And Nobody is saying otherwise.Here is where things get tricky. Paul is not saying the Law is not to be observed by faith. Nor is he saying that the Law is strictly consequential, without any reward. And he is not saying there was no faith or grace operating under the system of Law. It was just not faith in *Christ's work.*Tong2020 said: ↑
That the law gave the person what he deserved, actually add to establish what Paul says of the law, that the law is not of faith, but of works. That if they do what the law says, they shall live by it, and if they break any law, they shall pay for it according to the cursing and judgement of the law.
<<<It was just not faith in *Christ's work.*>>>
Obviously. For when the law was given, Christ’s work on earth was not yet. However, in that part of Gal.3 until verse 12, Paul was not talking about the work of Christ, but about the Law. He said that it was not of faith. In the positive, he is saying of the law, that it is of works.
Now, see what Paul was saying in verses 9 and 10. In v.9 he said those who are of faith (e.g. Abraham) are blessed. While in v.10 he said those who are of the works of the Law, are under the curse. With that, it is my understanding that even those who among Israel in the OT times, who are of faith, as was Abraham, are blessed as was Abraham. That they are blessed is because of faith and does not have anything to do with the Law, though they are under the Law and are to do the works of the Law. So that, even they who are of faith, when they happen to transgress any law, they shall be judged by it. And not that they are judged by it in that event, that it means they are no longer blessed with Abraham. No, they still are.
<<<They could offer animal sacrifices, and thus have their sentence reduced or be acquitted.>>>On the contrary, the Law was built on the principle of grace--just a limited grace, but grace nonetheless. By Grace I mean that Israel was able to experience a dispensation of forgiveness after having sinned. They sinned, and they didn't always die. They could offer animal sacrifices, and thus have their sentence reduced or be acquitted. They could achieve limited blessings--just not eternal life, which required the appropriate flawless behavior of Christ.
Could you point me to the scriptures where we can find that?
That is because the law was given to Israel not for the intention that through it, they will obtain eternal life. With regards salvation, it was given to keep them under guard and bring them to Christ, and have faith, by which they might be justified, in like sense that Abraham was justified by faith. Further regarding the law, no matter how you look at the law, no law was given that would give eternal life. All there is but works that they must and must not do to keep God from sending His wrath upon them.Only Christ's flawless work, only his Divine work, could achieve eternal life, and the Law, with its limited faith and grace, could not achieve that--not without Christ himself. There was no equivalent consequence to Israel's behavior that could merit eternal life. The best they could achieve were earthly blessings, and God's temporary favor. So Faith and Grace operated under the Law. They just couldn't achieve a reciprocal reward in Eternal Life. They could only achieve limited earthly blessings.
This is what "the Law is not of Faith means." It means that men under the Law, even operating by faith, could not achieve eternal life by that system of law. The consequent reciprocal rewards to Israel for their obedience were earthly blessings. But it didn't achieve eternal life beyond these earthly blessings.
By "faith" Paul is referring to "faith that achieves eternal life only through Christ." "Faith" is an abbreviation for the thing Christ alone could provide for, and which we can apply only after Christ finished his work. There was no means, under the Law, by which Israel could achieve eternal life apart from Christ's work.
It is with those that Paul said the law is not of faith. And because salvation is by faith, salvation then is not by the law or is not by the works of the law.
I could see our differences in our view. You see two faiths, NT faith and faith before NT, the former as achieving eternal life and the latter as something short of that. I on the other hand see one faith, through which man is saved by God, then and now.
Tong
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