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Galatians 3:19
What is this law's purpose? Remember, the major subject in the book of Galatians is justification—right standing with God, being aligned with God, being declared righteous. In giving his answer, Paul says, "It was added because of transgressions," which parallels Jeremiah 7:22-23, where God Himself said, "I did not speak to you about sacrifices and offerings." In the book of Exodus, we can find that those rituals were added after the Old Covenant had been ratified. They were attached to it, like an appendix. The reason? "[B]ecause of transgressions," that is, because the Israelites continued to sin against God. They were breaking the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments. The apostle then tells us how long this added law was to last: "[U]ntil the Seed"— Christ—"should come." The law—the sacrificial ceremonial law that was added—had a purpose, which was to teach, to instruct, about sin and the payment for it. Unlike the Ten Commandments, it did not define sin, unless the sacrificial law itself was being broken, then it would have been a wrongdoing, a sin. Such a thing happened in the case of Aaron's sons when God struck them dead for using common fire (Leviticus 10). They died because they failed to follow God's rules about making an offering, and it became sin to them. At this point, it might be good to realize that Numbers 28 and 29 contain the national law of offerings God commanded. They had to be offered. They included the evening and morning sacrifices and all the sacrifices and offerings to be made on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day. These offerings were made at the Temple on behalf of—for the benefit of—the whole nation. It may surprise you to learn that the individual Israelite was never required to make any sacrifice at all except for the Passover lamb. God did not require the Israelites to give any of the sacrifices and offerings in the book of Leviticus. They were entirely voluntary. If an Israelite wanted to do them, he could, and it was good for him if he did, if he understood what he was doing. However, he did not have to do them; they were completely voluntary, which is why they do not define sin. They were not required by God. Even so—whether they were the national offerings made at the Tabernacle and Temple or the voluntary ones—they were to last only until the Seed, Jesus Christ, came.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seventeen)
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