But before the faith came, we were kept under the law shut up, unto that faith which was to be revealed.
προ του δε ελθειν την πιστιν υπο νομον εφρουρουμεθα συγκεκλεισμενοι εις την μελλουσαν πιστιν αποκαλυφθηναι
11 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Do you see how clearly he confirmed what we have said? By the words “we were confined” and “kept under guard,” he indicates nothing other than the protection of the Jews accomplished through the commandments of the law.
Indeed, the law held them as though within walls, in fear and in life according to the law. In this very way it kept them for faith.
The law, he says, provided great security for those who were under its guard, because it restrained them from many sins. It was like a wall, enclosing men and leading them to faith.
How did it do this? By convicting sins, while having no power to free men from them, it necessarily pointed to the faith that justifies. This faith existed also in ancient times, but in a hidden way. It was revealed openly afterward, when God also appeared in the flesh.
No one will be found so ignorant as to say: why did it not benefit the Jews that they were delivered into the hand of the Mediator through angels who transmitted the law? It did benefit them, and beyond words. For what reason did the churches of the Gentiles sell their possessions and lay the proceeds at the Apostles' feet, as many thousands of people did (see Acts 4:34-35)?
And when Paul praises the church in Thessalonica before other churches, he says that they became imitators of the churches of the Jews, because they suffered much from their own people for the faith, as others suffered from the Jews (see 1 Thess 2:14-16).
The recognition of a grave illness, when it became clear that they had transgressed the law itself, led not to ruin, but to benefit for those who believed in Christ. Thus they passionately desired the Healer and loved Him greatly.
Yet the law was not entirely useless. It was a guard for us against sins through its threats and punishments. “We were confined.” Understand this to mean that we were kept for that faith which had been prepared to be revealed to us.
As the mediator between God and men stands in the middle between the One who gives the Law and those who receive it, so the Law itself, given after the promise, occupied a middle place between the promise and its fulfillment. Therefore it must not be regarded as excluding the promise, though, by following after the promise, it seems to annul it.
But since it could not give life or bestow what had been promised in the original promise, it is evident that it was given not to overthrow the promise, but to guard it. If a Law had been given that could bestow life and accomplish what the promise gave as if by covenant, then the Law could indeed be reckoned as excluding the promise.
In reality, however, as we said above, it was given because of transgressions. It rather exposes sinners, to whom it was given after the promise as a kind of guard, and, so to speak, as a prison. Those who did not wish to await the promised fulfillment in innocence by freedom of will were hindered by the bonds of the Law. They were brought into service to the commandments, so that they might be preserved until the coming faith in Christ, which represented the fulfillment, the finem, or end, of the promise.
But Scripture must not be regarded as the cause of sin because it appears to have shut up all under sin. The commandment, proceeding from lawful right, reveals and exposes sin rather than causing it. Likewise a judge is not the creator of crime when he puts chains on criminals. He shuts them in prison and declares guilt by his authoritative sentence, so that afterward, if he wishes, he may free those liable to punishment by higher clemency.
For the race of Israel had to be guarded as though by a certain wall until “the expectation of the nations” should spring forth (Gen 49:10).
The law was not vain, nor contrary to the promises. How does Paul establish its necessity? The law was a foresight of the coming faith, and a promise through faith. Before, says the Apostle, before faith came, we were kept under guard. That is, being in one way or another under the authority and power of the law, we lived a blameless life, avoiding sin and being able to recognize it. Thus, when Christ came, we would await His coming as those shut up unto the faith that was to come in the future.
If, having been prepared beforehand by the law and relying on faith in Him, we avoid sins and do the works of the law, then we shall easily be able to obtain what was promised, namely the faith of Christ when it appears.
“We were kept under the law, confined.” That is, this refers to the protection of the Jews by the commandments of the law. “For the law, holding them in fear and in life according to the law, as though within certain walls, thereby kept them for faith” (Chrysostom).
The significance of the law in the history of salvation through Jesus Christ. Gal 3:23: “Before faith came,” that is, before the Gospel, “we were kept under guard by the law, until the faith which was to be revealed.”
Thus the law had the significance of a guard. From what, precisely, did it guard? Saint Chrysostom says concerning this: “The law gave great security and protection to those who were under it, restraining them from many sins. It enclosed men within itself as though by a wall and led them bound to faith.” Thus the law guarded from sin.
Continuing to point out the advantages of the promise, the Apostle shows that the law did not give moral strength. On the contrary, it was like a guard and bonds of sinfulness. But justification was received from the fulfillment of the promises, and this through a simple movement of the heart, that is, through faith in Jesus Christ, which is accessible to all.
Blessed Jerome writes: "It must not be thought that the law excludes the promise. On the contrary, since it could not give life or supply what the promise had promised, it is clear that the law itself was given to guard the promise, not to destroy it. If a law had been given that could supply life and fulfill what the promise had promised, then the promise would truly have been excluded by the law. But since it was given because of transgressions, it rather exposes those sinners to whom it was given after the promise as a guard. Since they did not wish to await the promised thing in purity by free will, they were bound by the bonds of the law and, as it were, handed over to slavery under legislation. Thus they were preserved for the coming of Christ, for faith in Him, in which are the fulfillment and end of the promise."
And St. John Chrysostom says: "God gave the Jews the law so that it would reveal their wounds and urge them to seek the Physician. It brought a double benefit. First, it guided those who heeded it toward such virtue as was possible. Second, it awakened in each a consciousness of his sins, which especially disposed them to seek the Son of God. By holding them in fear and in life according to the law, as within certain walls, the law thereby preserved them for faith."
"And the fact that they proved to be transgressors of the law served not to harm, but to benefit those who believed. For knowledge of a most dangerous disease makes one desire the Physician more strongly and love Him more fervently. For he to whom more is forgiven loves more" (Blessed Augustine).
This is not a new sequence of thoughts, but a further explanation and application of what was said: the law was given because of transgressions. As Chrysostom said above, on the one hand, it was to restrain sin and teach such virtue as was possible. On the other, by revealing the consciousness of sinfulness, it was to impel men to seek the Savior, to Whom the law itself pointed secretly, and later the Prophets more clearly.
Keeping this in mind, one cannot fail to recognize that, under the law, we were kept and guarded as under strict custody for the faith that was to be revealed. "Unto the faith that was to be revealed" means that the law did not guard us so that we should remain under it forever, but so that it might hand us over to the faith that was to be revealed. It watched over us for this faith, so that when it came, we would receive it, leaving the law behind as no longer necessary and as having fulfilled its work.
Or "unto the faith that was to be revealed" presents this thought: so that the faith that was to come could be revealed, and so that it could be revealed in us, and through us to the whole world. By keeping the law, we also kept the promise of faith as a saving treasure for the whole world. Without it, there would have been no faith. In this respect, the law has universal significance.
We bore its yoke until the very coming of faith. When faith came, it was born in us, and is now offered by us to all. This is the path by which the blessing of Abraham is now poured out upon all nations.
Blessed Augustine writes: "Someone will ask: why did the law not benefit the Jews? It did benefit them, and beyond words. What made many thousands of people suddenly sell everything and lay the price of what was sold at the Apostles' feet? The law did this, under which they had been shut up as under custody unto the faith that was to be revealed. Thus they drew near to God with such eagerness, selling all, as the Lord commanded those who wish to be perfect (see Mt 19:21). The fear of the one God held them in such confinement. And the fact that they proved to be transgressors of the law served not to harm, but to benefit those who believed. For knowledge of a most dangerous disease makes one desire the Physician more strongly and love Him more fervently. For he to whom more is forgiven loves more."
"The words 'we were guarded' and 'shut up,'" says Chrysostom, "mean nothing other than the preservation of the Jews through the commandments of the law. For the law, by holding them in fear and in life according to the law, as within certain walls, thereby preserved them for faith."
Theophylact carries the same thought further: "The law gave great protection and safeguarding to those who were under it, restraining them from many sins. As if by a wall, it enclosed men within itself and led them bound to faith. How so? By exposing sins, and being unable to free men from them, it turned their eyes against their will toward justifying faith. This faith existed even of old, but in a hidden way. Later it was revealed, when God appeared in the flesh."
Oecumenius concludes: "Here the Apostle expresses the thought that faith in Christ was predestined from ancient times. Only now has it been revealed to men through the Incarnation of God the Word."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 15 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS