Galatians 3:23

Then when he says, "But, before the faith came, we were kept under the law shut up," he gives experimental evidence of this service, as manifested in the case of the Jews. First, he states how the Jews were benefited; Secondly, he concludes a corollary …

The Law, he says, provided great safety to those who were under its protection, because it restrained them from many sins and was like a wall, surrounding people and leading them to faith. In what way? By exposing sins, but not having the power to …

But before faith came,.... This is to be understood, not of the grace of faith, which was under the former dispensation, as now; the Old Testament saints had the same Spirit of faith, and the same grace of faith, as for its nature, object, and use, as New Testament saints have; Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, &c. believed in Christ, and were justified by faith in his righteousness, as we are.

Came, we were kept - As in close custody. Under the law - The Mosaic dispensation. Shut up unto the faith which was to be revealed - Reserved and prepared for the gospel dispensation.

THIS is a condensed history of the Jews before the Gospel was fully preached to them. Before the clear and plain revelation of the way of salvation—that is to say, before Jesus Christ, Himself, actually appeared among the sons of men—the Hebrew nation was put under the tutorship and governance of the Mosaic Law. So far as salvation was to be obtained by it, that Law was a total failure. It did not make the Jews a holy people—whenever they reached any point of excellence, they soon went back from it, for they were bent on backsliding.

faith--namely, that just mentioned (Ga 3:22), of which Christ is the object. kept--Greek, "kept in ward": the effect of the "shutting up" (Ga 3:22; Ro 7:6). unto--"with a view to the faith," &c. We were, in a manner, morally forced to it, so that there remained to us no refuge but faith.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

THIS is a condensed history of the Jews before the Gospel was fully preached to them. Before the clear and plain revelation of the way of salvation—that is to say, before Jesus Christ, Himself, actually appeared among the sons of men—the Hebrew nation was put under the tutorship and governance of the Mosaic Law. So far as salvation was to be obtained by it, that Law was a total failure. It did not make the Jews a holy people—whenever they reached any point of excellence, they soon went back from it, for they were bent on backsliding. Whatever the influence of that blessed Law might be supposed to be, the actual net result was very poor, indeed, for, when Christ came to the chosen people, they were in a most miserable condition, and there was no hope for them at all apart from the promised Messiah. They were shut up to the alternative of receiving Him, or else being put away as a nation for a long time of banishment and exile. This, indeed, they have actually endured through their rejection of the one and only Savior. I am not going to preach at this time about the Jews, but I want to show you that the history of every soul chosen of God is very like the history of the chosen nation. I have heard of masses of crystal which assume certain forms and, if they are split up, again and again, however small the particles may be, the same crystalline shape remains—the crystals are still of one form! So, if you take a nation as a mass, its spiritual history will be found in each individual and often every experience of that individual will still bear the same shape and outline. I take this text, therefore, as being, I am sure, a picture of myself. Before faith came, I was, "kept under the Law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." And my impression is that this is the history of all the people of God, more or less. We are not all alike in every respect.

But before faith came - Before the Gospel was published. We were kept under the law, shut up - Εφρουρουμεθα· We were kept as in a strong hold, συγκεκλεισμενοι, locked up, unto the faith - the religion of the Lord Jesus, which should afterwards be revealed. Here the same metaphor is used as above, and for its explanation I must refer the reader to the same place, Rom 11:32 (note).

But before faith came - That is, the system of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus. Faith here denotes the Christian religion, because faith is its distinguishing characteristic. We were kept under the law - We, who were sinners; we, who have violated the Law. It is a general truth, that before the gospel was introduced, people were under the condemning sentence of the Law. Shut up unto the faith - Enclosed by the Law with reference to the full and glorious revelation of a system of salvation by faith.