Lil' Tidbit From Bible

Reading up in Galatians today and I ran across something odd. So, the predominating theme in Galatians is that salvation comes by faith rather than works or "the law", and the Apostle Paul makes an odd characterization of the law at one point. In 3:24-25, the passage says "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."

In the theological commentary for this study Bible, it is further explained that the expression "was put in charge" comes from the Greek "paidagogos" (from which "pedagogue" is derived). It refers to the personal slave-attendant who accompanied a freeborn boy wherever he went and exercised a certain amount of discipline over him. His function was more like that of a babysitter than a teacher.

So the law, the "rules" of the Christian faith, are there more in a supervising babysitter fashion. They are necessary much of the time, but in no household are the words of the babysitter the ultimate authority. Rather, they are helpful, filled with general truths, but are limited in their effectiveness and capacity for good.

I think of passages like this when people refuse to give ground on their homophobia or even an otherwise negative disposition toward those who are more morally loose than others. A lot of practices may have negative associations, but the rulebook we have was not intended to decide their salvation. Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and coming again is how salvation is defined. The rest is padding and context, and certainly not meant to be used as justification for beliefs or actions based outside of love.