Re: Why does Gal 3:23 say "Before faith came" and "is afterwards revealed" since some believe faith is the basis for salvation?

When Socrates was sentenced to death for his philosophical investigations, and for blasphemy for challenging the gods of the city — and he accepted his death — he did say, "well, if we are lucky, perhaps I'll be able to hold conversation with other great thinkers and philosophers and doubters too."


 In other words the discussion about what is good, what is beautiful, what is noble, what is pure, and what is true could always go on.


Why is that important? Why would I like to do that? Because that's the only conversation worth having.


And whether it goes on or not after I die, I don't know. But I do know that that's the conversation I want to have while I'm still alive.


Which means that to me, the offer of certainty, the offer of complete security, the offer of an impermeable faith that can't give way, is an offer of something not worth having.


I want to live my life taking the risk all the time that I don't know anything like enough yet; that I haven't understood enough; that I can't know enough; that I'm always hungrily operating on the margins of a potentially great harvest of future knowledge and wisdom.


I wouldn't have it any other way.


And I'd urge you to look at... those people who tell you, at your age, that you're dead till you believe as they do — what a terrible thing to be telling to children!


And that you can only live by accepting an absolute authority — don't think of that as a gift. Think of it as a poisoned chalice. Push it aside however tempting it is. Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way....Show more

The first aspect is the protective nature of the Law. Paul explained that the Jews were “guarded under law.” It was as though they were in the protective custody of a tutor. (Galatians 3:23) The Law influenced every aspect of their life. It bridled their lustful passions and their fleshly desires. It supervised their conduct and continually rebuked them for their shortcomings, making each Israelite aware of his own imperfections.
The Law was also a protection from corrupting influences, such as the degraded moral and religious practices of the nations that surrounded Israel. God’s prohibition on intermarriage with pagans, for example, was essential to the spiritual well-being of the nation as a whole. (Deuteronomy 7:3, 4) Such statutes preserved the spiritual purity of God’s people and prepared them to be able to recognize the Messiah. These were loving provisions indeed. Moses reminded his fellow Israelites: “Just as a man corrects his son, Jehovah your God was correcting you.”—Deuteronomy 8:5....Show more

Any confusion you may be experiencing is in recognizing when the Holy Spirit is addressing individual experiences or systems.

Individual faith, (like that of Abraham, for example, 'credited to him as righteousness' James 2:23), is distinguished from the 'system of faith' which arrived to replace the 'system of righteous through the Law.'

Obviously individual faith existed even before the Law, since Abraham lived before the divine legal system was unveiled to Moses. The 'system of faith' was not revealed until Christ. Everyone from the Old Testament era who had 'credit' in that system was offered the opportunity to enter the 'system of faith' and transfer that credit once it was revealed by GOD....Show more

Blithering nonsense Word Soup....It's the revealed basis for Salvation,
Totally without any realistic, extensional counterpart....Show more

I have no idea.

But while I have your attention: I can't decide what to have for dinner later... could you provide some suggestions...?

Many thanks.

EDIT: Your question appears to have disappeared from the R&S feed/home page. Sometimes moving your question out of R&S to another category, and then moving it back again can solve this....Show more