Paul shows that the Law did not contradict God's promises but had a necessary and limited purpose, according to God's plan. It could not bring spiritual life to mankind and could not free them from sin, but its function was like that of a gaoler who keeps wrongdoers locked up, or like that of a servant who looks after young, irresponsible children, making them aware of what they ought to do, 3 :23-24. In Paul's thought is the idea that those under the Law were spiritually immature and irresponsible, requiring external discipline, until the time came when they could understand faith in the sense of responsible commitment to God's will. 'Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us' (3:25).

His argument comes to a great climax in 3 :26-29 as he shows the Galatians that they live in the time of faith, no longer in the time of the Law. Through their baptism in Jesus Christ, they have become the sons of God, heirs of the promise made to Abraham, and the true descendants of Abraham. They are now the sons of God, not by following the Jewish Law but by commitment to Jesus Christ; 'it is through faith that all of you are God's sons in union with Christ Jesus.' All distinctions based on race, social standing, sex and anything else, have been done away with in the new life in Christ. In the eyes of God there is no difference between the baptized Jew and the baptized Gentile. 'You are all one in union with Christ Jesus' (3:29). In the ancient Jewish prayers which Paul had used in his early life, there was a prayer said by the Jewish man which offered thanks to God because he had not been born a Gentile, a slave or a woman. Paul the Christian could completely reverse the thought of that prayer.

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