Galatians 3:23
23 But [de] before [pro] faith [pistis] came, [erchomai] we were kept [phroureo]
under [hupo] the law, [nomos] shut up [sugkleio] unto [eis] the faith [pistis] which
should afterwards [mello] be revealed. [apokalupto] KJV-Interlinear
23 But before faith came, we were
kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be
revealed. NASB
Faith here is not the mental process of believing,
for that process has existed since Adam and Eve.
The method of salvation by faith, though promised,
was not formally established until Jesus Christ actually went to the cross and
paid the price for sin through His spiritual death, then died and was buried
and then resurrected, all of which made sin finally dead and no longer an issue
as far as salvation was concerned.
However prior to the cross, Satan would certainly
contend that Jesus would fail, or that the Messiah would not show up as
promised or that he would be able or interrupt the line of the Messiah and thus
stop the plan of God in its tracks.
With that possibility then, humanity was trapped by
sin, and the Law proved and documented and demonstrated that trap. This is why people who lived and died even
though they believed in the Messiah, would go to Paradise instead of heaven.
You recall that Paradise was one of the four underworld
compartments that held the dead. This underworld often called the land of the
dead, or Hades, is where all who had died, went, prior to the cross.
The other three compartments in the underworld are
Torments, Tartarus, and the Abyss. Each
of these three currently hold respectfully, all unbelieving people, all of the
disobedient angels from Gen. 6, and the worst of the worst demon armies.
By the way, those bad dude demons in the Abyss will
be released in the Tribulation, to wreak havoc on humanity in that future
time. That will not be a pretty sight,
but a horrifying time when it happens.
Shut up, ‘sugkleio,’ means to be confined, trapped,
shut together, in close, embraced in a common subjection. And this means that all of humanity was in
the same horrible sinking boat of eternal condemnation, except for the promise
of God which was not fulfilled until the Cross.
Faith afterwards revealed, was Jesus Christ and His
fulfillment of Gods plan on the Cross and resurrection. The Cross paid the price of sin and the
resurrection proved Gods victory over death. They go together.
And by the way, Paradise is now empty, as after the
Cross, Jesus Christ led all of those captives, which were all Old Testament
believers, out of Paradise and into Heaven.
Paradise is no longer in use nor necessary. That was the ultimate victory procession
parade led by Christ.
Using the word, paradise, to describe a wonderful
place in one thing, but anyone who wants to go to the actual Paradise as is
claimed by some religions, does not know their doctrine, is detached from
reality, and saying in effect that they want to go to a place that God has
emptied out and abandoned. They would have
more luck searching for never-never land.
They won’t find either place.
