Good morning. It’s Sunday, January 20th, aka National Cheese Lovers Day.

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— Galatians 3:24

Paul answers a question most Christians eventually ask, and one that non-Christians are quick to point out too.

If the Old Testament law came from God, why don’t Christians live under it anymore?

Luckily for us, Paul answers this question very clearly in Galatians 3. And to really understand his answer, we have to look at the verse itself along with the verse before it and the verse after it.

Christianity was never meant to be a checklist of rules used to earn God’s approval. The reason things change is not because rules stopped mattering. It’s because Jesus came.

Paul’s main point sits right in the middle.

Galatians 3:24 (NIV)

“So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.”

That line is the key. Until Christ came. The law was never meant to be permanent. It served a purpose for a time, but it was always pointing ahead to Jesus. The law could show people what God’s standard was, but it couldn’t change their hearts or make them right with Him. Only Jesus could do that.

The law was like training wheels. Necessary at first. Helpful for learning balance. But never meant to stay on forever. Their job isn’t to win the race. It’s to show you that you can’t ride on your own yet.

Paul explains why the law was needed in the first place just one verse earlier.

Galatians 3:23 (NIV)

“Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.”

A lot of the Old Testament laws were written for us, but they weren’t written to us. They were given to Israel, in a specific moment in history, to shape how they lived and worshiped God. We still learn from them. They still matter. But they were never meant to be the way everyone, everywhere, would relate to God forever.

Then Paul explains what changes because of Jesus.

Galatians 3:25 (NIV)

“Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

This is the answer. Christians don’t live under the Old Testament law because Jesus fulfilled its purpose. Once Christ came, the training wheels came off. God no longer relates to His people through a system that exposes failure, but through faith in Jesus who brings forgiveness, righteousness, and new life.

And this is why the New Testament exists in the first place.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: God You don’t change Your mind. You finish what You start.

Confession: I still treat faith like a checklist instead of trusting Jesus.

Thanksgiving: Thank You that Jesus fulfilled the law so I don’t have to.

Supplication: Teach me to live by faith, not rules, today.

In Jesus name, Amen

“I See Grace” by Micah Tyler

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Thanks for letting us be a part of how you start your day with God.

See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God