Which law is being addressed in Galatians 3:19?

The answer appears as we discover the single subject of this chapter. The apostle Paul is contrasting condemnation and justification, and the chief point of his argument is that “no one is justified by the law in the sight of God” (verse 11). The argument is not whether the law operates or not, but whether it operates as a justifier of guilty sinners.

Paul spells out in many other texts that the law is necessary as a revealer of sin. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law” (Romans 7:7). The law can condemn, but it cannot justify.

In the verse that precedes Galatians 3:19, Paul shows how our inheritance is not by the law but, rather, by a promise from God. Verse 21 then shows once more how the law does not bring life. “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Galatians 3:21).

These verses make it clear that Paul was not talking so much about any particular law—whether the ceremonial laws of Moses or the moral law—but rather, he was addressing the belief among some that a law could justify a person. That was not the purpose of any of God’s laws. All they could do was condemn fallen people and point them to their need of a Savior, the Seed who came. Christ delivered us from the condemnation of the law. Even so, the law does not cease to exist. As soon as we step off God’s pathway, the law is there to point us back to Jesus.

Key Bible Texts

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. (Galatians 3:19 KJV)