Justified By Faith

Galatians 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

I always find Paul's writing so interesting when he talks about the law.  Paul was perfect at keeping the law and he is the one who describes it as a prison.  Keeping all of, or one of, the laws is imprisonment for the Christian.  Jesus came that we could be freed from the law.  He came to save us from the law, not condemn us through it.  When we try to follow the law and live according to that which we think God is requiring, we fall into the same trap as the first century Christians.  Paul reminded them over and over that Christ had come to fulfill the law and free us from it.  We are free from the law only when we have faith in Christ and put our life in His.  We are justified by our faith, not our actions.  Very rarely, if ever, do actions lead to faith because actions ahead of faith are of our own will.  When we accept the finished work of Christ and surrender our lives to Him, our actions become an outpouring of faith.  Faith in Christ leads to actions that are of His will.  Only when we accept Jesus are we truly justified, and only when we surrender to Him can we be truly sanctified.