Galatians 3:15-25
"the law and the promise"
Paul compares the legal system of the day to God's promise with Abraham. A legal covenant cannot be amended after it is established and in the same way, God honors the promises He makes without amending them. Paul then goes to highlight the phrasing of god's promise. He says that God uses the word seed, not seeds, implying that it was through one person, not the whole israelite nation that God would bless the world. where paul was going with this was to highlight that this promise was made before the law, making the promise of inheritance greater than the law and the inheritance subject to a promise, not the law.
What was the point of the law, then? it was put in place because of our sinfulness to guide us in righteousness until Christ would come and make the world truly righteous. if righteousness and life could have come through the law, then, paul says, the law would have been used to provide salvation, but the law cannot bless, only condemn.
The law instead serves to reveal the sin from which we need to be saved so that we can realize that we indeed are sinners in need of atonement and righteousness, which is only given through christ's sacrifice on the cross to those who believe. The law was given to lead us to christ, not to serve as a substitute for christ.
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