Martin Luther ~ “Faith in God constitutes the highest worship, the prime duty, the first obedience, and the foremost sacrifice. Without faith God forfeits His glory, wisdom, truth, and mercy in us. The first duty of man is to believe in God and to honor Him with his faith. Faith is truly the height of wisdom, the right kind of righteousness, the only real religion... Faith says to God: ‘I believe what you say.’"

Jam. 2:10 ~ For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

Deut. 21:22–23 ~ 22 If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

1 Pet. 2:24 ~ … who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

John R. W. Stott ~ "Not until the Law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the Law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the Law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the Law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the Gospel to raise us to heaven." Rom. 7:7 ~ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."

Certainly not ~ mē genoito

Rom. 7:8 ~ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.

Paidagōgos ~ a guardian and guide of boys Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament ~ "Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood."

NLT ~ Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. Message ~ The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.

Daily benediction: "Thank You, God, for not making me a Gentile, a woman or a slave."

There Is A Fountain There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. William Cowper