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We begin in Genesis, where the promise to multiply the Abraham (through Israel) was given. In the first section, we read of God’s promises to His spiritual people, Israel. But now we will see that those promises were established on a predicate, and that predicate was that Israel obey Him, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
In Genesis, we see God blessed Abraham because he worshiped through faith and kept Gods commandments even before the Mosaic law existed. This is because His laws are eternal and known to those who follow His voice. We see the promise through Isaac:
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Genesis 26:1-5 ESV
Again, the Mosaic Law had yet to be established, yet Abraham and Isaac were keeping commandments of God. Note also the importance placed on keeping His commandments. The same can be seen in Deuteronomy when speaking to/through Moses:
28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!
Deuteronomy 5:28-29 ESV
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV
Paul describes this phenomenon in NT writings. He states that the law was not the entirety of God’s promise. The promises preceded the law, and the law was added with its penalties for our transgressions. It kept us in line so that Christ could come through the line of Judah.
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 3:7-9,15-22 ESV
Paul does not say that the good things in the law should not be followed, but rather that Christ has freed us from the law of sin and death, or that our sins bring about, quite literally, our death. Those death penalties were abolished because they are no longer needed if in Christ. As we’ll see however, the Torah defines sin, and sin, by definition, is the violation of the law. We were not given a free license to sin through Christ. We were not freed to violate the law, we were freed from our condemnation of death, which is stated in the law.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 ESV
Next Section: The Law is Not Too Difficult to Keep