Daily Devotional | The Law, Our Guardian

In ancient Greece and Rome, wealthy households often included a pedagogue, a non-family member, commonly a slave, who cared for the family’s children from around age 6 until late adolescence. Pedagogues provided basic care, protection, and socialization training. Some pedagogues acted in kindness and compassion. But at the time of Paul’s writing of Galatians, they had a reputation of being harsh disciplinarians, often resorting to physical force toward their charges.

Paul seems to have that stereotype in mind when he uses this illustration to describe the relationship between God’s people and the Law. Before Jesus came, God’s people were “held in custody” and “locked up” by the Law (v. 23). The Law was a strict taskmaster, which Paul continues to contrast with the new freedom to be found in faith.

In verse 24, Paul writes, “The law was our guardian” (paidagogos). The verb is past tense. Just as a pedagogue played an important and necessary role in a child’s life, the Law played a significant part in Israel’s redemptive history. But its time was over. A new era had been instated with the coming of Christ, an era of justification through faith alone (v. 24).

Also interesting is Paul’s use of the plural and first-person pronouns (“we” and “our”) throughout this section. He previously used “us” in Galatians 3:13–14: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Paul continues to drive home the point that redemption by faith is available to all—the Gentile Christians and Jewish believers, with whom Paul identifies himself.