Galatians 3.24

ESV: “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”

NASB: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

The word here for “guardian” or “tutor” is pedagogue

It does not mean “covenant of works.”

It does not refer to a person known for being harsh and making impossible demands so that the student child longs to play hooky.

This is all a man-made tradition (a young one) that is often preached as the Word of God.

The tutor or guardian here is a temporary caretaker until Christ comes.  On one interpretation the Law is actually is in charge of leading people to Christ (NASB).  In that case, he is an evengelist.  The Law is fulfilling the Great Commission.

Either way, the point is simply that the Law is a temporary government or economy or administration or dispensation from Sinai until Christ comes.

If someone thinks he can make Galatians 3.24 fit into a Covenant-of-works scheme, fine.  But it is not a prooftext for anything of the sort. You have to bring the concept to it.

In fact, Paul’s whole argument is not about a transition from required perfect obedience to the mercy received by faith but from immaturity that needs a guardian to the freedom of faith.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Once we were God’s children and slaves and waiting heirs but now we have become full sons and fulfilled heirs. The Law was a guardian/manager for children. Jew and Greek were kept separate. Now we are free in Christ. The law is not of faith. Don’t go back to the child-manager. To do so is to reject your Father and his gifts altogether.