to constitute,” and “to ordain.” In this instance perhaps the best term by which to render it is the word constitute. The original term translated schoolmaster is variously rendered also by such terms as “child leader,” “tutor,” “monitor,” and “instructor.” Perhaps the term monitor is as accurate as any that has been used. The clause would then read, “The law has been constituted our monitor to bring us to Christ.”

The law has been God’s great monitor or teacher in all ages. It is the source of light and intelligence. Psalms 119. Its entrance made sin to abound, or appear in its true light. Rom. 5: 20. It is the instrument that was violated in the very origin of sin; and it is the only instrument that can be set before those who are in sin to bring them back into harmony with the divine government. It is the ordinance of God for that very purpose. No other instrument contains so much light for our lost race. It enables lost man to see his sins and to understand his sinful nature. It reveals the purity of heaven and the attributes of its Author. It is spoken of in this scripture as having an intelligent design in leading men to Christ, that they may be reinstated in the purity of that life from which the race has fallen.

The object of the law is the righteousness of Christ. When we get correct views of the nature and operations of the law, we cease to wonder that Paul has so much to say about it when preaching the Gospel. It is a repetition of the instruction concerning the law found all through the Old Testament. The way of the law of God is the way of peace and righteousness. “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” Isa. 48: 18. When the penitent soul yields to the claims of the law, it is led by it to Christ, and justification takes place.

Justification has a twofold significance. It includes the pardon of sin, and power to live according to the righteousness of the law. The justified one is freed from the dominion of sin. “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Rom. 6: 14. “Under the law” means to be in the dominion of sin, or under the ministration of death. When the believer is justified, he is delivered from this condition. So then in Gal. 3: 22–25 the same Gospel principles are set forth which are found in Rom. 7: 1–6 and in 8: 1–4. It contains additional evidence that the law converts the soul and leads to the perfect life of the world’s Redeemer.

Having Slain the Enmity.

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (“having slain the enmity in himself,” margin). Eph. 2: 13–16.

In this chapter the subject under consideration is conversion, or deliverance from the power of evil. This will be made clear by a careful reading of verses 1–12. The principles considered are just the same as in the scriptures previously studied. In his different epistles to the churches he presents the same things in regard to the law and Gospel, but always in a different light, adapting his instructions to the conditions and understanding of those to whom he writes. Here it is presented as deliverance from the power of evil, or a transformation by the creative power of God which removes them from the influence of the prince of the power of the air into communion with the children of God, and into covenant relation with him, where

the enmity is slain, and they have become obedient to righteousness. He is addressing those who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, without God and without hope; yet by the blood of Christ they are united with the children of God. “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” John 10: 16. The thought of our Saviour was in Paul’s mind as he wrote to the Ephesians. He speaks of those who are nigh and those who are far off. Eph. 2: 13. The former class are those who were already the children of God; the latter are the gentiles, who were aliens, and strangers from the covenant of promise.

In the study of this scripture it will be well to keep in mind that the two classes referred to are those who are Christians and those who are not. This will be necessary in order to fully understand what constitutes the middle wall of partition. The ceremonial law serves to keep God’s ancient people distinct from the world, and one lesson to be learned from it is that there is something in nature which naturally separates between the converted and the unconverted. The ceremonial law was not that middle wall of partition, but merely represented it. The real middle wall of partition is what is here called the “enmity.” The word of God tells what that is, in an unmistakable manner. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8: 7. The carnal nature, then, is the enmity, or middle wall of partition. It is the carnal nature, then, that Christ abolished in his flesh, and by that means reconciliation to God is accomplished. The original term translated “abolished” has various shades of meanings, such as “abolish,” “disannul,” “to make powerless,” and in its strongest sense might be rendered “destroyed,” as in Rom. 6: 6. It means to make thoroughly inactive, to make of none effect. In Eph. 2: 15 Christ is represented as having a nature like that of other men so far as the flesh is concerned. In Rom. 8: 3 it is stated that he had sinful flesh; and in chapter 6: 6 it is said that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, thus showing that he had the same sinful flesh that other men have, and that it was destroyed by crucifixion. The carnal nature was made powerless in Christ just as it must be in other men before they can be the children of God.

The abolition here spoken of is not a universal abolition, but is limited in its application by the phrase in his flesh, or, in himself. Eph. 2: 15, 16. The destruction of the carnal nature spoken of in this scripture has its reflex action upon the law. It is not an abolition of the law in the sense of destroying its normal operation and force, for that has been shown to be an impossibility; but it is a disannulling of its penal or abnormal force. The penal force of the law is against the carnal nature, and works wrath through it; and when the carnality is destroyed, the abnormal operation of the law ceases. Thus, making the “enmity” powerless also makes the penal force of the law powerless.

“The law of commandments in ordinances” has a direct reference to the moral law, for moral laws are God’s natural ordinances to enforce his will. The destruction of the sinful nature as here set forth makes the penal force of the moral law powerless. It may, in some sense, be illustrated by reference to human laws. A criminal who has committed an offense is, according to law, placed in imprisonment for a term of years. In prison he is confined under the penal force of the law he has violated. After he has served in bondage under the law for a time, it becomes evident that he is penitent for his crime, and that a change of character has taken place, and that it will be safe for him to again have his liberty. Accordingly, the governor issues a pardon. As soon as he places his official signature to the pardon, the penal force of the law is abolished, and the man is free from its claims. But it is clear that the law is not abolished except in that sense that its penal force is destroyed. It is so with the moral law. The death of the carnal nature, by crucifixion, causes the abnormal operation to cease, and the transgressor is freed from its penal power.

The death of the carnal nature likewise has its reflex action upon the ceremonial law. The effort of Jewish teachers to lead Christian converts into the observance of the ceremonial system was wholly an effort of the carnal nature to reach justification from sin by the deeds of the law, which, of course, was an impossibility, as well as a rejection of salvation by faith in Christ. The destruction of the carnal nature would cause the ceremonial observances to cease. It is only in this indirect way that this scripture can have any reference to the ceremonial law.