"The Law: The Truant Officer Who Leads Us to Christ!"

 What is God Like? – How Can We Know for Sure? – Part 11

 By Richard Allen – March 16, 2026

Over the past ten Blogs, we’ve observed that after the Fall, Adam and Eve’s posterity was in total degradation and blindness because of sin. That the idolatry prevalent post-fall still permeates every culture on this planet, is testimony to ‘man’s total depravity and spiritual blindness.’ In our fallen state we have an intense desire to “create God in our own image.” So, it’s clear that God needed to accomplish several things to bring fallen sinners into His “revealed light,” that is, the knowledge of a ‘Holy God who is Spirit!’ Over the course of this journey, God preserved a ‘remnant’ of faithful men and women so the knowledge of God was not completely extinguished. But even then, men could only see shadows of ‘who this Holy God was, and what He required.’ Along the way, God provided significant revelation in the ‘calling of Abraham and Moses.’ It wasn’t just Moses the man, by whom God would ‘reveal, and give knowledge of Himself” – but the very Law that Moses ‘transmitted’ from Sinai. Even the Law was a shadow of the good things to come, but it was a huge step forward!  So how did the Law itself become a revelation of God to mankind?

The Law should be considered a “major revelation of God.”  It was a huge step forward as God granted mankind a ‘better understanding’ of the One from whom men turned away, in Eden. We need to remember that the structure of the Law contains God’s legal requirements for: Moral, Religious and Civil behavior that is acceptable to God. The Mosaic Law is unsurpassed by any document from antiquity in its scope and shadows foretelling of the Christ, our Passover. And while ‘keeping the Law’ became a ‘ball and chain’ around the ankle of those who didn’t have Faith, to the Godly men and women under its sway in the Old Testament, the Law revealed a Holy God’s plan for Redemption. This God, who had been veiled in “thick darkness” for almost 1,500 years since the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, gave a fuller view of His Holy Character and Requirements for Men, through giving the Law at Sinai. And make no mistake, while men could not obey the Law and show their own ‘righteousness,’ the Holy Law of God displayed such ‘glory’ that even after Moses had received that Law from the hand of God on Sinai – his face still shone:

^“Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?  For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

The Law of Moses had a ‘glory’ – as it reflected the character and nature of the Holy God – who is ‘Spirit’ and could not be comprehended by mortal flesh and human understanding. There was a ‘surpassing glory’ yet to come, the Glory of God the Son Incarnate – the Covenant Messenger (Hebrews 3:3-6) – Jesus the Messiah! But even in Moses’ day the Law held an importance unparalleled at that point in time. So, let me say that the Law of Moses – which is really the Law of a Holy God – revealed the God of Creation in Six specific ways:  1.) The Law was a reflection of God’s intrinsic character and being. 2.) The Law fully revealed the ’rebellion of mankind’ – giving specificity to our ‘missing the mark’ regarding: ‘the rightful love we owe to God our Creator, and love we owe to our fellow man, created in God’s image.’ 3.) The Ceremonial Law codified what ‘satisfaction’ would be required if we would ever be restored to a Holy God as His people. 4.) The Law set apart a “Peculiar Covenant People,” through whom God would bring “redemption into this world!”  This Covenant People was a mirror of a New Covenant People whom God would redeem through Jesus Christ. 5.) The Law ‘prefigured’ Jesus Christ as the ‘high priest and mediator of a Better Covenant,’ a priest who could fully atone.  6.) Lastly, The Law was a harsh “Truant Officer,” specifically, a Pedagogus that would “lead us unto Christ.”

First, The Law, as Paul declares in the passage above, displayed ‘God’s glory’ – far surpassing the revelation of God’s ‘Eternal Power and Godhead,’ as He had declared to the Church in Romans 1:20 – “For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse!” The Law revealed God’s character, justice, mercy, and provision for sin. Second, The Law displayed God’s anger at His rebellious children and our failure to meet the Moral requirements to God, and to our neighbor. The Five Books of Moses – the Pentateuch, put mankind’s sin on full display, first and foremost showing our failure to ‘honor and worship’ God as we should, making us fully deserving of eternal death.  Third, The Law provided a Sacrificial means by which ‘temporary atonement’ alone could be made. The construction of the temple and it’s priestly and sacrificial system was exhaustive with the provisions God required to atone for sin. But the Law lacked the power to ‘make us permanently clean,’ every sacrifice had to be repeated continually – just for God to maintain some relationship. Fourth, The Law kept the Jewish people, mostly separate and distinct – until the “promised Messiah” would come to fully atone for sin. Fifth, All of the Law: Moral, Civil and Ceremonial – prefigured Jesus Christ – and the Exodus that He would accomplish – living a righteous life and dying on a cross – to atone for our sin! And lastly, Sixth, The Law was a ‘Pedagogus,’ or Truant Officer to shepherd those who longed for the ‘promised messiah’ – that would fulfill the promise to both Jew and Gentile.

It’s that last point which pulls all the others together into the question we need to ask and answer: “How did the Law of Moses act as a ‘Truant Officer’ to shepherd, or more precisely, drive us to ‘faith in Jesus Christ?’ ” Because knowledge of a Holy God was in short supply in the Gentile World, God had begun His revelation to the Jewish people. But they made a huge mistake: ‘They assumed that because God loved them and led them with a powerful hand out of Egypt,’ they were in fact ‘keeping the Law of God.’ Jesus came preaching a Gospel of ‘Repent and Believe,’ to call sinners to turn and follow Him.  Sadly, most of the Jews believed that ‘they were obedient and observant of all that the Law of God had commanded!’  So, one of Jesus’ first goals was to teach them that they weren’t saved by their standing as ‘observant Jews’ – their only hope was by 'believing in Jesus alone. The most important sermon that Jesus ever delivered was His ‘manifesto of the Kingdom,’ that is, ‘The Sermon on the Mount!’  We can see repeatedly, that Jesus had to explain the true requirements of the Law and how far short they fell of obedience – both outwardly and most importantly – in the inner man of the heart. If we want to know “what is God like?” – the Law gave mankind the fullest answer before God’s full revelation in Jesus. Jesus started by revealing the Law’s inflexible requirements of men:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” ( Matthew 5:17-20).

Here are two examples of Jesus explaining the spiritual nature of the Law, all to correct His hearers misconceptions:

Anger – The 6^th Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Lust – The 7^th Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

There has been much debate over what Jesus said and meant. Some believe that He was giving a deeper – more spiritual meaning to the Law. Others believe that Jesus was just proclaiming what God always expected through the Commandments of the Law. What our two examples teach us is that the real problem was not with God’s Law, but with us (Hebrews 8:8). As Paul would say, if there was a Law that could have established righteousness, the Law of God was it!  And, just to note – Jesus wasn’t giving men and women a “here’s how to do it” lesson on murder and adultery. We all struggle with sin – even as redeemed and Spirit-filled Christians – and we will continue to struggle until He comes again to complete the ‘new creation’ by giving us a new body.

Soli Deo Gloria!