Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
Parallel translations
- WEB But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
- KJV But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
- NKJV But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
- NASB But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed.
- NLT Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Before faith came, people were kept in custody under the law, awaiting the faith to be revealed. The law was a temporary guardian until Christ.
Overview
Paul pictures the era under the law as a kind of protective confinement, holding God's people until the coming of Christ and the gospel of faith. This 'custody' was not the goal but a preparatory stage. With Christ's arrival, the time of waiting gives way to the freedom of faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gal 5:18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- Gal 3:24–25So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
- Rom 6:14–15For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- Gal 3:19Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.
- Rom 11:32For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Gal 4:1–5What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.
- 1 Pet 1:11–12trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
- Heb 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Luke 10:23–24Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
- 1 Cor 9:20–21To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.
- Heb 11:39–40These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- Gal 4:21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 3:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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