“But after [the] faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
But after [the] faith has come,
There is a definite article (“the”) before the word “faith,” referring to the historic Christ (as in verses 22 and 23); the coming of the Messiah embodied what faith in Christ was about. The era of faith in the Messiah eclipsed the period of the law. The era of the law led us to the era of faith, the era of Christ. Paul will describe the nature of individual faith later in the book (Ga 4:6; 5:18; cf. Romans 8:14). Our verse argues that the law pertained to a prior, limited time, a bygone era. It had a restricted time and purpose– “until the Seed should come.” The law fulfilled its intended role; it is no longer in charge. The supervisory function of the law ceased.
we are no longer under a tutor
Jesus fulfilled the righteousness of the law for us, so believers no longer need the law to govern their relationship with God. They turn from the law to Calvary. Jesus kept the law perfectly and paid the penalty for the law by taking it upon Himself at the cross.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
Now that the reality of faith has come, there is no need to continue under a temporary arrangement. The law no longer governs our relationship with God (Romans 6:14). Faith in Christ lifts the guilt of the law off our shoulders.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage [the law]” (Galatians 5:1).
Principle:
The law is the servant of faith, not a substitute for it.
Application:
The flaw in the idea of salvation by works is not in the law itself but in our understanding of the purpose of the law. We cannot add the law to trust in Christ. That distorts the very nature of what Christ did to free us from the demands of the law. We need the law to understand our sinfulness and, thus, our inability to keep God’s standards.
God never designed the law to be anything more than a means of proving that we are sinners and leading us to the Savior. Now that we have embraced Christ as Savior, we do not need the law as our tutor.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
